Conceptual Principles of the Civil Society Research

2017 ◽  
pp. 214-221
Author(s):  
Oleksandra Demianenko
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Local Level ◽  
National Level ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
State Level ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Political Reality ◽  
Economic Landscape

The article attempts to analyze the conceptual foundations of the study of civil society (theoretical and methodological foundations) comprehensively in order to generalize research material on this subject. Different approaches to the concept and phenomenon of civil society in the historical context of their formation are analyzed and systematized. Taking into account complex content and the form of a civil society as a subject of research, the author offers an approach to its analysis, providing three dimensions of the study: a theoretical; a historical; and a practical one. The emphasis is on the importance of the economic component in the emergence of the phenomenon of a civil society in the socio-political reality and the significance of changes in the economic realm to update goals and objectives, as well as the structure of a civil society. Contemporary investigation of civil society involves research of information technologies that affect the level of openness and mobility of any knowledge and information; globalization processes that shape the new economic landscape of the world and, therefore, become the subject of civil society due to inevitable social-economic conflicts and contradictions; migration processes that affect the value system of both migrants and settled population, which leads to the formation of completely new subjects and objects of influence of civil society; ecological problems, which do not have a pronounced nationality and directly affect humanity as a whole, which leads to the emergence of international environmental movements. A separate problem in considering the theory of civil society is the level of personal interactions in modern conditions. The emergence of planetary problems and, accordingly, the interests of people allow distinguishing three levels of social relations, which have their own characteristics and directly affect the approaches to the implementation of civil society. Such levels are local level of interrelations (within the framework of separate communities, professional or cultural communities); national level of interrelations (at the state level or interstate regional interrelations); supranational level of interrelations (environmental issues, war and peace issues, disarmament, etc.). Keywords: Civil society, capitalism, labor market, mass movements, economic inequality, justice, conflict of interests, institutionalization

scholarly journals Diffusion of Democracy among Civil Society Actors in Guangdong Province

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 30-51
Author(s):  
Gustav Johan Sundqvist
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Research Question ◽  
National Level ◽  
State Level ◽  
Guangdong Province ◽  
Primary Interest ◽  
Survival And Growth ◽  
Civil Society Networks

In recent years, a great number of studies have convincingly shown that diffusion influences states’ probability to democratise. The primary interest of most of these studies has been on how diffusion influences democracy at the national level. The effect of democratic diffusion on the local level has largely been neglected. This paper thus investigates how and to what extent diffusion influences the density and conflict orientation of non-governmental labour organisations (LNGOs), comprising a typical case of civil society groups channelling democratic freedoms, in China’s Guangdong province. Since the province is close to the relatively liberal city of Hong Kong, there is reason to believe that support from international civil society groups based in Hong Kong may be critical for the survival and growth of conflict-oriented LNGOs in Guangdong. In the article, the research question is studied by both comparative analysis of cross-regional data and qualitative analysis of interview data. Both methods confirm that diffusion – or, more precisely, diffusion through international civil society networks – is a prominent factor for explaining the density and conflict orientation of LNGOs in Guangdong. The study demonstrates that democratic diffusion not only has an impact at the state level but also on the regional, intrastate level.

scholarly journals No Magic Bullets: Insights on Drivers of Stunting Decline from an Analysis of Subnational Success Cases in India

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. 803-803
Author(s):  
Rasmi Avula ◽  
Phuong Nguyen ◽  
Neha Kohli ◽  
Shubhada Kanani ◽  
Purnima Menon
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Maternal Education ◽  
National Level ◽  
Decomposition Analysis ◽  
Political Leadership ◽  
State Level ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Child Growth ◽  
Drivers Of Change ◽  
Gates Foundation

Abstract Objectives Global attention to reducing childhood stunting has increased the demand for guidance on translating policies into impact. Evidence from national-level success cases is emerging but little is known about how subnational entities can accelerate change. In India, despite a common national framework of programs/policies targeting many determinants of child growth, stunting reduction has varied across states. We aimed to understand drivers of change in stunting at state-level and to identify programmatic, social and political factors that contributed to these changes. Methods We studied three states that had achieved substantial stunting declines between 2005 and 2016 [Chhattisgarh (CG) 14 percentage points (pp); Gujarat (GJ) 13pp; Odisha (OD) 11 pp]. We used regression-decomposition analysis to assess contributions of various determinants of height-for-age Z-score (HAZ) using two rounds of national data. We reviewed nutrition-relevant policies and programs linked to these drivers of change and interviewed stakeholders in government, development partners (DPs), academia and civil society (n = 61) to understand how change occurred. Results Main contributors to gains in HAZ were coverage of health and nutrition interventions (21% CG; 11% GJ; 25% OD), household assets (10% CG; 13% GJ; 18% OD), and sanitation (7% CG; 6% GJ; 5% OD). Maternal education, age at marriage, community-level hygiene, and electrification also contributed. Political leadership and an outcome-focused vision were crucial for action. Although vision varied, capable administrators were able to secure adequate finances, strengthen implementation systems, and invest in state-specific innovations, creating an enabling environment for change. Varied actors, including civil society and DPs, played a catalytic role in spurring action through advocacy, technical and financial inputs, and vigilance. Conclusions Similar drivers were responsible for stunting reduction in 3 states. Ingredients for success highlight the importance of political leadership, targeting multiple determinants and improving implementation systems. Supportive civil society, political and bureaucratic leadership motivated by the well-being of communities remain crucial. Funding Sources Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation through POSHAN, led by IFPRI.

scholarly journals Seducing for Truth and Justice: Civil Society Initiatives for the 1965 Mass Violence in Indonesia

2013 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 115-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sri Lestari Wahyuningroem
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Local Level ◽  
National Level ◽  
Policy Reforms ◽  
Mass Violence ◽  
The World

The article examines both civil society initiatives that seek to address the mass violence of 1965 and 1966 and the state's responses to them. Unlike other political-transition contexts in the world, a transitional justice approach is apparently a formula that state authorities have found difficult to implement nationally for this particular case. The central government has, through its institutions, sporadically responded to some of the calls from civil society groups and has even initiated policy reforms to support such initiatives. Nevertheless, these responses were not sustained and any suggested programmes have always failed to be completed or implemented. Simultaneously, however, NGOs and victims are also voicing their demands at the local level. Many of their initiatives involve not only communities but also local authorities, including in some cases the local governments. In some aspects, these “bottom-up” approaches are more successful than attempts to create change at the national level. Such approaches challenge what Kieran McEvoy refers to as an innate “seductive” quality of transitional justice, but at the same time these approaches do, in fact, aim to “seduce” the state to adopt measures for truth and justice.

Challenges for integrated water resources governance in Brasilia metropolitan area

2014 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 150-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luiz Fernando Macedo Bessa ◽  
Marcelo Facchina
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Environmental Governance ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Water Governance ◽  
Local Level ◽  
National Level ◽  
Federal District ◽  
Metropolitan Region ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Content Type

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss the reasons behind the difficulties in implementing proper participatory environmental and water governance systems in the metropolitan region of Brasilia, Brazil. Design/methodology/approach – This work is a result of a the qualitative analysis of documents and reports of local participatory arenas in Brasilia, and is complemented by a set of 13 interviews held between November 2009 and March 2010 with a variety of actors involved in the promotion of sustainability in the region. Findings – The findings reveal that impediments to the good performance of environmental governance in the Federal District are a consequence to two main factors: institutional framework poorly transferred from the national level and incompatibility between the set of regulations and local electoral power dynamics. Research limitations/implications – As a consequence of the deliberate choice of one specific case, the conclusions of this paper may erroneously overemphasize the perils of participatory local governance rather than its potentials. Practical implications – By identifying a series of mechanisms that threaten positive partnerships between governments and civil society at the local level, this work serves as an important tool for public managers and civil society to engage in more fruitful partnerships. Originality/value – The paper provides a power-based analysis of a case of ineffectiveness of participatory mechanisms. In doing so, it also demonstrates that policy planning must be analysed from a variety of perspectives, and often involve coalitions that cut across the traditional state-society divide. The identification of the mechanisms behind the creation of these obstacles constitutes the originality and value of this paper.

The impact of smoke-free air laws and conventional cigarette taxes on cardiovascular hospitalizations

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon F Oliver
Keyword(s):  
Myocardial Infarction ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Acute Myocardial Infarction ◽  
Cerebrovascular Disease ◽  
Local Level ◽  
National Level ◽  
State Level ◽  
Cigarette Taxes ◽  
Free Air ◽  
Working Age

Abstract Introduction Smoke-free air legislation and conventional cigarette taxes have long been used to reduce smoking initiation, prevalence, and conventional cigarette consumption. However, the extent to which these policies affect population health across a range of diagnoses and age groups remains less well understood. Methods Analyses use 2005-2014 hospital inpatient discharge data from up to 40 US states to estimate the effects of smoke-free air laws and conventional cigarette taxes on cardiovascular hospitalizations among working age and older adults. Results An increase in the percent of a county’s population covered by smoke-free air laws yielded a significant decline of 2.4% (RR: 0.976, 95%CI: 0.954, 0.997) in acute cerebrovascular disease hospitalizations among older adults. Moreover, significant declines of 2.0% (RR: 0.980, 95%CI: 0.967, 0.994) and 2.8% (RR: 0.972, 95%CI:0.949, 0.996) in acute cerebrovascular disease were observed among older adults in the first year and subsequent years after smoke-free air legislation was implemented, respectively. Conventional cigarette taxes did not yield a significant change in acute cerebrovascular disease hospitalizations, nor did either tobacco control policy lead to a significant decline in acute myocardial infarction hospitalizations. Conclusions Smoke-free air laws play an important role in reducing adult cardiovascular hospitalizations. These findings confirm existing research on acute cerebrovascular disease outcomes, as well as the modest effects on acute myocardial infarction hospitalizations observed in state- and national-level analyses. Implications Current research at the local level finds smoke-free air laws yield 40% declines in acute myocardial infarction hospitalizations and 29% declines in acute cerebrovascular disease.State- and national-level analyses find smaller effects of smoke-free air laws, and largely omits analyses of working age adults. Existing research likely suffers from omitted variable bias, including state-level tobacco control funding and local-level conventional cigarette taxes. Using adult hospitalization data from up to 40 states, this study confirms existing evidence at the national and state level, and provides new evidence that smoke-free air laws significantly reduce acute cerebrovascular disease hospitalizations among older adults.

All Politics Is Local: The Reemergence of the Study of City Politics

2009 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 611-618 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Trounstine
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Local Politics ◽  
Local Level ◽  
National Level ◽  
State Politics ◽  
State Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Events ◽  
Political Outcomes

The study of local politics has been relegated to the periphery of political science and many explanations have been offered for the marginalization of the subfield. I offer three related arguments for why scholars should revisit the study of sub-state politics. First, the local level is the source of numerous political outcomes that matter because they represent a large proportion of political events in the United States. Secondly, there are methodological advantages to studying local politics. Finally, analyzing politics at the sub-state level can generate thoroughly different kinds of questions than a purely national-level focus and can offer different answers to questions that apply more generally. Research on local politics can and should contribute to broader debates in political science and ensure that we understand both how and why cities are unique.

Koine formation in context

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Randi Neteland
Keyword(s):  
Formation Process ◽  
Local Level ◽  
National Level ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Speech Community ◽  
Sociocultural Change ◽  
New Town ◽  
Industrial Town ◽  
Language Norms ◽  
Mechanistic View

AbstractIn this paper, I argue that the koine formation process is better understood when placed in a national context of language norms and use. Researchers often state that in cases of koine formation, where a koine forms within the same speech community from which the speakers originate – for instance within the same nation – the process will be influenced by that same speech community. Yet, most research on koine formation focusses on the local level, such as the levelling between the language variants of the incomers or the negotiations of power between social classes in the new town. The empirical data presented in this paper, collected in the Norwegian industrial town of Sauda, show that the historical context of language norms and use on the national level has influenced the process on the local level. This influence can be demonstrated by the variants that go into the so-called mix, as well as by the direction on the formation and the outcome of the focussing process. The mechanistic view that the majority variant always wins does not fit the facts presented here. I also hypothesise that since the koine formation process stretches out in time, the context of language norms and use may change during that period, and this sociocultural change may cause the formation process to change direction.

scholarly journals Roles and Responsibilities of Teaching Staff in Promoting Interculturalism

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 31
Author(s):  
Roxana Constanţa Enache ◽  
Ana-Maria Aurelia Petrescu ◽  
Camelia Stăiculescu ◽  
Alina Crişan
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Local Level ◽  
National Level ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Intercultural Education ◽  
Teaching Staff ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
Identity Strategies ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Way

Education can, without a doubt, be a long-term solution to the problems of a multi-ethnic and multicultural society. From a defensive and seclusion closure, schools can become places of openings and communication. From an instrument of assimilation and strengthening of nationalistic characteristics, school can become a tool for the formation of young people, which respecting cultural diversity. With the help of sensitization and training actions, of the representatives of the multiethnic institutions of education, as well as of the local public authorities and the representatives of the civil society, the achievement of these objectives and the prevention of possible tensions will be achieved. These actions can turn school into a true community center and allow them to better respond to specific needs. The intercultural perspective must be at the base of the learning process addressed to all, minorities and majority. The implementation of intercultural education activities, especially in communities with a multicultural character, within the part of the curriculum decided by the school, will contribute to a better knowledge among the different communities, but also to the strengthening of the social cohesion at the local level. Also, intercultural education activities should aim to strengthen the links between school and community - civil society, as well as better communication between school and local authorities.In this paper we want to identify the elements of intercultural education existing in the curriculum of the Romanian education and the way in which interculturality can be promoted as a European competence.Intercultural communication as a trainer’s competence should be considered as a priority both from the point of view of European standards and at national level. Therefore, the professors’ concerns should focus primarily on encouraging behaviors, attitudes and values so as to cause the individual to react desirably to fear, anxiety, curiosity, labeling, ethnocentrism etc.; the development of implicit or explicit hierarchical relations between groups and their impact on communication; on exercising the students’ competences to perceive time and space, the rapport between them, the system of values and beliefs, the way of feeling and thinking, the types of behavior, that is, the entire habitus that each individual accomplishes by socializing in the determined cultural environment ; on the development of identity strategies that participants put into practice to defend themselves against destabilization, to affirm their own identity, to integrate in the group, to make a positive image, to differentiate themselves, to individualize

Expanding the comparison: the water referendum in Italy

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donatella della Porta ◽  
Francis O’Connor ◽  
Martín Portos ◽  
Anna Subirats Ribas
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Water Supply ◽  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Local Level ◽  
National Level ◽  
Single Issue ◽  
Civil Society Organisations ◽  
Italian Case ◽  
Repertoire Of Contention ◽  
Resource Mobilisation

This chapter examines the 2011 water referendum in Italy, focusing on the appropriation of opportunities, resource mobilisation, and the framing of the campaign by social movements and civil society organisations. It shows that some of the characteristics of the referendums from below that were observed in Scotland and Catalonia also fit the Italian case. In terms of appropriation of opportunities, the referendum against the privatisation of water supply was far from a single-issue campaign, instead emerging from long-lasting struggles that made use of a multiple and varied repertoire of contention, including institutional and unconventional forms of action. The chapter also discusses how the closing down of opportunities at the national level and the availability of political allies at the local level prompted the use of forms of direct democracy. Finally, it demonstrates how the provision of water became a symbol of resistance to neoliberalism and austerity policies in Italy.

Fighting discrimination and exclusion: Civil society and immigration policies in Italy

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 313-323 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maurizio Ambrosini
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Voluntary Associations ◽  
Local Level ◽  
National Level ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Immigration Policies ◽  
Italian Immigration

Migration policies in recent years have turned to growing restrictions and tighter controls in most countries, not only at national level but often also at local level. But several actors from civil society have tried to counteract this trend, protesting, organizing advocacy actions, providing services and promoting networks. Italy is a case in point: from the beginning of the arrival of immigration flows in the ’80, the reception of the newcomers and the defence of their rights has been provided mainly by non-public actors: trade unions, voluntary associations, social movements, catholic institutions. In the last decade, Italian immigration policies have hardened, above all in the period 2008-2011, with the advent of a securitarian discourse. Many civil society organizations struggled against these policies. The article will present two case studies: 1) the Association “Avvocati per niente”, that defends the immigrants against local policies of exclusion; 2) NAGA and OSF, two Associations engaged in health care for irregular immigrants in Milan. The articles explore motivations, discourses, strategies, alliances and outcomes of their action.

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