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Coalition lobbying in Tanzania: the experiences of local NGOs
Author(s) -
ElliottTeague Ginger L.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of public affairs
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.221
H-Index - 20
eISSN - 1479-1854
pISSN - 1472-3891
DOI - 10.1002/pa.286
Subject(s) - tanzania , legitimacy , argument (complex analysis) , legislation , population , public economics , political science , relevance (law) , economics , resource (disambiguation) , public policy , public administration , economic growth , sociology , law , socioeconomics , politics , computer network , biochemistry , chemistry , demography , computer science
Among the few papers that have been written on interest group behaviour in developing countries, none considers how groups cooperate to influence public policy. This paper is intended to help fill that gap in the literature. It does so by comparing the formation and development of four non‐governmental organization (NGO) campaigns in Tanzania between 1997 and 2004. Three of these NGO campaigns were able to establish coalitions while one was not. The NGOs involved were attempting to influence public policy on three pieces of legislation: the Land Acts of 1999, the NGO Act of 2002 and the Environmental Management Act of 2004. Two theories of coalition formation, one of population ecology and one of resource dependency are used in the paper to assess their relevance to the Tanzanian experience. The paper finds that these theories do not adequately explain coalition formation in Tanzania. Of several factors predicted by these theories, only two are found to be related to coalition formation in the Tanzanian case. However, when coalitions do form they allow individual groups to pool scarce resources, share information and expertise and enhance the legitimacy of the policy argument. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.