When aid NGOs embrace the human rights-based approach: human rights norms, religiosity, and civic culture

International aid non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have generally been seen as emergency relief organizations that help people in dire conditions survive. Beginning in the late 1980s, this idea began to change when a new development scheme called the human rights-based approach (HRBA) emerged; this approach promotes the civil and political rights of marginalized people to achieve sustainable development ends. This HRBA has become the new norm, and NGOs have begun to undertake political activities in the hope of producing long-term development effects. However, some NGOs have maintained their traditional missions limited to humanitarian relief. What caused the divergent responses of NGOs to the changing development norms? The research employs large-N logit regression modeling to identify the factors that determined the divergence in NGOs' activities. The findings reveal that the following variables matter: contact with human rights norms, the civic culture of the home country, and the religiosity of the original mission.