Authors
Maximilian Hartl1; 1 IOS Regensburg, Germany Discussion
In recent decades, governments across the globe have introduced increasingly restrictive laws targeting the activities of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). These measures reflect growing state scepticism towards NGOs, which are often perceived as potential challengers to political authority or as catalysts of civil unrest. Among the many forms of restriction, a particular type of legislation has gained prominence in Southeastern Europe and the post-Soviet space: the so-called Foreign Agent Laws. First introduced in Russia in 2012, these laws label any “politically active” NGO receiving foreign funding as an “agent of foreign influence.” Their diffusion to other states and their apparent effectiveness in curbing civic engagement raise pressing questions about both the appeal of such legislation and its broader implications for civil society.While a substantial body of scholarship examines NGO restrictions in general, systematic comparisons with a focus on Foreign Agent Laws remain scarce. Existing research tends to focus on individual cases or legal frameworks, leaving important gaps in understanding the common rationales, forms, and effects of these laws. The proposed paper seeks to address these shortcomings by synthesizing and structuring the current state of research on NGO restrictions, with particular emphasis on Foreign Agent Laws. By consolidating existing findings and identifying areas of insufficient exploration, the paper seeks to outline both the scope and the gaps of current knowledge. Ultimately, it highlights the need for a more systematic, comparative perspective in order to better understand the key reasons behind the adoption of Foreign Agent Laws, the legal and political forms they take, the legitimating narratives employed by governments, and the consequences they entail for civil society actors. 
