The Rise and Fall of the Aid Effectiveness Norm

Stephen Brown ()
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Stephen Brown: University of Ottawa

The European Journal of Development Research, 2020, vol. 32, issue 4, No 18, 1230-1248

Abstract: Abstract This article analyzes the rise and fall of the aid effectiveness norm, using the lens of Finnemore and Sikkink’s norm ‘life cycle’. I argue that, although donors and recipients endorsed the founding principles, the norm was only feebly internalized: they were unwilling to overcome their reluctance—and important disincentives—to substantially change their practices on the ground. After the norm cascaded, the donor-led process sought to gain legitimacy and diffuse the norm more broadly by trying to bring in a wider range of actors through norm substitution. These changes failed to convince emerging donors to engage and caused the norm to decay to the point where it ceased to constitute a norm. This case highlights the importance of refining the life cycle model to take into account weak internalization and the potential existence of a second phase in which norms decline and potentially die.

Keywords: Foreign aid; Aid effectiveness; Norms; Norm life cycle; Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness; Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:eurjdr:v:32:y:2020:i:4:d:10.1057_s41287-020-00272-1

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DOI: 10.1057/s41287-020-00272-1

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