Shaping the charter: How ideas are institutionalized in multilateral development organizations

This dissertation explains why states choose to delegate one particular task to new international organizations: foreign development aid. Many new multilateral development organizations are established every year and the amount of multilateral aid is rising, but scholars remain divided on the motivations for multilateral aid, the rationale for delegating this task to international organizations, and the factors that determine the work of these organizations.; I begin by setting out a framework explaining how ideas are institutionalized in multilateral development organizations. An idea promoter must first present his idea to a government. That government must then decide whether to propose the idea to an international negotiation. This decision is determined by how well the idea fits or resonates with policymakers' existing interests. If the idea resonates with policymakers strongly enough that they decide to propose it, the negotiating states must then decide whether they will include it in the organization's charter. This decision depends on the relative power of the idea promoting state. The extent to which the idea is included in the charter determines the extent to which it will be pursued by the organization, at least in its early years.; An original dataset of multilateral development organizations reveals that the number and scope of these organizations is expanding and it also provides insight into case selection. The bulk of the dissertation tests the above framework with studies of the institutionalization of four important development ideas---health, trade, good governance, and environment---in three major multilateral development organizations: the League of Nations, the World Bank, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. I use information from primary and secondary sources to assess my hypotheses as well as alternative explanations.; The concluding chapter ties these analyses together to push forward existing scholarship on the ways in which ideas influence foreign policy, the determinants of foreign aid, and the delegation of tasks to and work of international institutions. It also specifies a set of best practices for increasing the likelihood that development ideas will be included in, and pursued by, new international organizations.