TO FUND OR NOT TO FUND? How and why governments support - and do not support - civil society in different policy sectors

Abstract

The role of civil society organizations (CSOs) as independent agents, aspiring to participate in shaping official policies and the decision-making process, has continued to grow in the recent decades. In order to maintain themselves and actively operate on the issue areas, they turn to different sources of funding, the effects of which has created a certain degree of dispute in the academia. In particular, funding from national government institutions has raised concerns. It is discussed that in some sectors the civil society has not received enough financial support from government that it deserves in a democratic society, while simultaneously organizations in other policy fields seek to avoid close cooperation with government to preserve their voice in criticizing the official policy. What determines the difference between policy sectors, that make some CSOs secure government funding and rely on it heavily, while others publicly proclaim their financial independence from national institutions? This research examines theoretical claims that it is CSOs’ utility to the donors and the level of sensitivity of the sector that shape how reliant a CSO might be in a given sector. It contributes to further theory-development by placing government as CSOs’ donor in focus. In doing so, this thesis assumes that the level of democracy in the country and its performance in a given sector define the sensitivity of a given policy sector from the government perspective, which, in turn, affects the likelihood of CSOs receiving government funding. The empirical part of the research applying multiple OLS regression tests these claims using the European Transparency Register, the only publicly open database that contains detailed information on CSOs’ funding volumes and sources. The analyses show that the level of democracy and a country’s performance in the policy sector shape the sensitivity of the sector from government perspective and, together with CSO’s utility, impact the extent to which they receive funding from government.