GVPT404

Recommended: GVPT200. Restriction: Must be in Government & Politics or Government & Politics: International Relations program. Credit only granted for: GVPT409R or GVPT404. Formerly: GVPT409R. The world spends hundreds of billions of dollars on foreign aid every year. The effects of this aid spending are controversial. Research supports both pessimistic and optimistic views of foreign aid's effectiveness, with little consensus. Where does aid money go? What are the motivations of aid donors? Is foreign aid effective at achieving its goals? Why or why not? This course is designed to survey the promise and the challenges of foreign aid as a policy tool. The first half of the course will focus on the motivations and goals of foreign aid. We will consider various foreign aid donors, such as countries, institutions, and individuals, to understand the motivations behind and effects of foreign aid. We will create a typology of foreign aid agendas, motivations, and donors. The second half of the course will consider the challenges specific to foreign aid. This includes both technical challenges and political challenges. We will consider the strategies that aid donors and organizations have taken to try to overcome these challenges.