Jordan Holsinger, Ph.D., is a graduate of the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy at Florida State University (Ph.D. Political Science ’21). Below is a summary of Dr. Holsinger’s dissertation titled, “Acquiescence over Activism: How NGOs Manage Authoritarian Demands,” authored by FSU student Katie Kelsey (Creative Writing ‘24).
Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) must coexist with the political climates they serve in to carry out their missions. Jordan Holsinger, Ph.D., conducted research on the topic and authored his dissertation, “Acquiescence over Activism: How NGOs Manage Authoritarian Demands.” Since the existing political regime controlling the country in which the NGO resides can easily determine whether the mission of the NGO can be legally completed, NGOs rely heavily on cooperation from their host country. Dr. Holsinger investigated this political interaction, finding that NGOs thrive in authoritarian and semi-authoritarian countries due to their compliance with the regime.
Dr. Holsinger found NGOs have adapted to survive in these sensitive political climates by adjusting their missions to align with the regime in control and reducing costs to the regime’s leaders. Similarly, NGOs with attachments to their host regime reduce their activity to keep themselves afloat. Regardless, NGOs do what they must to survive in their respective political climates, which is often different as each environment presents unique challenges.
To study how NGOs operate when they are not welcome, Dr. Holsinger selected the construction of a canal in Nicaragua. In this quasi-case study, he utilized a control dataset of thirteen thousand geo-coded project locations and NGO budgets to determine how NGOs react to a newfound politically fragile regime. He found NGOs operating in areas with authoritarian governments were more inclined to support regime stability. Dr. Holsinger pinpointed survival tactics that were the most effective for NGOs, especially those operating in high-conflict areas. In these cases, NGOs had to either adapt to the environment and support the regime’s recovery, or abandon their mission altogether. Dr. Holsinger believes more research should be done about how NGOs manage challenging circumstances while making progress in a world with an ever-changing geopolitical landscape.