David Crow | Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas (original) (raw)

Papers by David Crow

Human rights, donations, public attitudes, trust, focus groups, survey experiments, Mexico City, ... more Human rights, donations, public attitudes, trust, focus groups, survey experiments, Mexico City, derechos humanos, donaciones, filantropia, actitudes publicas, confianza, grupos de enfoque, experimento en encuesta, Ciudad de Mexico

Human Rights Quarterly, 2015

Local human rights organizations (LHROs) are crucial allies in international efforts to promote h... more Local human rights organizations (LHROs) are crucial allies in international efforts to promote human rights. Without support from organized civil society, efforts by transnational human rights reformers would have little effect. Despite their importance, we have little systematic information on the correlates of public trust in LHROs. To fill this gap, we conducted key informant interviews with 233 human rights workers from sixty countries, and then administered a new Human Rights Perceptions Poll to representative public samples in Mexico (n = 2,400), Morocco (n = 1,100), India (n = 1,680), and Colombia (n = 1,699). Our data reveal that popular trust in local rights groups is consistently associated with greater respondent familiarity with the rights discourse, actors, and organizations, along with greater skepticism toward state institutions and agents. The evidence fails to provide consistent, strong support for other commonly held expectations, however, including those about the effects of foreign funding, socioeconomic status, and transnational connections.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2014

Local human rights organizations (LHROs) are key domestic and transnational actors, modifying, di... more Local human rights organizations (LHROs) are key domestic and transnational actors, modifying, diffusing, and promoting liberal norms; mobilizing citizens; networking with the media and activists; and pressuring governments to implement international commitments. These groups, however, are reliant on international funds. This makes sense in politically repressive environments, where potential donors fear government retaliation, but is puzzling elsewhere. We interviewed 263 LHRO leaders and key informants from 60 countries, and conducted statistically representative surveys of 6,180 respondents in India, Mexico, Morocco, and Nigeria. Based on these data, we believe LHRO funding in non-repressive environments is shaped by philanthropic logics of appropriateness. In the late 1990s, transnational activists successfully mainstreamed human rights throughout the international donor assistance community, freeing up development money for LHROs. Domestic activists in the global South have not promoted similar philanthropic transformations at home, where charitable giving still focuses on traditional institutions. Instead, domestic rights activists have followed the path of least resistance towards international aid, a logic of outcomes produced by variations in global logics of [philanthropic] appropriateness.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2014

This article presents early results from the Human Rights Perception Polls, representative survey... more This article presents early results from the Human Rights Perception Polls, representative surveys on human rights attitudes conducted in 2012 in Mexico, Colombia, Morocco and India. We investigate statistical associations between two measures of human rights familiarity – exposure to the term, “human rights,” and personal contact with human rights workers – and four measures of socio-economic status (SES): education, income, urban residence, and internet use. Controlling for sex and age, we find higher SES is generally associated with more human rights exposure and contact. Interpretation of these results’ practical ramifications, however, depends on readers’ underlying view of the human rights mission. Should human rights groups engage chiefly with society’s poorest and most vulnerable populations? If so, our results suggest room for improvement. If readers instead believe human rights groups should focus on elites, advocate high level reforms, or link disparate groups, however, our results offer less cause for concern.

Does using different scale produce substantively different evaluations of institutions? If so, wh... more Does using different scale produce substantively different evaluations of institutions? If so, why? Are there grounds for preferring one scale to another? We attempt to answer these questions by marshalling a rich set of survey experiments from the 2010 and 2012 Mexico, the Americas, and the World surveys, carried out in Mexico (and other countries) under the aegis of the Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas (CIDE). The survey experiments asked split samples questions on institutional trust, as well as on migration and foreign policy (73 questions in all), providing one halfsample with a 4-pt. response scale and the other, a 7-pt. scale. Comparing the (rescaled) means of the half-samples, we find that the scales do, indeed, produce significantly different evaluations of institutions. But the size of the differences between the scales varies not only from institution to institution, but also among other topics we asked about. We show that the differences are greater when the topic is controversial, people know less about it, and attitudes are neither very positive nor very negative, but middling. Finally, we argue that the 4-pt. scale appears to measure institutional trust better than the 7-pt. scale, at least in the context of Mexico and the Mexico, the Americas, and the World survey.

James Ron ocupa a cátedra Stassen de Relações Internacionais da Faculdade de Humphrey e do Depart... more James Ron ocupa a cátedra Stassen de Relações Internacionais da Faculdade de Humphrey e do Departamento de Ciência Política na Universidade de Minnesota. Ele coordena as Human Rights Perceptions Polls (Pesquisas sobre Percepções de Direitos Humanos), é professor afiliado do Center for Economic Research and Teaching (CIDE, na sigla em espanhol) no México e fundou o fórum on-line multilíngue openGlobalRights, destinado aos estrategistas de direitos humanos.

Post-election poll results typically overstate the proportion of people who voted for winning can... more Post-election poll results typically overstate the proportion of people who voted for winning candidates at all levels of government. Using original survey data and the American National Election Study, we test several alternative explanations of this apparent post-election “bandwagon” effect: conventional ones include expectations that respondents misrepresent how they voted to save face, genuinely forget how they voted, or experience shifts in opinion just before an election. We develop and test an unexplored alternative hypothesis, that postelection surveys inflate the winner’s vote because a greater proportion of people who voted for the winning side want to participate in a post-election survey than people who voted for the loser. We devise empirical tests to distinguish and test each of these hypotheses. We find evidence that, rather than misrepresenting their votes to poll-takers, people who voted for the losing side are less likely to participate in post-election surveys.

Political Science Quarterly

In the spring of 2014, a group of prominent commentators slammed the New York-based organization ... more In the spring of 2014, a group of prominent commentators slammed the New York-based organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) for maintaining a "revolving door" with the U.S. government. 1 Exhibit A, the critics said, was Tom Malinowski, a senior staffer who had joined HRW in 2001 after seven years working in the U.S. government, returned to government service from 2013 to 2017, and then was elected as a New Jersey congressman in 2018. This and similar cases, the critics said, made HRW appear overly cozy with U.S. officialdom. Given "the impact of global perceptions on HRW's ability to carry out its work," the letter writers opined, even the "appearance of impropriety" undermined the organization's credibility. DAVID CROW was a professor of international relations and public policy at the Center for Economic Research and Teaching (CIDE, Mexico City) from 2010 to 2018. JAMES RON is a professor of public affairs and political science at the University of Minnesota. This article builds on and extends the data and analysis offered in their co-authored book, Taking Root: Human Rights and Public Opinion in the Global South.

Survey Practice

Benefits-and Costs-of a Multi-Mode Survey of Recent College Graduates Multi-mode surveys can enha... more Benefits-and Costs-of a Multi-Mode Survey of Recent College Graduates Multi-mode surveys can enhance the representativeness of respondents by reducing coverage and non-response errors, and by increasing response rates and the overall number of respondents (Dillman et al. 2009: 302-304; Weisberg 2005: 278-296)-particularly since the causes of unit non-response and, consequently, respondents' profiles vary across modes (Groves et al. 2002). Multi-mode surverys are increasingly the standard practice among researchers (Biemer and Lyberg 2003). However, they impose additional costs and administrative burdens (Dillman et al. 2009: 301). But how much does the use of multiple modes of contact improve the representativeness of respondents relative to the sample? Does this improvement, if any, come at an acceptable cost? We analyze the effects of using three modes of contact sequentially in a survey of recent graduates of University of California, Riverside, and assess the fieldwork costs associated with the use of multiple contact modes.

Oxford Scholarship Online

This chapter first sets out the book’s purpose, which is to examine the interaction between globa... more This chapter first sets out the book’s purpose, which is to examine the interaction between global South publics and human rights ideas and organizations. This chapter underscores the importance of the book’s key concepts: human rights, local human rights organizations, and public opinion. The chapter then discusses the four case studies—India, Mexico, Morocco, and Nigeria—that are the focus of the present inquiry, and explains why these countries were selected. It goes on to describe the book’s mixed-methods approach and introduce the Human Rights Perceptions Polls, followed by a brief overview of key findings.

Oxford Scholarship Online

The number of rights organizations worldwide has grown exponentially, as the term “human rights” ... more The number of rights organizations worldwide has grown exponentially, as the term “human rights” becomes increasingly common among politicians and civil society activists. As international donors pour money into global human rights promotion, many governments—as well as scores of scholars and activists—fear a subtle, Western-led campaign for political, economic, and cultural domination. This book asks: What do publics in the global South think? Drawing on surveys in India, Mexico, Morocco, and Nigeria, the book finds most people are in fact broadly supportive of human rights discourse, trust local, rights-promoting organizations, and do not view human rights as a tool of foreign powers. Pro-human rights constituencies, rather, tend to be highly skeptical of the U.S. government, of multinational corporations, and of their own governments. However, this generalized public support for the human rights “brand” is not grounded in strong commitments of public effort or money, or in dense ...

Oxford Scholarship Online

This chapter analyzes the diffusion of human rights consciousness among global South publics. Sur... more This chapter analyzes the diffusion of human rights consciousness among global South publics. Survey data reveal broad diffusion of human rights discourse, as respondents report hearing “human rights” regularly in their lives. Actual engagement with organized human rights activities is much lower, however, as knowledge about, contact with, and participation in human rights organizations is relatively rare. Concerning to those who hope the human rights sector is reaching and engaging those most likely in need of human rights protections, statistical analysis shows those with lower socioeconomic statuses are less likely to engage with human rights organizations or activities. This chapter discusses implications for social movement mobilization, including potential strategies for increasing participation in local human rights activities among diverse publics.

Oxford Scholarship Online

This chapter explores the complex relationship between religiosity and human rights. Publics in M... more This chapter explores the complex relationship between religiosity and human rights. Publics in Mexico, Morocco, India, and Nigeria are deeply religious, yet human rights practitioners struggle to identify the most effective methods to engage with religious worldviews and institutions. The chapter presents evidence for human rights conceptualizations that are unique to particular religious traditions. For example, Catholics are more likely to have positive associations with human rights than non-Catholics, and Muslims tend to associate “human rights” with “women’s rights” more than non-Muslims. Data also suggest that social religiosity, such as regular attendance in a place of worship, is associated with more negative ideas about human rights, whereas personal religiosity, such as practices of prayer, is linked to more positive ideas. Religion and human rights are strongly linked, but in multidirectional or seemingly contradictory ways, suggesting the need for context- and issue-sen...

Oxford Scholarship Online

This chapter examines the persistence of the top-down foreign funding resource pattern for local ... more This chapter examines the persistence of the top-down foreign funding resource pattern for local human rights organizations (LHROs) in the global South. Local publics have generally high levels of support for human rights ideas and organizations, and they do make donations to other causes. Despite this high potential for local donations, almost all LHRO funding flows from northern institutions. Part of the explanation lies in socially constructed philanthropic routines: individuals prioritize donations to “tangible” charities rather to organizations that support policy, advocacy, and legal work, and LHROs pursue international resources, rather than engage in costly domestic fundraising efforts. The chapter argues that local rights groups face an uncertain future if they do not begin to capitalize on public support. It further suggests that LHROs should—and can—develop a more diverse domestic resource base.

Oxford Scholarship Online

This chapter discusses key findings of the preceding chapters and presents some directions for fu... more This chapter discusses key findings of the preceding chapters and presents some directions for future research. While public opinion in the global South is far from monolithic, this research found relative favor for human rights ideas and organizations, suggesting deeper grassroots support than many critics allege or practitioners fear. However, the preceding chapters also argued that this general public good will has not been fully harnessed or transformed into action. This chapter suggests that human rights researchers should spend more time investigating the public experiences with and opinions about human rights. Scholars have devoted enormous attention to the construction, diffusion, and reception of human rights norms, but have largely focused on states, legal systems, organizations, and other institutions. Few have explored public attitudes toward international human rights norms and organizations; additional research is needed on the depth, limits, variability, and potential...

Governance

Transparency guarantees in Mexico presented a serious challenge to its 2007–2012 war on drugs. We... more Transparency guarantees in Mexico presented a serious challenge to its 2007–2012 war on drugs. We use an original database of access to information requests, including both petitions for information and appeals to IFAI. We conduct statistical tests on the databases, finding that transparency is lower on security issues, as expected, but that there are unexpected variations between security agencies, and over time. We then conduct a content analysis of freedom of information requests to determine what drives agency responses, finding that security agencies developed various techniques to deflect petitions for information, such as falsely claiming that information has been provided when it has not, claiming that the information is outside the competence of the agency, that it does not exist, or that it is already in the public domain. Also there are significant differences in transparency between security agencies, possibly explained by their operational roles.

Journal of Human Rights

ABSTRACT Just as Mexico—particularly civil society—has joined the rights revolution, a crime wave... more ABSTRACT Just as Mexico—particularly civil society—has joined the rights revolution, a crime wave is convulsing the country. Local human rights organizations (LHROs) are crucial intercessors on behalf of citizens. Public trust is vital for LHROs to be effective, especially in their tasks of promoting police and justice reform. How does crime affect trust in LHROs? Does it reduce trust, leading to a “rights trap” in which lack of citizen support wrests legitimacy from LHROs and governments retrench on rights? Or could it increase LHRO trust, leading to a “rights amplifier” in which greater LHRO efficacy fosters rights observance? Using data from the 2014 The Americas and the World/Human Rights Perceptions Polls, I find that crime's effects vary according to the security and institutional context. Victimization damages LHRO trust in high-crime communities but enhances it in low-crime ones. Crime can trigger both rights traps and amplifiers.

Journal of Human Rights Practice

Human rights groups in global South countries rely heavily, but not exclusively, on funds from ab... more Human rights groups in global South countries rely heavily, but not exclusively, on funds from abroad, and this pattern has created a number of vulnerabilities. Conventional explanations for this pattern include political repression, poverty, and cultural particularity. We argue that these do not tell the whole story, however, and offer evidence that local rights groups receive more public support than many assume. Other, less common, explanations for rights groups’ reliance on external funds include habit and routine, fear of political manipulation by co-citizens, and, potentially, a failure to provide services that local people deem sufficiently valuable. To broaden their funding base to within-country sources, local rights groups in the global South will have to hire new staff, experiment with new methods, and better define their value added.

Human rights, donations, public attitudes, trust, focus groups, survey experiments, Mexico City, ... more Human rights, donations, public attitudes, trust, focus groups, survey experiments, Mexico City, derechos humanos, donaciones, filantropia, actitudes publicas, confianza, grupos de enfoque, experimento en encuesta, Ciudad de Mexico

Human Rights Quarterly, 2015

Local human rights organizations (LHROs) are crucial allies in international efforts to promote h... more Local human rights organizations (LHROs) are crucial allies in international efforts to promote human rights. Without support from organized civil society, efforts by transnational human rights reformers would have little effect. Despite their importance, we have little systematic information on the correlates of public trust in LHROs. To fill this gap, we conducted key informant interviews with 233 human rights workers from sixty countries, and then administered a new Human Rights Perceptions Poll to representative public samples in Mexico (n = 2,400), Morocco (n = 1,100), India (n = 1,680), and Colombia (n = 1,699). Our data reveal that popular trust in local rights groups is consistently associated with greater respondent familiarity with the rights discourse, actors, and organizations, along with greater skepticism toward state institutions and agents. The evidence fails to provide consistent, strong support for other commonly held expectations, however, including those about the effects of foreign funding, socioeconomic status, and transnational connections.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2014

Local human rights organizations (LHROs) are key domestic and transnational actors, modifying, di... more Local human rights organizations (LHROs) are key domestic and transnational actors, modifying, diffusing, and promoting liberal norms; mobilizing citizens; networking with the media and activists; and pressuring governments to implement international commitments. These groups, however, are reliant on international funds. This makes sense in politically repressive environments, where potential donors fear government retaliation, but is puzzling elsewhere. We interviewed 263 LHRO leaders and key informants from 60 countries, and conducted statistically representative surveys of 6,180 respondents in India, Mexico, Morocco, and Nigeria. Based on these data, we believe LHRO funding in non-repressive environments is shaped by philanthropic logics of appropriateness. In the late 1990s, transnational activists successfully mainstreamed human rights throughout the international donor assistance community, freeing up development money for LHROs. Domestic activists in the global South have not promoted similar philanthropic transformations at home, where charitable giving still focuses on traditional institutions. Instead, domestic rights activists have followed the path of least resistance towards international aid, a logic of outcomes produced by variations in global logics of [philanthropic] appropriateness.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2014

This article presents early results from the Human Rights Perception Polls, representative survey... more This article presents early results from the Human Rights Perception Polls, representative surveys on human rights attitudes conducted in 2012 in Mexico, Colombia, Morocco and India. We investigate statistical associations between two measures of human rights familiarity – exposure to the term, “human rights,” and personal contact with human rights workers – and four measures of socio-economic status (SES): education, income, urban residence, and internet use. Controlling for sex and age, we find higher SES is generally associated with more human rights exposure and contact. Interpretation of these results’ practical ramifications, however, depends on readers’ underlying view of the human rights mission. Should human rights groups engage chiefly with society’s poorest and most vulnerable populations? If so, our results suggest room for improvement. If readers instead believe human rights groups should focus on elites, advocate high level reforms, or link disparate groups, however, our results offer less cause for concern.

Does using different scale produce substantively different evaluations of institutions? If so, wh... more Does using different scale produce substantively different evaluations of institutions? If so, why? Are there grounds for preferring one scale to another? We attempt to answer these questions by marshalling a rich set of survey experiments from the 2010 and 2012 Mexico, the Americas, and the World surveys, carried out in Mexico (and other countries) under the aegis of the Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas (CIDE). The survey experiments asked split samples questions on institutional trust, as well as on migration and foreign policy (73 questions in all), providing one halfsample with a 4-pt. response scale and the other, a 7-pt. scale. Comparing the (rescaled) means of the half-samples, we find that the scales do, indeed, produce significantly different evaluations of institutions. But the size of the differences between the scales varies not only from institution to institution, but also among other topics we asked about. We show that the differences are greater when the topic is controversial, people know less about it, and attitudes are neither very positive nor very negative, but middling. Finally, we argue that the 4-pt. scale appears to measure institutional trust better than the 7-pt. scale, at least in the context of Mexico and the Mexico, the Americas, and the World survey.

James Ron ocupa a cátedra Stassen de Relações Internacionais da Faculdade de Humphrey e do Depart... more James Ron ocupa a cátedra Stassen de Relações Internacionais da Faculdade de Humphrey e do Departamento de Ciência Política na Universidade de Minnesota. Ele coordena as Human Rights Perceptions Polls (Pesquisas sobre Percepções de Direitos Humanos), é professor afiliado do Center for Economic Research and Teaching (CIDE, na sigla em espanhol) no México e fundou o fórum on-line multilíngue openGlobalRights, destinado aos estrategistas de direitos humanos.

Post-election poll results typically overstate the proportion of people who voted for winning can... more Post-election poll results typically overstate the proportion of people who voted for winning candidates at all levels of government. Using original survey data and the American National Election Study, we test several alternative explanations of this apparent post-election “bandwagon” effect: conventional ones include expectations that respondents misrepresent how they voted to save face, genuinely forget how they voted, or experience shifts in opinion just before an election. We develop and test an unexplored alternative hypothesis, that postelection surveys inflate the winner’s vote because a greater proportion of people who voted for the winning side want to participate in a post-election survey than people who voted for the loser. We devise empirical tests to distinguish and test each of these hypotheses. We find evidence that, rather than misrepresenting their votes to poll-takers, people who voted for the losing side are less likely to participate in post-election surveys.

Political Science Quarterly

In the spring of 2014, a group of prominent commentators slammed the New York-based organization ... more In the spring of 2014, a group of prominent commentators slammed the New York-based organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) for maintaining a "revolving door" with the U.S. government. 1 Exhibit A, the critics said, was Tom Malinowski, a senior staffer who had joined HRW in 2001 after seven years working in the U.S. government, returned to government service from 2013 to 2017, and then was elected as a New Jersey congressman in 2018. This and similar cases, the critics said, made HRW appear overly cozy with U.S. officialdom. Given "the impact of global perceptions on HRW's ability to carry out its work," the letter writers opined, even the "appearance of impropriety" undermined the organization's credibility. DAVID CROW was a professor of international relations and public policy at the Center for Economic Research and Teaching (CIDE, Mexico City) from 2010 to 2018. JAMES RON is a professor of public affairs and political science at the University of Minnesota. This article builds on and extends the data and analysis offered in their co-authored book, Taking Root: Human Rights and Public Opinion in the Global South.

Survey Practice

Benefits-and Costs-of a Multi-Mode Survey of Recent College Graduates Multi-mode surveys can enha... more Benefits-and Costs-of a Multi-Mode Survey of Recent College Graduates Multi-mode surveys can enhance the representativeness of respondents by reducing coverage and non-response errors, and by increasing response rates and the overall number of respondents (Dillman et al. 2009: 302-304; Weisberg 2005: 278-296)-particularly since the causes of unit non-response and, consequently, respondents' profiles vary across modes (Groves et al. 2002). Multi-mode surverys are increasingly the standard practice among researchers (Biemer and Lyberg 2003). However, they impose additional costs and administrative burdens (Dillman et al. 2009: 301). But how much does the use of multiple modes of contact improve the representativeness of respondents relative to the sample? Does this improvement, if any, come at an acceptable cost? We analyze the effects of using three modes of contact sequentially in a survey of recent graduates of University of California, Riverside, and assess the fieldwork costs associated with the use of multiple contact modes.

Oxford Scholarship Online

This chapter first sets out the book’s purpose, which is to examine the interaction between globa... more This chapter first sets out the book’s purpose, which is to examine the interaction between global South publics and human rights ideas and organizations. This chapter underscores the importance of the book’s key concepts: human rights, local human rights organizations, and public opinion. The chapter then discusses the four case studies—India, Mexico, Morocco, and Nigeria—that are the focus of the present inquiry, and explains why these countries were selected. It goes on to describe the book’s mixed-methods approach and introduce the Human Rights Perceptions Polls, followed by a brief overview of key findings.

Oxford Scholarship Online

The number of rights organizations worldwide has grown exponentially, as the term “human rights” ... more The number of rights organizations worldwide has grown exponentially, as the term “human rights” becomes increasingly common among politicians and civil society activists. As international donors pour money into global human rights promotion, many governments—as well as scores of scholars and activists—fear a subtle, Western-led campaign for political, economic, and cultural domination. This book asks: What do publics in the global South think? Drawing on surveys in India, Mexico, Morocco, and Nigeria, the book finds most people are in fact broadly supportive of human rights discourse, trust local, rights-promoting organizations, and do not view human rights as a tool of foreign powers. Pro-human rights constituencies, rather, tend to be highly skeptical of the U.S. government, of multinational corporations, and of their own governments. However, this generalized public support for the human rights “brand” is not grounded in strong commitments of public effort or money, or in dense ...

Oxford Scholarship Online

This chapter analyzes the diffusion of human rights consciousness among global South publics. Sur... more This chapter analyzes the diffusion of human rights consciousness among global South publics. Survey data reveal broad diffusion of human rights discourse, as respondents report hearing “human rights” regularly in their lives. Actual engagement with organized human rights activities is much lower, however, as knowledge about, contact with, and participation in human rights organizations is relatively rare. Concerning to those who hope the human rights sector is reaching and engaging those most likely in need of human rights protections, statistical analysis shows those with lower socioeconomic statuses are less likely to engage with human rights organizations or activities. This chapter discusses implications for social movement mobilization, including potential strategies for increasing participation in local human rights activities among diverse publics.

Oxford Scholarship Online

This chapter explores the complex relationship between religiosity and human rights. Publics in M... more This chapter explores the complex relationship between religiosity and human rights. Publics in Mexico, Morocco, India, and Nigeria are deeply religious, yet human rights practitioners struggle to identify the most effective methods to engage with religious worldviews and institutions. The chapter presents evidence for human rights conceptualizations that are unique to particular religious traditions. For example, Catholics are more likely to have positive associations with human rights than non-Catholics, and Muslims tend to associate “human rights” with “women’s rights” more than non-Muslims. Data also suggest that social religiosity, such as regular attendance in a place of worship, is associated with more negative ideas about human rights, whereas personal religiosity, such as practices of prayer, is linked to more positive ideas. Religion and human rights are strongly linked, but in multidirectional or seemingly contradictory ways, suggesting the need for context- and issue-sen...

Oxford Scholarship Online

This chapter examines the persistence of the top-down foreign funding resource pattern for local ... more This chapter examines the persistence of the top-down foreign funding resource pattern for local human rights organizations (LHROs) in the global South. Local publics have generally high levels of support for human rights ideas and organizations, and they do make donations to other causes. Despite this high potential for local donations, almost all LHRO funding flows from northern institutions. Part of the explanation lies in socially constructed philanthropic routines: individuals prioritize donations to “tangible” charities rather to organizations that support policy, advocacy, and legal work, and LHROs pursue international resources, rather than engage in costly domestic fundraising efforts. The chapter argues that local rights groups face an uncertain future if they do not begin to capitalize on public support. It further suggests that LHROs should—and can—develop a more diverse domestic resource base.

Oxford Scholarship Online

This chapter discusses key findings of the preceding chapters and presents some directions for fu... more This chapter discusses key findings of the preceding chapters and presents some directions for future research. While public opinion in the global South is far from monolithic, this research found relative favor for human rights ideas and organizations, suggesting deeper grassroots support than many critics allege or practitioners fear. However, the preceding chapters also argued that this general public good will has not been fully harnessed or transformed into action. This chapter suggests that human rights researchers should spend more time investigating the public experiences with and opinions about human rights. Scholars have devoted enormous attention to the construction, diffusion, and reception of human rights norms, but have largely focused on states, legal systems, organizations, and other institutions. Few have explored public attitudes toward international human rights norms and organizations; additional research is needed on the depth, limits, variability, and potential...

Governance

Transparency guarantees in Mexico presented a serious challenge to its 2007–2012 war on drugs. We... more Transparency guarantees in Mexico presented a serious challenge to its 2007–2012 war on drugs. We use an original database of access to information requests, including both petitions for information and appeals to IFAI. We conduct statistical tests on the databases, finding that transparency is lower on security issues, as expected, but that there are unexpected variations between security agencies, and over time. We then conduct a content analysis of freedom of information requests to determine what drives agency responses, finding that security agencies developed various techniques to deflect petitions for information, such as falsely claiming that information has been provided when it has not, claiming that the information is outside the competence of the agency, that it does not exist, or that it is already in the public domain. Also there are significant differences in transparency between security agencies, possibly explained by their operational roles.

Journal of Human Rights

ABSTRACT Just as Mexico—particularly civil society—has joined the rights revolution, a crime wave... more ABSTRACT Just as Mexico—particularly civil society—has joined the rights revolution, a crime wave is convulsing the country. Local human rights organizations (LHROs) are crucial intercessors on behalf of citizens. Public trust is vital for LHROs to be effective, especially in their tasks of promoting police and justice reform. How does crime affect trust in LHROs? Does it reduce trust, leading to a “rights trap” in which lack of citizen support wrests legitimacy from LHROs and governments retrench on rights? Or could it increase LHRO trust, leading to a “rights amplifier” in which greater LHRO efficacy fosters rights observance? Using data from the 2014 The Americas and the World/Human Rights Perceptions Polls, I find that crime's effects vary according to the security and institutional context. Victimization damages LHRO trust in high-crime communities but enhances it in low-crime ones. Crime can trigger both rights traps and amplifiers.

Journal of Human Rights Practice

Human rights groups in global South countries rely heavily, but not exclusively, on funds from ab... more Human rights groups in global South countries rely heavily, but not exclusively, on funds from abroad, and this pattern has created a number of vulnerabilities. Conventional explanations for this pattern include political repression, poverty, and cultural particularity. We argue that these do not tell the whole story, however, and offer evidence that local rights groups receive more public support than many assume. Other, less common, explanations for rights groups’ reliance on external funds include habit and routine, fear of political manipulation by co-citizens, and, potentially, a failure to provide services that local people deem sufficiently valuable. To broaden their funding base to within-country sources, local rights groups in the global South will have to hire new staff, experiment with new methods, and better define their value added.

Review of International Political Economy, 2016

Local human rights organizations (LHROs) are key domestic and transnational actors, modifying, di... more Local human rights organizations (LHROs) are key domestic and transnational actors, modifying, diffusing, and promoting liberal norms; mobilizing citizens; networking with the media and activists; and pressuring governments to implement international commitments. These groups, however, are reliant on international funds. This makes sense in politically repressive environments, where potential donors fear government retaliation, but is puzzling elsewhere. We interviewed 263 LHRO leaders and key informants from 60 countries, and conducted statistically representative surveys of 6180 respondents in India, Mexico, Morocco, and Nigeria. Based on these data, we believe LHRO funding in non-repressive environments is shaped by philanthropic logics of appropriateness. In the late 1990s, transnational activists successfully mainstreamed human rights throughout the international donor assistance community, freeing up development money for LHROs. Domestic activists in the global South have not promoted similar philanthropic transformations at home, where charitable giving still focuses on traditional institutions. Instead, domestic rights activists have followed the path of least resistance toward international aid, a logic of outcomes produced by variations in global logics of (philanthropic) appropriateness.