Harmful side effects: how government restrictions against transnational civil society affect global health

Heinzel, M. and Koenig-Archibugi, M. (2022) Harmful side effects: how government restrictions against transnational civil society affect global health. British Journal of Political Science, (doi: 10.1017/S0007123422000564) (Early Online Publication)

Abstract

Governments have increasingly adopted laws restricting the activities of international non-governmental organizations INGOs within their borders. Such laws are often intended to curb the ability of critical INGOs to discover and communicate government failures and abuses to domestic and international audiences. They can also have the unintended effect of reducing the presence and activities of INGOs working on health issues, and depriving local health workers and organizations of access to resources, knowledge and other forms of support. This study assesses whether legislative restrictions on INGOs are associated with fewer health INGOs in a wide range of countries and with the ability of those countries to mitigate disability-adjusted life years lost because of twenty-one disease categories between 1993 and 2017. The findings indicate that restrictive legislation hampered efforts by civil society to lighten the global burden of disease and had adverse side effects on the health of citizens worldwide.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Early Online Publication
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Heinzel, Dr Mirko
• Authors: Heinzel, M., and Koenig-Archibugi, M.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Politics
• Journal Name: British Journal of Political Science
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• ISSN: 0007-1234
• ISSN (Online): 1469-2112
• Published Online: 10 November 2022
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2022 The Authors
• First Published: First published in British Journal of Political Science 2023
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons licence