This open access book advances a framework for understanding how domestic politics shape foreign aid policy. By examining the influence of domestic forces – specifically economic interests and value-based ideas – it offers a comprehensive analysis of the societal dynamics underpinning aid policymaking across three middle powers from different regions. Drawing on case studies of Mexico, South Korea, and Turkey in the post-2008 global context, the book provides a global perspective on how domestic politics shape governmental preferences toward international development cooperation. Combining theoretical innovation within International Political Economy with empirical depth, it is essential reading for scholars, students, and practitioners interested in the politics of aid, the international political economy of middle powers, and the evolving dynamics of global governance.

R. Melis Baydag is a lecturer and postdoctoral researcher at the Chair of European and Global Governance at the Technical University of Munich and an associate researcher at the German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS). Previously, she held positions as a lecturer and postdoctoral researcher at the University of Freiburg, as a researcher at IDOS, and as a research associate and lecturer at Ruhr University Bochum. Her research interests lie in International Relations and International Political Economy, particularly the domestic political foundations of foreign economic policy in emerging and advanced economies, as well as global economic governance, the politics of aid, international cooperation, populism, and middle powers. Her recent work has appeared in Cooperation and Conflict, Contemporary Politics, Politics & Policy, and Review of Development Economics.