Research

Transnational non-governmental organizations (TNGOs) are increasingly visible actors in global affairs and have become the subject of rapidly expanding research agendas across many academic disciplines. While nonstate actors have always played an important role along-side states and intergovernmental organizations, in recent decades their visibility has markedly increased. This growing public awareness of transnational activism has created much debate about the legitimacy and proper role of civil society actors projecting their influence across national borders.

Although academics and the general public are today more aware of TNGO activity, our understanding of their role in global affairs remains limited in three important respects. First, most studies about TNGOs are confined to a specific sector (e.g. human rights) or focus on limited cases of particularly important issue campaigns (e.g. banning landmines). Second, most NGO research is carried out within the boundaries of a particular academic discipline, such as international relations, public administration, or sociology. The results reinforce the persistence of disciplinary divides and segmented research programs. Third, rarely do studies of transnational NGOs link an analysis of organizational characteristics to questions of effectiveness and impact. As a result of these limitations, we still lack a basic descriptive understanding of TNGOs and their role in global affairs.

The study and data collection efforts at the center of the TNGO Initiative is designed to overcome these three shortcomings. Leaders from 152 US-registered TNGOs spanning five major sectors of transnational activism were interviewed using an interdisciplinary protocol. Transnational NGO leaders were asked questions about governance, accountability, effectiveness, collaboration, communication and leadership. Additional secondary data were also collected. The interview study was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

To access some of the results of this research program, see publications.