NGO Regulatory Choice and Changing Civil Societies

• In Event: Lobbying in Comparative Perspective

Abstract

In many countries, nonprofit nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have a choice among legal types, including association, charity/public benefit organization, corporation, and civil society organization (Stroup 2012; Bloodgood 2015; DeMattee 2019). What effects do differences in regulations and reporting requirements between legal forms have on the resulting composition of the NGO sector across countries? Using evidence from Mexico, Egypt, England and Wales, Kenya, and Canada, this paper examines the connection between variations in regulations on the legal forms NGOs can take, including available funding, operations, registration and reporting requirements, and the resulting effects upon the NGO sector (particularly the relative distribution among types). This analysis helps to deepen debates about closing civil society space as regulatory changes in one legal category may shift organizations’ incentives to register as a different type rather than shut down or leave the country (Breen et al. 2017; Glasius et al. 2020). This strategic behavior on the part of NGOs may help civil society survive legal restriction, but might have the unintended effects of distorting civil society and reducing social benefit provision in systematic ways (Salamon et al. 2017).

Author

• Elizabeth Bloodgood, Concordia University