| To what degree can Western countries "purchase" civic engagement and participation in less developed countries that do not share the Western liberal tradition? This dissertation looks at the effects of Western and international assistance to build civil society, and hence democracy, in Russia by focusing on the Russian NGO (nongovernmental organization) community. In addition, I use the women's movement as a case study. I find that the activities, goals, and structure of groups that receive foreign assistance differ substantially from those who rely primarily on domestic funding; however, the effects of funding weaken, rather than strengthen, Russia's civic community. My explanation uses a neoinstitutionalist framework to highlight the paradoxical results of foreign aid to foster civic development. Institutions, interests, and incentive structures impede successful collective action towards building a civic community by encouraging both funders and NGO activists to pursue short term benefits over long term development.;Thus, while foreign aid has improved overall NGO capacity, it has simultaneously discouraged groups from functioning as a civil society. Foreign aid exacerbates, rather than obliterates, older, clientelistic and hierarchical patterns of organization. The result is "principled clientelism;" despite funders' self-proclaimed moral intentions, the outcome is the development of unequal, vertical relationships between domestic groups and foreign aid organizations, rather than horizontal networks of civic engagement among Russian NGOs and their domestic audience. This creates a "guardian" civil society, in which civic groups advocate on the behalf of largely silent constituencies. Consequently, Russia's civic development will resemble the patrimonialism of the South rather than the decentralized, civic plurality of the West. |
