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.
Gafuri et al. (Mon,) studied this question.