| Sumario: | The article addresses two questions: 1) Which factors negatively impact the effectiveness of democracy assistance in Belarus? and 2) How effectively have International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs) in Belarus carried out democracy assistance? To do so, it draws on an original dataset about INGOs' activities in the country, which was compiled through a dozen qualitative interviews with representatives of these organizations. Methodologically, the article replicates a multivariate design of Sarah Bush, allowing it--unlike most previous research--to quantify the negative impact of understudied problems in the field of Belarusian democratic assistance, including professionalization, competition, and the interaction of actors' motives and incentives. A surprising research finding is that donors in Belarus, for a number of reasons, knowingly support "ineffective' programs.
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