scholarly journals The Crisis of Democratic Governance in Contemporary Indonesia

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 109
Author(s):  
Auradian Marta ◽  
Utang Suwaryo ◽  
Affan Sulaeman ◽  
Leo Agustino
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Qualitative Method ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Democratic Governance ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Government Policies ◽  
Four Dimensions ◽  
The Public ◽  
General Elections

This article attempts to discuss the practice of democratic governance in contemporary Indonesia. This study is essential since Indonesia is one of the countries transitioning from authoritarianism towards democracy following the fall of Suharto’s regime. This study shall answer whether democratic governance in Indonesia experiences a crisis, with a focus of analysis on the four dimensions of democratic governance, namely: (1) rule of law, (2) human rights, (3) civil society, and (4) elections and political process. This study applies a qualitative method by collecting data from document studies and literary studies. The findings in this study indicate that democratic governance in Indonesia experiences a crisis as evidenced by the remaining-weak legal supremacy in Indonesia, and the existence of violations of the implementation of human rights, eventually led to horizontal conflicts. The inability of civil society organizations to carry out their functions in democratization as an intermediary between the community and the state as well as to influence government policies for the public interest. Another recent weakness is there are still strong issues related to primordialism in the occasion of General Elections. This crisis of democratic governance shall bring Indonesia to "the decline of democracy" instead of democratic consolidation.

Applying the Human Rights Framework Is Not “a” Development Alternative; It Is “the” Road to an Alternative Development Process (People’s Health Movement Latin America)

2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 562-567
Author(s):  
Claudio Schuftan
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Political Elites ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Road ◽  
Hands On ◽  
The Press ◽  
Human Rights Movement

Historically, political elites adopted the idea of human rights if, and only if, it could foster their interests. Today, it is thus public interest civil society organizations, and not states, that are left to contribute most to the protection of and the struggle for human rights. Despite human rights being enshrined in constitutions, nowadays they can primarily be effectively claimed by those with access to the courts and by the press, i.e., those in power. Public interest civil society organizations and social movements are the only ones left to play this crucial role. The need for the global human rights movement to bridge the gap that has opened up between itself and the majority of the public is clear. Communications in the human rights domain simply have to become less legalistic and more hands-on. To claim their rights, those rendered poor need real power. Those who have been left poor and oppressed do not ever get to actively claim their rights. Instead they ask for mercy, expect charity, and seek benefits from benevolent masters.

scholarly journals Nigerian Civil Society Situation Room (NCSSR) and Electioneering Process in Nigeria (2015–2019)

SAGE Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 215824402110067
Author(s):  
Babayo Sule ◽  
Usman Sambo ◽  
Abdulkadir Ahmed ◽  
Muhammad Yusuf
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Theoretical Explanation ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Fourth Republic ◽  
Election Monitoring ◽  
International Donor ◽  
General Elections ◽  
Donor Agencies ◽  
Civil Societies

Civil society organizations have played a pivotal role in democratization process in Nigeria since the advent of the Fourth Republic. They have greatly helped in the success of the 2015 and 2019 General Elections through pre-election, during election, and in post-election monitoring and advocacy. This article, therefore, examined the role of the Nigerian Civil Society Situation Room (NCSSR) in improving the election in Nigeria during the 2015 and 2019 General Elections. While many civil societies flourished recently in Nigeria, their role toward democratization and facilitating credible election remain insignificant until in the 2015 and 2019 General Elections where their activities helped immensely the process of a credible election. A Civil Society as the Third Tier of Government framework was adopted as a theoretical explanation of the context of the work. The research used a qualitative case study method of data collection where informants consisting of members of NCSSR, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and academicians were selected for the interview and Focus Group Discussion. The total number selected was 16 from the three identified categories. The research discovered that the NCSSR aided the process and fairness of the 2015 and 2019 General Elections through proper monitoring, civic voter education, active collaboration with electoral body (INEC), and collaboration with international donor agencies through what they called “Civil Society Situation Room” which consist of more than 60 registered civil societies. The research recommends that civil societies should be empowered with constitutional backing and independent funding to enable them carry out their responsibilities adequately. Also, the article recommends that the electoral body (INEC) should liaise more and cooperate with civil societies to enable them conduct good and credible elections in future.

A National Treasure? The Role of Civil Society in Promoting and Enforcing Human Rights in the United Kingdom

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harriet Samuels
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Negative Attitude ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Economic Rights ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Social And Economic Rights

Abstract The article investigates the negative attitude towards civil society over the last decade in the United Kingdom and the repercussions for human rights. It considers this in the context of the United Kingdom government’s implementation of the policy of austerity. It reflects on the various policy and legal changes, and the impact on the campaigning and advocacy work of civil society organizations, particularly those that work on social and economic rights.

scholarly journals Silencing Their Critics: How Government Restrictions Against Civil Society Affect International ‘Naming and Shaming’

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah Smidt ◽  
Dominic Perera ◽  
Neil J. Mitchell ◽  
Kristin M. Bakke
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
The Other ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
The One ◽  
Naming And Shaming ◽  
Flow Of Information ◽  
Cross National

Abstract International ‘naming and shaming’ campaigns rely on domestic civil society organizations (CSOs) for information on local human rights conditions. To stop this flow of information, some governments restrict CSOs, for example by limiting their access to funding. Do such restrictions reduce international naming and shaming campaigns that rely on information from domestic CSOs? This article argues that on the one hand, restrictions may reduce CSOs’ ability and motives to monitor local abuses. On the other hand, these organizations may mobilize against restrictions and find new ways of delivering information on human rights violations to international publics. Using a cross-national dataset and in-depth evidence from Egypt, the study finds that low numbers of restrictions trigger shaming by international non-governmental organizations. Yet once governments impose multiple types of restrictions, it becomes harder for CSOs to adapt, resulting in fewer international shaming campaigns.

The Protective Shields

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kinda Mohamadieh
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Crowding Out ◽  
Arab Region ◽  
Arab Uprisings ◽  
Policy Debates ◽  
Human Rights Movement ◽  
History Of ◽  
New Challenges

This chapter examines the various roles undertaken by civil society organizations (CSOs), or nongovernmental organizations, in the Arab region and their implications for collaboration between CSOs and the United Nations, with particular emphasis on how CSOs figure in policy debates and the human rights movement. CSOs in the Arab region, mainly those working on policy and legislative issues, have been engaged with UN-led processes and conferences since the 1992 Earth Summit, and including the 1995 Summit on Social Development and the 2000 Millennium Summit. However, as some UN agencies, driven by a quest for funding, have moved into programmatic interventions, tensions have sometimes emerged between CSOs and UN agencies when some UN agencies have ended up potentially competing with CSOs for funding or crowding out the space available for CSOs. This chapter first traces the history of CSO-UN interactions in the Arab region before discussing the new challenges and possibilities raised during the period of the Arab uprisings.

Body Abjectification as a Tool to Represent Poverty in Black Africa

2020 ◽  
pp. 67-86
Author(s):  
Floribert Patrick C. Endong
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Social Problems ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
African Continent ◽  
Semiotic Analysis ◽  
Age Stereotypes ◽  
African People ◽  
Black Africa

Many human rights activists and West-based INGOs have entrenched the questionable culture of using pathetic and socially pornographic images to boost their advertising, mobilization and fundraising campaigns aimed at tackling social problems in Africa. The images deployed by these advocacy entities most often function as double edged swords: they do not only capture the wisdom and rhetoric marketed by the campaign organizers but sometimes subtly act as negative symbols or metaphors of the African continent. Many of these visuals as used in posters and ad copies subliminally abjectify Africans, thereby reinforcing the myriad of decades-old myths and stereotypes of the continent and its people – notably abject poverty, famine, illiteracy, and backwardness, among others. This chapter illustrates the above-mentioned thesis through a semiotic analysis of posters and image-based ads recently deployed by some West-based civil society organizations during the Nigeria-born #BringBackOurGirl movement. The chapter specifically illustrates how the visuals and anchorages used in the #BringBackOurGirl posters hyperbolically abjectify and denigrate African people, associating them with old-age stereotypes.

scholarly journals Managing Dissent: Energy Pipelines and “New Right” Politics in Canada

2016 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen Raso ◽  
Robert J. Neubauer
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
New Right ◽  
The Public ◽  
News Analysis ◽  
News Discourse ◽  
Société Civile ◽  
Discourse Coalitions ◽  
Official Sources

This article explores the political controversy surrounding the proposed Northern Gateway bitumen pipeline by analyzing the modalities through which elite rationalities structure public news discourse. First, through a news analysis, the authors identify the most common pro-approval actors cited speaking in favour of the project. Next, they identify the most prominent pro-approval civil society sources and ascertain their level of embeddedness in conservative discourse coalitions. Finally, the authors identify the dominant framing techniques that disproportionately structure the public discourse around the Gateway project. The article ultimately argues that over-reliance on “official sources,” the prominence of industry-backed civil society organizations, and the influence of hegemonic discourses on journalistic practice all conspire to structure the public discourse on Northern Gateway in favour of elite preferences and rationalities.Cet article explore la controverse politique entourant l’oléoduc de bitume proposé par Northern Gateway en analysant les modalités selon lesquelles les rationalités d’élites structurent le discours tenu dans les médias d’information. D’abord, au moyen de l’analyse de nouvelles, les auteurs identifient les acteurs appuyant l’oléoduc que les médias citent le plus souvent. Ensuite, ils identifient les sources de la société civile les plus en vue et évaluent leur degré d’appartenance à des coalitions conservatrices. Enfin, les auteurs identifient certaines techniques de cadrage qui jouent un rôle disproportionné dans la structuration du discours public à l’égard du projet Gateway. Cet article se conclut en soutenant qu’une dépendance excessive envers des « sources officielles », la centralité d’organismes de la société civile appuyés par l’industrie, et l’influence de discours hégémoniques sur la pratique journalistique coïncident pour structurer le discours public sur Northern Gateway en faveur de préférences et de rationalités d’élites.

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