Advocacy Strategies in Global Governance: Inside vs. Outside Lobbying

Abstract

As political authority shifts to the global level, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) increasingly attempt to influence policy-making within international organisations (IOs). This article examines the nature and sources of NGOs’ advocacy strategies in global governance. We advance a two-fold theoretical argument. First, NGO advocacy can be described in terms of inside and outside strategies, similar to interest group lobbying in American and European politics. Second, NGOs’ chosen combination of inside and outside strategies can be explained by their organisational goals and membership base. Empirically, this argument is corroborated through a large-n analysis of original data from structured interviews with 303 NGO representatives active in relation to the United Nations (UN), complemented by 19 semi-structured interviews with UN and state officials. The article’s findings have implications for the theory and practice of NGO involvement in global governance.

Keywords: Advocacy, Organisational survey and interviews, United Nations, Global governance, NGOs