Foreign Aid for Human Rights
A Theoretical Framework and Evidence From 121 Aid-Receiving Countries, 2002–2021
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12419949 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Adea Gafuri (0000-0001-8647-1687, The Swedish Institute of International Affairs (UI)), Nora E Olmås (University of Gothenburg), Anna Persson (0000-0001-5226-8568, University of Gothenburg, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Publication date | 2026-03-09 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Political Research Quarterly (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1065-9129 • E-ISSN: 1938-274X |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/10659129261430650 |
| OpenAlex | W7135021381 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 69 |
Does foreign aid improve human rights? Even though Western donors typically put human rights at the forefront of foreign aid, the influence of such assistance on human rights remains largely unknown. Against this backdrop, this study provides a theoretical framework and empirical assessment of how foreign aid influences the respect and promotion of human rights in recipient countries. Conceptualizing aid as a foreign policy tool, we provide a dynamic model of aid disbursement, emphasizing how foreign aid can positively be expected to influence the promotion of human rights in the pre-allocation (initial) as well as post-allocation (subsequent) phase(s). We propose two main mechanisms through which this occurs— conditionality (as a form of hard power) and norm diffusion (as a form of soft power). To test our theory, we provide a time-series cross-sectional analysis of 121 aid-receiving countries over a period of 20 years, 2002–2021. In line with our theoretical expectation, the analysis reveals a positive and statistically significant association between Official Development Assistance (ODA) from OECD/DAC countries and the protection of physical integrity and civil liberties, illustrating the ways in which the international community can indeed play an important and positive role in protecting and promoting human rights
Aid effectiveness · Development aid · Foreign policy · Foreign policy analysis · Human rights · International community · Promotion (chess · Test (biology · Economic Growth and Development · Human Rights and Development · International Development and Aid
The curse of aid
The V-Dem Measurement Model
Human rights shaming through Ingos and foreign aid delivery
Do Human Rights Treaties Make a Difference?
Who Gives Foreign Aid to Whom and Why?
World Society and the Global Foreign Aid Network
Measures of state capacity
Integrating Human Rights into Development
The Power of Human Rights
Regimes of the World (RoW)
A Sociology of Foreign Aid and the World Society
Foreign aid donors, domestic actors, and human rights violations
Can foreign aid donors credibly threaten to suspend aid? Evidence from a cross-national survey of donor officials
The Power of Ideational Reach
Measuring the Effects of Human Rights Treaties
US aid and substitution of human rights violations
Is Aid Oil? An Analysis Of Whether Africa Can Absorb More Aid
A Typology of Political Conditionality Beyond Aid
Does it Work?’ – Work for Whom? Britain and Political Conditionality since the Cold War
The flag and the stick
Foreign aid withdrawals and suspensions
Aid effectiveness
Do aid agencies comply with human rights requirements in Practice? Systematic evidence on the integration of human rights in German development cooperation
Human Rights Treaty Ratification of Aid Receiving Countries
Does foreign aid harm political institutions
Keeping the state accountable
Does aid improve democracy and governance? A meta-regression analysis
Cultural and economic prerequisites of democracy
Do Human Rights Matter in Bilateral Aid Allocation? A Quantitative Analysis of 21 Donor Countries
Aiding Human Rights? The Effect of U.S., European, and Chinese Development Assistance on Rights Practices in Recipient Countries, 2001 to 2017
Why Comply? Social Learning and European Identity Change
Can democracy aid improve democracy? The European Union’s democracy assistance 2002–2018
From Aid to Empowerment
The Political Economy of the Resource Curse
United States Economic Aid and Repression
Explaining Commitment
Do International Human Rights Treaties Improve Respect for Human Rights
Rewards for Ratification
Rewarding Human Rights? Selective Aid Sanctions against Repressive States
The Politics of Gender Mainstreaming in Foreign Aid
Does Foreign Aid Promote Democracy
Mind the Gap
Conditioning the Effects of Aid
Aid Is Not Oil
Democracy from the Outside-In? International Organizations and Democratization
What Is Governance
Foreign Aid, Human Rights, and Democracy Promotion
Foreign Aid and Soft Power
Foreign aid and the rule of law
The Changing Nature of World Power
The Cost of Shame
International Human Rights and Domestic Income Inequality
Organized violence 1989-2021 and drone warfare
Armed Conflict 1946-2001
The United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
Respect for Human Rights has Improved Over Time
Human Rights in a Globalizing World
Filling Empty Promises? Foreign Aid and Human Rights Decoupling, 1981-2011
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |