The Journal of Politics

Table of Contents - April 2012 - Volume 74, Issue 02  

ARTICLES

Neighborhood Watch: Spatial Effects of Human Rights INGOs

Sam R. Bella1, K. Chad Claya2 and Amanda Murdiea3

a1 Kansas State University

a2 Binghamton University

a3 Kansas State University

Abstract

This article examines the neighborhood effects of various activities of human rights international nongovernmental organizations (human rights INGOs or, as used hereafter, HROs). We argue that the presence of HRO members or volunteers “next door” increases the advocacy mobilization and resources of a domestic population, resulting in improvements in human rights performance. When contiguous countries have large numbers of HRO members within their borders, these members are able to mobilize resources that are either directly transmitted across borders or diffuse across state boundaries. Using spatial econometric techniques in a sample of 117 states from 1994 to 2003, we examine the effect of neighboring HRO membership, permanent location presence, and shaming on the probability of improvements in human rights practices. We find that the presence of neighboring HRO members increases the probability of human rights improvements, but that this is conditional on the ability of the groups to freely move across borders

(Online publication April 02 2012)

Sam R. Bell is an Assistant Professor in Political Science, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506.

K. Chad Clay is a Ph.D. candidate in Political Science, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY 13902.

Amanda Murdie is an Assistant Professor in Political Science, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506.