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and diverse environments, our findings highlight the on-going importance of ‘traditional’ (sometimes considered ‘outdated’) organization-building.

The State and Civil Society

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Bolleyer
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Interest Groups ◽  
Qualitative Comparative Analysis ◽  
State Regulation ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Voluntary Organizations ◽  
Public Benefit ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Voluntary Membership

State regulation of civil society organizations such as interest groups, parties, and public benefit organizations is expanding yet widely contested, often portrayed as illegitimate intrusion. Despite ongoing debates about the nature of state–voluntary relations in various social science disciplines, we know surprisingly little about why long-lived democracies adopt more or less constraining legal approaches in this sphere. Drawing on insights from political science, sociology, and comparative law as well as public administration research, this book addresses this important question, conceptually, theoretically, and empirically. It addresses the conceptual and methodological challenges related to developing systematic, comparative insights into the nature of complex legal environments affecting voluntary membership organizations, by simultaneously covering a wide range of democracies and the regulation applicable to different types of voluntary organizations. Proposing the analytical tools to tackle those challenges, it studies in depth the intertwined and overlapping legal environments of political parties, interest groups, and public benefit organizations across nineteen long-lived democracies. After presenting an innovative interdisciplinary theoretical framework theorizing democratic states’ legal disposition or disinclination to regulate voluntary membership organizations in a constraining or permissive fashion, this framework is empirically tested. Applying Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), the comparative analysis identifies three main ‘paths’ accounting for the relative constraints in the legal environments democracies have created for organized civil society, defined by different configurations of political systems’ democratic history, their legal family, and voluntary sector traditions. Providing the foundation for a mixed-methods design, three ideal-typical representatives of each path—Sweden, the UK, and France—are selected for the in-depth study of these legal environments’ long-term evolution, to capture reform dynamics and their drivers that have shaped group and party regulation over many decades.

scholarly journals Reflections on the Relationship between the Government and Civil Society Organizations during the Covid-19 Pandemic: The Israeli Case

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hillel Schmid
Keyword(s):  
Health Economic ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Interest Groups ◽  
Financial Support ◽  
Strategic Behavior ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Power Dependence ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract The paper analyzes the relations between the government and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) during the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel. The paper presents the inconsistent policy of the government, which has been influenced by various interest groups and the very limited financial support allocated to CSOs during the health, economic and social crisis. The paper describes the government’s alienated attitude toward the CSOs as well as the reasons for that behavior. Special attention is devoted to the government’s misunderstanding of the mission and roles of CSOs in modern society, especially at times of crisis and national disasters. The paper also analyzes the organizational and strategic behavior of CSOs toward the government, which has also contributed to the alienated attitude of the government toward them. I argue that relations between CSOs and the government should be based on more trust, mutuality, and understanding on the part of both actors in order to change power-dependence relations, and that there is a need to establish more cross-sectoral partnerships for the benefit of citizens.

scholarly journals Non-Violent Resistance in Iranian Kurdistan After 1979

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 98
Author(s):  
Allan Hassaniyan
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Significant Part ◽  
Iranian Revolution ◽  
City Councils ◽  
Important Challenge ◽  
The Creation ◽  
New Phase ◽  
The Revolution

This paper sheds light on the significance of the 1979 Iranian Revolution for the Iranian Kurdish movement, arguing that the Revolution provided Iranian Kurds with multifaceted opportunities as well as challenges. In the ensuing years, the Kurdish movement entered into a new phase of its rise. With the emergence of numerous civil society organizations and political parties, the Kurdish movement experienced a hitherto unprecedented growth and diversification of actors and organisations. Kurdish civil society flourished drastically, and a significant part of the Kurdish movement’s challenge to the newly-established government in Tehran was channelled through collective non-violent resistance. The creation of city councils (şoray şar) across Kurdistan constituted the first important challenge to the authority of the Provisional Revolutionary Government, whilst the mobilisation of collective non-violent resistance introduced new forms of resistance to the post-Revolutionary authoritarian state’s policies in Kurdistan.

Can Civil Society Organizations Solve the Crisis of Partisan Representation in Latin America?

2008 ◽  
Vol 50 (02) ◽  
pp. 1-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn Hochstetler ◽  
Elisabeth Jay Friedman
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Political Outcomes ◽  
Recent Representation

AbstractThis article takes up the question of whether civil society organizations (CSOs) can and do act as mechanisms of representation in times of party crisis. It looks at recent representation practices in Argentina, Bolivia, and Brazil, three countries where political parties have experienced sharp crises after several decades of mixed reviews for their party systems. At such moments, any replacement of parties by CSOs should be especially apparent. This study concludes that the degree of crisis determines the extent that CSOs' representative functions replace partisan representation, at least in the short term. Where systems show signs of re-equilibration, CSOs offer alternative mechanisms through which citizens can influence political outcomes without seeking to replace parties. Where crisis is profound, CSOs claim some of the basic party functions but do not necessarily solve the problems of partisan representation.

Political Opposition in Civil Society: An Analysis of the Interactions of Secular and Religious Associations in Algeria and Jordan

2008 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 561-578 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Cavatorta ◽  
Azzam Elananza
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Authoritarian Regimes ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Coalition Building ◽  
Political Opposition ◽  
Authoritarian Rule ◽  
Religious Associations

AbstractThe lack of effective political parties is one of the dominant characteristics of modern Arab polities. The role of opposition to the authoritarian regimes is therefore left to a number of civil society organizations. This study examines the interactions among such groups in the context of the traditional transition paradigm and it analyses specifically how religious and secular organizations operate and interact. The empirical evidence shows that such groups, far from attempting any serious coalition-building to make common demands for democracy on the regime, have a competitive relationship because of their ideological differences and conflicting policy preferences. This strengthens authoritarian rule even in the absence of popular legitimacy. The article focuses its attention on Algeria and Jordan.

scholarly journals IS THERE CIVIL SOCIETY IN BANGLADESH?

2018 ◽  
pp. 36-38
Author(s):  
M. S. Islam
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Social Development ◽  
The State ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Historical Method ◽  
The Government ◽  
And Control ◽  
Local Levels

Сivil society is a group of people excluded from the government and the army and providing a counterbalance and control of the state at the national and local levels in the country. In Bangladesh, since independence in 1971, civil society organizations have been successfully involved in social development, but they have been criticized not to be able promote democracy in Bangladesh because of their support for political parties. Therefore, it impedes strong opposition to corruption and non-democratic activities in the country. In this article, using the historical method, the author analyzes the features and role of civil society in Bangladesh.

scholarly journals Have You Ever Seen the Void? Interest Groups Concerns Toward the Weakening Representational Role of Political Parties in European Countries

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 15
Author(s):  
Chiara Fiorelli
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Interest Groups ◽  
Party System ◽  
Political Conflict ◽  
Economic Interests ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Policy Choices ◽  
Democratic Life

Contemporary democracies face a trend toward the diffusion of the representational void left by under- legitimized political parties (Mair 2013). The essential functions of traditional political parties to organize and articulate political conflict and societal interests have been challenged both from the inside of the party system, by the emergence of populist habits of newcomers, and from the outside, by the progressive erosion of old political culture and corresponding increasing of hostility feeling. Intermediaries organizations of political and economic interests usually push their demands toward political actors in order to shape policy choices. What can happen when the traditional party system suffers from de- legitimation? In this paper, I will try to understand the level of concern of interest organizations toward the progressive detachment of civil society from political actors, in order to define if the risk of a void of representation is perceived as real and contingent. Thanks to a new original European dataset (the Comparative Interest Groups Survey), the analysis shows that different types of interest groups perceive the void to be real and with a possible impact on their activities and their own survival. As expected, in the regression model, differences emerge between countries with a traditional strong interests’ system and countries where groups activities are usually barely regulated. The results support the idea that the distance between civil society and political representatives should be considered a prominent focus of contemporary social and political investigation in order to understand the challenge for democratic life and the possible strategy of reaction.

scholarly journals Member Influence and Involvement in Civil Society Organizations: A Resource Dependency Perspective on Groups and Parties

2020 ◽  
pp. 003232172096801
Author(s):  
Nicole Bolleyer ◽  
Patricia Correa
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Resource Dependency ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Voluntary Organizations ◽  
Dependency Theory ◽  
Organizational Decision Making ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Service Oriented ◽  
Member Involvement ◽  
Positive Effect

Which membership-based voluntary organizations constitutive of civil society such as parties, interest groups or service-oriented organizations keep their members active and which forms of activism do they cultivate? This article addresses this important question distinguishing two forms of ‘member activism’: ‘member involvement’, defined as members working for an organization, and ‘member influence’, defined as members’ participation in intra-organizational decision-making. Building on incentive-theoretical approaches to leader–member relations and resource dependency theory, we present a theoretical framework specifying distinct drivers of each form of member activism, which is tested using new data from four organization surveys conducted in four most different European democracies. None of the theorized factors has the same robust effect on both involvement and influence. Most notably, professionalization – reliance on paid staff – has a positive effect on involvement and a negative one on influence, stressing the need to distinguish carefully the different roles members play in civil society organizations.

scholarly journals Domesticating Vigilantism in Ghana’s Fourth Republic: The Challenge Ahead

2020 ◽  
pp. 24-39
Author(s):  
George Asekere
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Party ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Regional Security ◽  
Fourth Republic ◽  
The Masses ◽  
First Time ◽  
Negative Acts

Political party vigilantism in Ghana has consistently been on the ascendency since the return to Constitutional rule in 1993. Their activities have usually been during and after elections across the country. By-elections in Atiwa, Akwatia, Chereponi, Talensi, Amenfi West and more recently Ayawaso West Wuogon, have all been marred by acts of violence. Ghana in 2017 recorded for the first time political party vigilante groups storming a courtroom in Kumasi and freeing some of their members standing trial after assaulting a regional security coordinator in the second largest region in the country – Ashanti region. The paper seeks to highlight the dangers inherent in this rather negative development which could reverse the gains Ghana has made in consolidating its democracy. The author relied on secondary data including relevant media publications and statements from civil society organizations, political parties and religious bodies on vigilantism in Ghana. Findings show that the seed of vigilantism has been sowed and allowed to be nurtured to the extent that the parties have taken uncompromising positions in ending the cancer because it borders on political power. A law has been passed but indications are that nothing much is changing. The National Peace Council has intervened yet there is no sign of lasting solution to the problem. The paper concludes that all stakeholders especially the civil society organizations and the religious bodies ought to be objective and bold to openly name and shame political parties whose members engage in negative acts of vigilantism and urge the masses to vote against such parties or else the phenomenon will persist and its ramifications will be disastrous.

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