Agenda-Setting in Greenpeace and Amnesty: The Limits of Centralisation in International NGOs

While international nongovernmental organisations (INGOs) have been heavily studied for their role in transnational advocacy, most research has ignored their internal organisation and the relationships between international and grassroots offices. Intuition suggests that INGOs should face structural imperatives to balance maintaining global brands while simultaneously mobilising disparate publics in local contexts. However, this intuition has not yet been systematically studied. We address this with a paired comparison of Amnesty International and Greenpeace. Using case studies and an original dataset of website attributes, we show that campaigns promoted by international offices and their national counterparts reflect a balance between local diversity and global unity, revealing organisational structures that combine centralised agenda-setting with decentralised agenda implementation. Our research identifies a “measurement gap” with implications for understanding INGO accountability and effectiveness, and indicates that a more complete research programme on INGOs must include attention to internal organisation and structural diversity.     

东北亚安全合作机制国际研讨会主要观点

“东北亚安全合作机制”国际研讨会于2005年8月3-4日在北京召开。会议由中国现代国际关系研究院与福特基金会共同主办,来自中、美、俄、日、韩、朝六国的20多位专家学者,围绕传统同盟关系、六方会谈、双边关系、非传统安全、经济合作与东北亚安全合作,以及建立东北亚安全合作机制的困难和方案等议题进行了广泛、深入的探讨。现将会议一些主要观点摘要选登如下,以飨读者。