The Relationship between U.S. Foundations and the U.S. Government : Beyond the Theory of Hegemony and Soft Power

Previous studies have argued that U.S. foundations play a crucial role in U.S. cultural diplomacy. Some have argued that U.S. foundations even built U.S. cultural hegemony internationally, in cooperation with the U.S. government. Others have studied how foundations ’“soft power” affects their grantees. However, the relationship between U.S. foundations and the U.S. government remains vague, as does how this relationship affects foundations ’grantees. This study examined previous research to clarify how U.S. foundations relate to the U.S. government in the area of public diplomacy and affect their grantees, with a focus on three points： （1）finances, （2）membership, and （3）activities. On the relationship between U.S. foundations and the U.S. government, the following can be concluded. First, foundations fund the government’s foreign-aid program. Second, the relationships between members of foundations and of the government can be divided into two patterns： foundation members who concurrently serve as policymakers in the government and foundation members and government policy-makers who jointly consult on the action plans of both organizations. Third, the government’s foreign policies affect foundations ’activities in that foundations plan their policies with reference to those of the government, and, in turn, foundations change the government’s foreign policies through their funding activities, although the details regarding the process of this influence remain unclear. Regarding foundations ’influence on their grantees in the area of U.S. cultural diplomacy, existing studies indicate the following. First, foundations make a massive amount of grants to their grantees, but they rarely show financial data. Second, the relationship between foundations ’members and their grantees is a fifty-fifty intellectual exchange. Finally, foundations cannot control all the activities of their grantees in detail, indicating a limitation on foundations’ influence.査読研究論文Refereed Paper