Power and Public Chambers in the development of civil society in Russia

2014 ◽  
Vol 47 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 409-419 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirsti Stuvøy
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
State Control ◽  
The Public ◽  
Starting Point

Embodying a state vision of how civil society ought to function and be designed by the authorities, Public Chambers in Russia have been criticized as means of state control. This state dominance is the starting point in this article, which asks what room to manoeuvre a regional Public Chamber has. Drawing upon fieldwork this article examines how members and local observers of the Public Chamber give meaning to this activity. The analysis assesses the role of state dominance, discussion of routines and responses to local demands, and concludes that these incremental developments form civil society in Russia.

OBJECTIVES AND FUNCTIONS OF LOBISTRY ACTIVITY IN UKRAINE: REALITIES TODAY AND EVOLUTIONARY FORECAST

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (12) ◽  
pp. 329-339
Author(s):  
Tikhon Sergeyevich Yarovoy
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Political System ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Public Interests ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political Events ◽  
The Developed Countries ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Industrial Groups

The article is devoted to the research of goals and functions of lobbying activity. The author has processed the ideas of domestic and foreign scientists, proposed his own approaches to the definition of goals and functions of lobbying activities through the prism of public administration. As a result, a generalized vision of the goals and functions of lobbying activities as interrelated elements of the lobbying system was proposed, and a forecast for further evolution of the goals and functions of domestic lobbying was provided. The analysis of lobbying functions allowed us to notice the tendencies in shifting the goals of this activity. If the objectives were fully covered by functions such as mediation between citizens and the state, the information function and the function of organizing plurality of public interests, then the role of strengthening the self-organization of civil society and the function of compromise become increasingly important in the process of formation in the developed countries of civil society and the development of telecommunication technologies. Ukrainian lobbyism will not be left to the side of this process. Already, politicians of the highest level, leaders of financial and industrial groups have to act, adjust their goals (even if they are — declared), taking into account the reaction of the public. In the future, this trend will only increase. The analysis of current research and political events provides all grounds for believing that, while proper regulatory legislation is being formed in Ukraine, the goals and functions of domestic lobbying will essentially shift towards a compromise with the public. It is noted that in spite of the existence of a basic direction of action, lobbying may have several ramified goals. Guided by the goals set, lobbyism can manifest itself in various spheres of the political system of society, combining the closely intertwined interests of various actors in the lobbying process, or even — contrasting them.

Let Many Civil Societies Bloom: The Rise of Consultative Authoritarianism in China

2013 ◽  
Vol 213 ◽  
pp. 19-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica C. Teets
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Authoritarian Regimes ◽  
Public Welfare ◽  
Development Model ◽  
State Control ◽  
New Model ◽  
Local Officials

AbstractIn this article, I analyse civil society development in China using examples from Beijing to demonstrate the causal role of local officials' ideas about these groups during the last 20 years. I argue that the decentralization of public welfare and the linkage of promotion to the delivery of these goods supported the idea of local government–civil society collaboration. This idea was undermined by international examples of civil society opposing authoritarianism and the strength of the state-led development model after the 2008 economic crisis. I find growing convergence on a new model of state–society relationship that I call “consultative authoritarianism,” which encourages the simultaneous expansion of a fairly autonomous civil society and the development of more indirect tools of state control. This model challenges the conventional wisdom that an operationally autonomous civil society cannot exist inside authoritarian regimes and that the presence of civil society is an indicator of democratization.

Why Do National Cybersecurity Awareness Programmes Often Fail?

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 18-27
Author(s):  
Eva NAGYFEJEO ◽  
Basie Von SOLMS
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
National Level ◽  
The Public ◽  
Awareness Campaigns ◽  
Cyber Space ◽  
Awareness Raising ◽  
The Government ◽  
Basic Level

Nowadays, many cyber users do not understand how to protect themselves and their information within cyber space. One reason is that cyber users are unaware of possible cyber risks and threats that may occur within cyber space. The second reason is that citizens, businesses and users within the public sector may be aware of relevant cyber risks but do not really understand the seriousness of such risks and the consequences if they do realise. Therefore, cybersecurity awareness campaigns are an integral part of improving cybersecurity awareness. Based on in-country reviews conducted as part of the Global Cybersecurity Capacity Centre (GCSCC) programme, we observed that the campaigns to raise cybersecurity awareness throughout the country are often led by different ‘owners’ without co-ordination and adequate resources therefore creating fragmentation in the national cybersecurity awareness raising programme. This paper suggests that the development of a coordinated and coherent national cybersecurity awareness program is critical for building a basic level of aware-ness at the national level. We will examine the requirements needed to develop a coordinated national awareness raising programme by reviewing the existing literature, best practice approaches and the role of different stakeholders such as the government, private sector and civil society. We will draw conclusions on the main obstacles to ensure overall coherence between the actions of stakeholders and the efforts countries should prioritise in order to increase awareness of cyber risks at the national level.

Politics, sport mega events and grassroots mobilization. Anticipated triumph and unexpected failure of political elite in Poland

2019 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 367-378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wojciech Woźniak
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Olympic Games ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
Contrasting Cases ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
The Public ◽  
Mega Events ◽  
Winter Olympic Games

Sport mega events are the most prominent manifestations of the multidimensional and global interrelation between sport and politics. The purpose of the paper is to present the contrasting cases of two Polish SMEs: UEFA European Championships in football (Euro, 2012) and the bid for Winter Olympic Games Cracow 2022. This article pays special attention to the role of Polish political elite in promoting both events and to the grassroots movement that effectively ended the bidding for the latter event. It also discusses how the allegedly successful Euro 2012 tournament was presented in the public discourse in order to avoid conflicts and debates about the very idea of hosting the games. This proved unsuccessful in the latter case. This case deserves scrutiny as it is an unusual example of effective bottom up mobilization of civil society against the whole political elite.

Libraries and the Preservation of Public Intellectual Space and Heritage

2020 ◽  
pp. 218-230
Author(s):  
Anil Kumar Nauriya
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Public Library ◽  
Public Intellectual ◽  
Public Intellectuals ◽  
The Public ◽  
Intellectual Heritage ◽  
Epistemic Justice ◽  
Primary Means

There is one aspect of Libraries that needs particularly to be highlighted, namely the role of the public library as a par excellence site that upholds the public intellectual space when contrasted to the more restricted academic space. It is a primary means by which public intellectuals and, through them, civil society, may hold even academia to account when the latter becomes confined by dead habits or restricted by institutional, bureaucratic, elitist or other, structures. It needs to be emphasized that academia and scholarship are not necessarily congruent. The interplay between academia and scholarship is crucial and that is made possible by the public library. Open libraries, especially public libraries, are at least as vital as the academia. The importance of a library or a museum is not necessarily related to its location or its size. “Preservation” and “intellectual heritage” need to be decolonized in order to realize epistemic justice.

Other voices? The state of public relations history and historiography: Questions, challenges and limitations of ‘national’ histories and historiographies

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate Fitch ◽  
Jacquie L’Etang
Keyword(s):  
Public Relations ◽  
The State ◽  
Methodological Issues ◽  
Book Series ◽  
The Public ◽  
Historical Literature ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Societal Context

This essay offers an overview of public relations history and historiography, using a review of a recently published book series as a starting point. In offering sometimes previously undocumented national histories and regional and non-US perspectives, National Perspectives on the Development of Public Relations: Other Voices opens up the field. However, the series also raises philosophical and methodological issues regarding the role of history, the positioning of public relations, tensions within the field and public relations’ relationship to societal communication and powerful strategic interests. Scholars have not always grounded their histories within wider historical literature that contextualises the public relations occupation and its role in a particular societal context. We argue that a renewed focus on historiography is needed to better address the influence of US progressivist accounts, the scientisation of western public relations and the narrow confines of the public relations discipline.

Romance, Irony, and Solidarity

1997 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald N. Jacobs ◽  
Philip Smith
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Social Solidarity ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political Cultures ◽  
Procedural Reform ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Narrative Forms

Contemporary social theory has turned increasingly to concepts such as civil society, community, and the public sphere in order to theorize about the construction of vital, democratic and solidaristic political cultures. The dominant prescriptions for attaining this end invoke the need for institutional and procedural reform, but overlook the autonomous role of culture in shaping and defining the forms of social solidarity. This article proposes a model of solidarity based on the two genres of Romance and Irony, and argues that these narrative forms offer useful vocabularies for organizing public discourse within and between civil society and its constituent communities. Whilst unable to sustain fully-inclusive and solidaristic political cultures on their own, in combination the genres of Romance and Irony allow for solidaristic forms built around tolerance, reflexivity, and intersubjectivity.

scholarly journals Civil Society and Women Activists in the Middle East

2013 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-111
Author(s):  
Turan Kayaoglu
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Women Activists ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Grassroots Activism ◽  
The Public ◽  
Middle Eastern Women ◽  
Family Issues ◽  
Women's Dress

While much of the literature related to women and democratization in the MiddleEast neglects the role of women in this process, Wanda Krause persuasivelyargues that the grassroots activism of Middle Eastern women plays a vital rolein democratizing the region. Krause contends that this scholarly neglect is aresult of the literature’s (1) prioritizing the state (over civil society) and secularism(over religious groups), (2) ignoring the feminine (at the expense of thefeminist) and the practical (at the expense of the political), and (3) relegatingwomen’s concerns, like family issues, to “the private sphere and overlookedas having any meaning to the public” (p. 49). She further criticizes this literaturefor what she considers its orientalist attitude, which often manifests itself asexcessive attention to women’s dress, segregation, polygamy, and female genitalmutilation (FGM) and thus constructs a passive and oppressed image ofMuslim women. To fully understand the role of Middle Eastern women, Krauseurges scholars to focus not just on the government’s formal structures, but alsoto pay attention to civil society and investigate how beliefs, values, and everydaypractices both expand it and advance democratic values ...

scholarly journals Peningkatan Partisipasi dan Peran Aktif Masyarakat Dalam Pengembangan Usaha Tani Lahan Pekarangan di Desa Muntuk, Kecamatan Dlingo, Kabupaten Bantul, Yogyakarta

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-230
Author(s):  
Sudrajat Sudrajat
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Community Service ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Program Participation ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Figures ◽  
High Participation ◽  
The Village

The aim of this community service activities are (1) to identify the potential of yard to be developed into yard farming; (2) to identify the level of public participation in the development of yard farming; and (3) to increase the community’s active role in the implementation of yard farming development. Implementation of the community service carried out in the village of the District Muntuk Dlingo.The activities are manifested into counseling and interviews to the public figures and civil society. Counseling is conducted using face-to-face interview and a discussion in regards to development of farm yard. Interview is conducted on public figures and civil society regardless to the participation on the counselling. The results found that the Muntuk Village has a big potential of yard to be developed as a farming yard. The result also found that Muntuk villagers have high participation rates and high active role to develop the program. Participation and active role of the community indicated a desire to try to take advantage of yard before the rainy season.

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