From Monitoring to Meddling: How Foreign Actors Shape (intro chapter pdf)
My dissertation examines why countries provide foreign economic assistance. I investigate three explanatory factors – ideology, transnational ties, and material interests – and assess how these factors interact with foreign policy postures like internationalism to shape foreign aid policies. Using original experimental data from the United States, United Kingdom, and Norway, I develop three central claims.
The first claim concerns the role of ideology. Previous work hypothesizes that support for foreign aid is higher among liberal voters and policymakers than among conservative ones. I argue that this relationship is not as straightforward as scholars claim and that liberals’ support for foreign aid depends on their foreign policy orientation – the degree to which they have an isolationist or internationalist posture. Using original survey data and embedded experiments, I show that liberal internationalists support foreign aid, but liberal isolationists oppose it. This theory sheds light on a number of puzzles including why Americans are so opposed to foreign aid, why welfare is more popular than foreign aid, and why some countries have generous welfare states but are foreign aid laggards.
Building on these findings, my second claim is about the role of transnational ties. I show that the personal connections individuals have to foreign countries and peoples increase support for foreign aid. Surprisingly, I demonstrate that this effect is not due to group interests, but rather reflects a cosmopolitan world view, a disposition closely related to internationalism. Using an embedded experiment in a large national survey of Latino Americans, I establish the positive association between transnational ties and support for foreign aid and find that Latinos with strong ties support a U.S. foreign aid program regardless of whether it benefits cross-border group members. This work implies that the transnational ties created through globalization and international migration will boost popular support for foreign aid. It also begins to establish the microfoundations for the emerging literature linking international migration and foreign aid spending.
My third contribution highlights the role of material interests. This section tests two theoretical arguments. First, I argue that national interests are more salient instrumental motivations for foreign aid than self-interest. Thus, perceptions of national interest are a better predictor of foreign aid attitudes. The second argument proposes that national interests can provide those with an isolationist foreign policy orientation with motivation to support foreign aid. In a nationally representative survey of Americans, I show that an experiment that primes respondents with information about the strategic importance of foreign aid recipients increases support for a foreign aid program. A survey to be fielded later this year will test whether this effect is particularly strong among isolationists.
In summary, my dissertation offers new theory and data to advance our understanding of why countries provide foreign aid, highlighting in particular the important role of internationalism in structuring foreign aid attitudes and outcomes.
My dissertation examines why countries provide foreign economic assistance. I investigate three explanatory factors – ideology, transnational ties, and material interests – and assess how these factors interact with foreign policy postures like internationalism to shape foreign aid policies. Using original experimental data from the United States, United Kingdom, and Norway, I develop three central claims.
The first claim concerns the role of ideology. Previous work hypothesizes that support for foreign aid is higher among liberal voters and policymakers than among conservative ones. I argue that this relationship is not as straightforward as scholars claim and that liberals’ support for foreign aid depends on their foreign policy orientation – the degree to which they have an isolationist or internationalist posture. Using original survey data and embedded experiments, I show that liberal internationalists support foreign aid, but liberal isolationists oppose it. This theory sheds light on a number of puzzles including why Americans are so opposed to foreign aid, why welfare is more popular than foreign aid, and why some countries have generous welfare states but are foreign aid laggards.
Building on these findings, my second claim is about the role of transnational ties. I show that the personal connections individuals have to foreign countries and peoples increase support for foreign aid. Surprisingly, I demonstrate that this effect is not due to group interests, but rather reflects a cosmopolitan world view, a disposition closely related to internationalism. Using an embedded experiment in a large national survey of Latino Americans, I establish the positive association between transnational ties and support for foreign aid and find that Latinos with strong ties support a U.S. foreign aid program regardless of whether it benefits cross-border group members. This work implies that the transnational ties created through globalization and international migration will boost popular support for foreign aid. It also begins to establish the microfoundations for the emerging literature linking international migration and foreign aid spending.
My third contribution highlights the role of material interests. This section tests two theoretical arguments. First, I argue that national interests are more salient instrumental motivations for foreign aid than self-interest. Thus, perceptions of national interest are a better predictor of foreign aid attitudes. The second argument proposes that national interests can provide those with an isolationist foreign policy orientation with motivation to support foreign aid. In a nationally representative survey of Americans, I show that an experiment that primes respondents with information about the strategic importance of foreign aid recipients increases support for a foreign aid program. A survey to be fielded later this year will test whether this effect is particularly strong among isolationists.
In summary, my dissertation offers new theory and data to advance our understanding of why countries provide foreign aid, highlighting in particular the important role of internationalism in structuring foreign aid attitudes and outcomes.
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Twitter: @laurenrprather
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Email: [email protected]
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