ABSTRACT
Chapter 3 differentiates the three donor country contexts that come under scrutiny in my qualitative analysis in the following chapters. To distinguish the variation across the case study countries requires the examination of the major components which comprise the ‘Development Assistance Sector’ in each donor state. This chapter briefly outlines the salient components of this sector in the book’s three country cases as of 2006–2008 period in which the case studies were conducted. Four main components of the development assistance sectors in Canada, Sweden, and the United States are considered, along with the underlying motivations for the provision of development assistance in each society: (1) the level of public support for development assistance; (2) the structure of the primary aid agency in terms of both decision-making and independence from the rest of government; (3) the degree of involvement of civil society in the development assistance endeavour; and (4) recent legislative frameworks which work to shape the delivery of development assistance in each country. The end of the chapter addresses the changes that have occurred in each country’s aid sector since the case study data collection was conducted.
