scholarly journals NGOs and Civil Society: The Politics of Crafting a Civic Welfare Infrastructure in the Hu–Wen Period

2018 ◽  
Vol 237 ◽  
pp. 58-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jude Howell
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Policy Process ◽  
Government Contracts ◽  
Welfare Provision ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Institutional Politics ◽  
Regulatory Changes ◽  
Poverty And Inequality ◽  
State Actor ◽  
Service Oriented

AbstractSince 2015 rights-based NGOs, lawyers, feminists and journalists have endured the most stringent crackdown since 1989. Simultaneously the Xi Li administration has pushed forward a series of laws, policies and regulatory changes to enable service-oriented NGOs to apply for government contracts to provide welfare services. This seemingly Janus-like policy of welfarist incorporation can be traced back to the Hu–Wen period, often described as a lacklustre period, despite significant efforts to tackle issues of poverty and inequality. This article argues for a more balanced appraisal of this period by exploring in depth the complex politics underpinning efforts to pluralize welfare provision by involving service-oriented NGOs. It explores three sets of politics influencing this policy process: inter-institutional politics; state/non-state actor politics; and domestic/external politics. Furthermore, it considers processes of gradual institutional change adopted by key political actors to achieve these ends.

The Sovereign and its Shadow: Constituent Assembly and Indigenous Movement in Ecuador

2003 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 721-750 ◽  
Author(s):  
ROBERT ANDOLINA
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Latin American Politics ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Constituent Assembly ◽  
Institutional Politics ◽  
Ideological Struggle ◽  
Indigenous Movement ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Constitutive Principles

A crucial development in current Latin American politics is the growing involvement of indigenous movements in democracies grappling with the challenges of regime consolidation. This article examines how Ecuador's indigenous movement consecrated new rights and national constitutive principles in the 1997–8 constitutional assembly. It argues that the indigenous movement defined the legitimacy and purpose of the assembly through an ideological struggle with other political actors, in turn shaping the context and content of constitutional reforms in Ecuador. The article concludes that softening the boundary between ‘cultural politics’ and ‘institutional politics’ is necessary in order to understand the impact of social movements in Latin America.

scholarly journals Civil Society Organizations and Policy Process in Tajikistan

2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew I.E. Ewoh ◽  
Favziya Nazarova ◽  
Rhonda N. Hill
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Policy Process ◽  
Civil Society Organizations

Global civil society and the test of Kyoto: A theoretical extension

2018 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 179-211
Author(s):  
Emma Anderson ◽  
Marina Zaloznaya
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Global Civil Society ◽  
International Governance ◽  
Political Elites ◽  
Civil Action ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Political Events ◽  
Political Landscapes

What determines how successful global civil society is in promoting international governance norms within nation-states? Studies attribute the varied effectiveness of civil action to the capacity of non-governmental groups and organizations, the nature of global regimes that generate such norms, domestic political landscapes, or combinations of these factors. Yet, empirical cases, analyzed in this article, suggest that global civil society may lose or gain in domestic effectiveness even when these determinants remain stable. Using primary and secondary data on Kyoto Protocol negotiations in Japan, Canada, and Australia, we argue that changes in the Kyoto stances of these three countries between 2005 and 2012 stemmed from the realignment of domestic political actors engaged in the contestation of the protocol alongside civil society. Our data reveal that exogenous natural and political events led to shifts in the positions of local political elites, media, and the energy industry. As a result, the pro-Kyoto coalition, headed by global civil society, either lost or gained in bargaining power vis-à-vis the counter-coalition. We, therefore, theorize realignment as a mechanism that connects exogenous events to the changing effectiveness of global civil society. Theoretically, our study emphasizes the importance of embedding civil action into its concrete socio-historical contexts and advocates for a process-oriented study of agentic social change.

Phases of Transformation

2019 ◽  
pp. 585-590
Author(s):  
Wolfgang Merkel ◽  
Lea Heyne
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Common Good ◽  
System Change ◽  
Military Conflict ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
System 2 ◽  
The Common ◽  
Consolidated Democracy ◽  
Four Levels ◽  
External Forces

This chapter examines system change: the interval between an autocratic system and a new consolidated democracy. This transformation can be differentiated in to three phases: (1) the end of the autocratic system, (2) the institutionalization of democracy, and (3) the consolidation of democracy. The end of an autocratic system can be caused by internal legitimacy crises as well as external forces like military conflict, and follows different courses. During the institutionalization of democracy, political actors need to manage to establish institutions and norms that maintain a balance between particular interests and the common good in order to prevent a backslide into autocracy. The consolidation of democracy starts with the adaptation of a new constitution, and takes place on four levels: (a) constitutional consolidation, (b) representative consolidation, (c) behavioural consolidation, and (d) the consolidation of civil society. A democracy consolidated on all four levels has considerable reserves of resistance to meet exogenous destabilization shocks.

Introduction: meeting future challenges with past lessons

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leah McMillan Polonenko ◽  
Hany Besada
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Development Agenda ◽  
Poverty And Inequality ◽  
Future Challenges ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
The Impact

This book examines the progress, challenges and lessons of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The MDGs were adopted during the 2000 Millennium Summit of the United Nations to address the various dimensions of poverty such as hunger, disease, and exclusion while promoting gender equality, education and environmental sustainability. The book considers whether the MDGs were effective in transforming the narrative around poverty and its many dimensions through multilateral organisations, identifying what worked and what needs to change in the context of the Post-2015 Development Agenda. It also discusses the changing nature of poverty and inequality as well as the role of state and increasingly non-state actors, including civil society groups, in shaping the debate around accountability, progress and inclusiveness. This chapter provides an overview of the impact of globalisation on the MDGs, criticisms of the MDGs, and the Post-2015 Development Agenda. It also explains the purpose and plan for the book.

How Politics and Institutions Shape Poverty and Inequality

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Brady ◽  
Agnes Blome ◽  
Hanna Kleider
Keyword(s):  
Labor Unions ◽  
State Policy ◽  
The State ◽  
The Other ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Power Resources ◽  
Poverty And Inequality ◽  
Key Concepts

This article explores the influence of politics and institutions on poverty and inequality. It first considers the general contention that poverty is shaped by the combination of power resources and institutions. On one hand, scholars in the power resources tradition have emphasized the role of class-based collective political actors for mobilizing “power resources” in the state and economy. On the other hand, institutionalists have highlighted the role of formal rules and regulations. The article goes on to discuss the theoretical arguments of power resources theory and the evidence for key power resources (that is, collective political actors like labor unions and parties). It also reviews institutional explanations, focusing on the key concepts and theories and as well as the evidence linking the most salient institutions to poverty. Finally, it examines how state policy influences poverty and presents several challenges for future research.

The Sahel: Regional Politics and Dynamics

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian Elischer
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Civil Liberties ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
West African ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Regional Politics ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Islamic Terrorism ◽  
Security Challenge ◽  
Sub Saharan

Niger, Mali, Mauritania, and Chad are some of least researched countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Since independence from France in 1960 these four countries have experienced two distinct yet interrelated struggles: the struggle for statehood and the struggle for democracy. Each country has experienced violent conflict between the central authorities in the capitals and security challengers on the peripheries. Prominent examples are the Tuareg uprisings in Niger and Mali, the various rebel insurgencies in Chad, and the conflict between black Africans and Arabs in Mauritania. The emergence of jihadi-Salafi groups in the West African sub-region affects all four countries and poses a particularly strong security challenge to Mali. All these conflicts are unresolved. The liberalization of the political sphere in the late 1980s and early 1990s has led to considerable political diversity across the Sahel. In Niger and Mali meaningful multiparty competition and basic civil liberties have taken root despite many setbacks. Civil society is strong and in the past has successfully mobilized against autocratic tendencies. In Mauritania and Chad, democratic institutions exist on paper as autocratic rulers have managed to stay in office. The national armed forces remain the preeminent political actors. Civil society is not strong enough to achieve political change for the better. Stagnant living conditions, social immobility, the ongoing war against Islamic terrorism, and weak accountability mechanisms remain the most important political challenges for the Sahel.

scholarly journals The Coevolution of Media and Politics in Taiwan: Implications for Political Communications

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-110
Author(s):  
Jonathan Sullivan
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
Information Environment ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Political Communications ◽  
The Media ◽  
Empirical Case Studies ◽  
New System

Over the course of democratisation, Taiwan’s communications environment has experienced significant changes. Liberalisation and commercialisation of the media, and the emergence and popularisation of digital, have substantially altered the information environment and the expectations and behaviours of both citizens and political actors. This article explores the implications of these developments for political communications, and the vitality of Taiwan’s democracy. The article combines a conceptual framework rooted in mediatisation and hybrid media logics with empirical case studies on election campaigning, social movements, and other modes of political communication. It demonstrates how a new system of coevolving media, civil society, and political spheres is taking shape, characterised by complexity, heterogeneity, interdependence, and transition.

scholarly journals Self-maintenance vs. goal attainment: drivers of mortality anxiety in organized civil society

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 271-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Bolleyer ◽  
Patricia Correa
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Interest Groups ◽  
Goal Attainment ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Organizational Infrastructure ◽  
Voluntary Membership ◽  
Active Interest ◽  
Service Oriented ◽  
The Uk

AbstractWhen do membership-based civil society organizations such as interest groups, political parties or service-oriented organizations consider their existence under threat? Distinguishing pressures of organizational self-maintenance from functional pressures of goal attainment, which all voluntary membership organizations – irrespective of their political or societal functions - need to reconcile, we propose a framework theorizing distinct categories of drivers of mortality anxiety in organized civil society. To test our hypotheses, we apply ordered logistic regression analysis to new data covering regionally and nationally active interest groups, service-oriented organizations and parties in Germany, Norway, Switzerland and the UK. We find that factors enhancing intraorganizational resilience thereby facilitating self-maintenance as well as exposure to different representation challenges complicating goal attainment have significant effects on mortality anxiety experienced by interest groups, political parties and service-oriented organizations alike – the former reducing, the latter enhancing it. Stressing the importance of a stable, durable organizational infrastructure with loyal and involved members to operate in increasingly volatile and diverse environments, our findings highlight the on-going importance of ‘traditional’ (sometimes considered ‘outdated’) organization-building.

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