Policy as symbolic statement: International response to national population policies

Traditional studies of state policies tend to focus on the achievement of t he policies' stated ends. But policies, as systems of meaning and expressio ns of legitimate statehood signal various meanings to national and internat ional audiences. In this article lye demonstrate the importance of the symb olic and international realms by investigating the impact of population pol icies on patterns of financial assistance From international donor organiza tions. We find that developing countries with policies are more likely to ( 1) receive population assistance, and (2) receive greater amounts of fundin g than are countries without policies. These results suggest that studies o f policy outcomes should not only evaluate local, intended consequences, bu t how national policies as international symbols may foster other types of consequences.