scholarly journals Women's Voices in Civil Society Organizations: Evidence from a Civil Society Mapping Project in Mali

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamie Bleck ◽  
Jessica Gottlieb ◽  
Katrina Kosec
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Organizational Capacity ◽  
Political Knowledge ◽  
The State ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Rural And Urban ◽  
Self Help Groups ◽  
Technical Capacity

How does women's engagement in civil society organizations (CSOs) differ from that of men, and what factors predict women's willingness to hold the state accountable? We analyze these questions in the context of rural and urban Mali, leveraging face-to-face data collected as part of a civil society mapping project during February -- March 2020 and December 2020, and an in-depth survey conducted with leaders from a randomly-selected subset of these CSOs during January -- March 2021. First, we explore the characteristics of women's groups compared to other CSOs. Second, we explore their likelihood of sanctioning a hypothetical corrupt mayor. We use an embedded survey experiment to try to understand these groups' willingness to report on the mayor as well as the payments they expect to receive from the mayor in order to not share information about the mayor's corruption. We find that women in Mali are often highly organized at the local level---frequently in self-help groups or organizations related to gendered economic activities. However, these more economically-focused groupings of Malian women frequently do not translate into civic activity. They are not typically recognized by outside actors as viable CSOs that could incentivize better governance; their strong networks and group infrastructure represent untapped social capital. We also find that CSOs comprised of women have lower informational and technical capacity, especially due to lower levels of political knowledge, and incur a higher cost of sanctioning public officials---though they have greater mobilization capacity. Women's engagement in decision-making in the home also predicts one's CSO being more hierarchical and having greater technical capacity, as well as having higher expected transfers from the mayor---findings that do not vary with respondent or CSO gender. Turning to the extent to which women involved in CSOs are willing to sanction the state, we find that they are generally less willing than men to sanction, but become more likely when their CSO is less hierarchical, when their technical capacity is higher, and when their political knowledge is greater. However, priming their importance as a CSO (by telling them they were identified by well-connected citizens as being influential) actually reduces sanctioning---perhaps by making them fear that those recommending them will engage in reprisals. Overall, our findings provide useful evidence on the organizational capacity of women and how it is likely to affect the state.

scholarly journals Politicized Civil Society in Bangladesh: Case Study Analyses

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 98-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Farhat Tasnim
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Social Development ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Local Level ◽  
The State ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Typical Scenario

Although civil society in Bangladesh is recognized for its vibrant performance in social development, it is often criticized for its inability to ensure good governance and democracy. The aim of this paper is to point out the reasons for this failure of civil society. Through performing case studies upon five civil society organizations representing different sector and level of the civil society, the paper concludes that civil society organizations in Bangladesh are often politicized and co-opted by different political parties. In a typical scenario, civil society can provide a counterbalance or even monitor the state both at the national and local level. However, in Bangladesh, often the civil society organizations have compromised their autonomy and politicized themselves to certain political parties or political block. In such a vulnerable position, civil society can hardly play its expected role to ensure good governance and strengthen democracy.

The elimination of violence and terrorism in Iraq strategy

2019 ◽  
pp. 375
Author(s):  
Mona Ali Duaij ◽  
Ahlam Ahmed Issa
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
The State ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
State Institutions ◽  
Terrorist Organization ◽  
The Media ◽  
Causes Of Crime ◽  
Religious Aspect

All the Iraqi state institutions and civil society organizations should develop a deliberate systematic policy to eliminate terrorism contracted with all parts of the economic, social, civil and political institutions and important question how to eliminate Daash to a terrorist organization hostile and if he country to eliminate the causes of crime and punish criminals and not to justify any type of crime of any kind, because if we stayed in the curriculum of justifying legitimate crime will deepen our continued terrorism, but give it legitimacy formula must also dry up the sources of terrorism media and private channels and newspapers that have abused the Holy Prophet Muhammad (p) and all kinds of any of their source (a sheei or a Sunni or Christians or Sabians) as well as from the religious aspect is not only the media but a meeting there must be cooperation of both parts of the state facilities and most importantly limiting arms possession only state you can not eliminate terrorism and violence, and we see people carrying arms without the name of the state and remains somewhat carefree is sincerity honesty and patriotism the most important motivation for the elimination of violence and terrorism and cooperation between parts of the Iraqi people and not be driven by a regional or global international schemes want to kill nations and kill our bodies of Sunnis, sheei , Christians, Sabean and Yazidi and others.

Domestic Colonies

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Arneil
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Mentally Ill ◽  
Abraham Lincoln ◽  
The State ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Alexis De Tocqueville ◽  
Modern History ◽  
Peter Kropotkin

Colonization is generally defined as a process by which states settle and dominate foreign lands or peoples. Thus, modern colonies are assumed to be outside Europe and the colonized non-European. This volume contends such definitions of the colony, the colonized, and colonization need to be fundamentally rethought in light of hundreds of ‘domestic colonies’ proposed and/or created by governments and civil society organizations initially within Europe in the nineteenth and first half of the twentieth centuries and then beyond. The three categories of domestic colonies in this book are labour colonies for the idle poor, farm colonies for the mentally ill, and disabled and utopian colonies for racial, religious, and political minorities. All of these domestic colonies were justified by an ideology of domestic colonialism characterized by three principles: segregation, agrarian labour, improvement, through which, in the case of labour and farm colonies, the ‘idle’, ‘irrational’, and/or custom-bound would be transformed into ‘industrious and rational’ citizens while creating revenues for the state to maintain such populations. Utopian colonies needed segregation from society so their members could find freedom, work the land, and challenge the prevailing norms of the society around them. Defended by some of the leading progressive thinkers of the period, including Alexis de Tocqueville, Abraham Lincoln, Peter Kropotkin, Robert Owen, Tommy Douglas, and Booker T. Washington, the turn inward to colony not only provides a new lens with which to understand the scope of colonization and colonialism in modern history but a critically important way to distinguish ‘the colonial’ from ‘the imperial’ in Western political theory and practice.

CIVIL SOCIETY AS THE MAIN DRIVER SUSTAINABILITY OF COMMUNITIES IN CONDITIONS OF DECENTRALIZATION

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alla Orlova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
National Security ◽  
Financial Stability ◽  
Local Level ◽  
The State ◽  
Community Sustainability ◽  
Strategic Decisions ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
Business Structures ◽  
The Impact

The article considers a set of issues related to the formation of sustainability in the state at different levels of government: national, regional and local, with an emphasis on the sustainability of territorial communities. The concept of "sustainability" is defined, the criteria of sustainability for national security and its components at the local level are analyzed, in particular, in the formation of affluent communities. Sustainability is considered in various aspects: as a component of national security and defense of the state, in relation to the concepts of "cohesion" and "national security". Financial stability is justified as an important sign of the viability of local communities. The role of civil society in shaping the sustainability of communities is revealed, as well as different views of scientists on the impact of civil society on sustainability are analyzed. The foreign experience of implementation of the basic principles of sustainability in the life of communities is studied. The most important component of sustainability is the ability of the community to consolidate to counteract harmful and dangerous external and internal influences. Open partnership of public authorities with business structures and the public should be a prerequisite for this. It is proved that in the conditions of decentralization and various internal and external challenges, civil society (active citizens and civil society institutions) can and should be a driver of community sustainability. It is assumed that the implementation of state policy to promote the development of civil society should create a solid foundation of democracy in Ukraine as a component of national sustainability. Since the systemic mechanisms for ensuring national sustainability in the Ukrainian state at both national and local levels are not yet fully formed, the development and implementation of comprehensive strategic decisions in this area requires proper scientific substantiation, which is why the author’s contribution to this topic.

From Local Activism to Local Politics: The Case of Moscow

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 577-604 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yana Gorokhovskaia
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Local Politics ◽  
Local Level ◽  
The State ◽  
Political Candidates ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Private Realm ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Local Problems ◽  
Training And Support

Conventional wisdom holds that civil society is a sphere of activity separate from the state and the private realm. Due to a combination of historical, developmental and institutional factors, Russian civil society today is dominated by the state. While not all interactions with the state are seen as harmful, scholars acknowledge that most politically oriented or oppositional non-governmental organizations today face difficult conditions in Russia. In response to the restrictions on civil society and the unresponsive nature of Russia’s hybrid authoritarian regime, some civil society actors in Moscow have made the transition into organized politics at the local level. This transition was motivated by their desire to solve local problems and was facilitated by independent electoral initiatives which provided timely training and support for opposition political candidates running in municipal elections. Once elected, these activists turned municipal deputies are able to perform some of the functions traditionally ascribed to civil society, including enforcing greater accountability and transparency from the state and defending the interest of citizens.

Civil society versus nationalizing state? Advocacy of minority rights in the post-socialist Baltic states

2011 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timofey Agarin
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Minority Rights ◽  
State Policies ◽  
The State ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Baltic States ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Full Support ◽  
Public Debates ◽  
The Baltic

Strong civil society provides individuals with arenas to bring their interests to the attention of policymakers. In so doing, civil society organizations (CSOs) can support state policies, but can also criticize policies. This paper argues that most minority rights advocacy CSOs in the Baltic states have little say in the crafting of policy and are compartmentalized into the existing agendas, with only a few groups able to evaluate policies independently. It concludes that the Baltic civil society is weak because the CSOs working on minority issues ask policymakers either too much, or too little. The findings suggest that policymakers quell criticism of their work from the side of the CSOs by ignoring their activities. Alternatively, by funding the CSO that shores up the state agenda, policymakers delegate their responsibilities to civic actors, keep critical voices from public debates and claim that their policies have the full support of a vibrant civil society. This paper investigates the options available for civil society actors to relate to policymakers in a nationalizing state by drawing on the data collected in 77 semi-structured interviews with the CSOs working with Russian and Polish minorities in the Baltic states between 2006 and 2009.

The Oslo Accords and Palestinian Civil Society

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liv Tørres
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Building Block ◽  
Organizational Capacity ◽  
The State ◽  
Efficient Tool ◽  
Palestinian Territories ◽  
Oslo Accords ◽  
Israeli Occupation ◽  
Internal Division

This chapter discusses the role of civil society in helping Palestinians challenge Israeli occupation. Palestinian organizations have developed despite the absence of the state, independence, sovereignty, and citizenship. Organizational capacity and activism are an efficient tool and building block for unity and power here as elsewhere, which in turn will help Palestinians challenge their circumstances. The Norwegian People's Aid (NPA) has been active in the Occupied Palestinian Territories since 1987. Its goal is to help build the organizational and collective muscles of Palestinians to challenge occupation, oppression, and internal division. It is against this background that the NPA works in partnership with local Palestinian organizations. It is on this basis that they believe it is important to work with local forces rather than simply provide services. And it is from this perspective that they have watched the development of Palestinian civil society and the tensions, changes, and challenges that followed the Oslo Accords.

Necessary but Insufficient: Civil Society in International Mediation

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georgia Jewett
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
The State ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Mediation Process ◽  
Military Assistance ◽  
Complex Environment ◽  
Civil Conflicts ◽  
International Mediation

Abstract Civil conflicts are more intractable and complex than ever before. In these conflicts, civilians are increasingly targeted and weaponized. Yet, because civilians are disproportionately affected by the ensuing violence and instability, they also have a larger role to play in the peacemaking process. This stems from the fact that local civil society organizations (CSO) assume new responsibilities vis-a-vis their communities as the state disintegrates. They often became the coordinators and providers of basic security and services. Unsurprisingly, CSO leaders often emerge as the only credible and authoritative actors in this complex environment, trusted by both the disputing parties and the affected communities. This article argues that CSOs are necessary to any international mediation process; however, they must be leveraged in conjunction with conventional third party mediator resources (that is, financial, technical and military assistance) to maximize the potential of an enduring peace deal.

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 SOCIAL CONTROL AS A KEY FACTOR OF ANTI-CORRUPTION

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 24-19
Author(s):  
Артем Цирин ◽  
Artem Tsirin ◽  
Сергей Матулис ◽  
Sergey Matulis ◽  
Марина Молчанова ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Social Control ◽  
Scientific Research ◽  
The State ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
New Ideas

The article outlines the positions expressed by the participants of the VI Eurasian Anti-Corruption Forum “Social Control as a Key Factor of Anti-Corruption”, held on April 26—27, 2017. The work of the Forum is aimed at understanding the actual theoretical and practical problems of ensuring social control in the sphere of anti-corruption, searching for new ideas, forms and effective ways of institutionalizing anti-corruption control by society in Russia and abroad. The discussed questions: the regulation of social control in various legal orders; criminological characteristics of corruption crime; main trends in the development of international anti-corruption cooperation; corruption offenses of organizations and the attitude of society towards such offenses; the role of the institution of commissioners in protection of the rights of entrepreneurs in anti-corruption; issues related to improving the effectiveness of social control, including anti-corruption education. The participants of the Forum came to the conclusion that the fight against corruption is a task not only for state authorities and local self-government, but also for civil society, organizations and citizens. At the same time, the improvement of the state anticorruption policy assumes conducting interdisciplinary scientific research of the state, trends and dynamics of corruption, as well as anti-corruption legislation and practices. Based on the results of the work, recommendations were approved.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document