scholarly journals After the Revolution: State, Civil Society, and Democratization in Armenia and Georgia

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph H. Stefes ◽  
Yevgenya J. Paturyan
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Political Leadership ◽  
Authoritarian Regimes ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Transitions ◽  
Checks And Balances ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Government ◽  
Revolutionary Regime

In 2003 and 2018, mass protests triggered the collapse of authoritarian regimes in Georgia and Armenia, respectively. In both cases, civil society organizations (CSOs) played an important role in laying the groundwork and organizing the protests. Following the toppling of semi-autocratic leaders, reform-oriented governments took over in both countries. Yet, the way civil society engaged the new rulers differed considerably. Whereas in Georgia, former civil society leaders were often absorbed into the new government, Armenian civil society has kept its distance from the new political leadership. In this paper, we attempt to explain why state-civil society relations after the revolutions have developed in different directions in these two Soviet successor states. We argue that three conditions explain differences in engagement with the new governments: CSOs pre-revolutionary cooperation with the political opposition, Western governments support for civil society before and after the political transitions, and the degree to which CSOs represent and are rooted in the general public. As a consequence, Georgia’s post-revolutionary regime lacked the checks and balances that CSOs usually provide, allowing it to sacrifice democratization on the altar of modernization. In Armenia, in contrast, CSOs have maintained a critical stance and continued to hold the government accountable.

Kyrgyzstan

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erica Marat
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Political Leadership ◽  
The Political ◽  
Lethal Force ◽  
State Actors

This chapter, on Kyrgyzstan, demonstrates how diverse and dynamic civil society mobilized in support of police overhaul following the state’s use of lethal force against civilian demonstrators in central Bishkek in 2010. The political leadership pledged to overhaul the police to avoid a repetition of bloodshed. Engaging with a range of NGOs, civic activists, and MPs, the Interior Ministry has addressed reform in a chaotic and unpredictable manner. Civil society actors representing NGOs bickered among themselves, while their demands to depoliticize the Interior Ministry differed altogether from those of the ministry. Nevertheless, the concept paper that emerged following numerous forums was driven by a consensus between a range of nonstate and state actors.

Rights of the Child

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Asha Bajpai
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
International Law ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Legal Definition ◽  
Rights Of The Child ◽  
The Government ◽  
Definition Of

The chapter commences with the change in the perspective and approach relating to children from welfare to rights approach. It then deals with the legal definition of child in India under various laws. It gives a brief overview of the present legal framework in India. It states briefly the various policies and plans, and programmes of the Government of India related to children. International law on the rights of the child is enumerated and a summary of the important judgments by Indian courts are also included. The chapter ends with pointing out the role of civil society organizations in dealing with the rights of the child and a mention of challenges ahead.

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 DAKAR SUMMER SCHOOL AND STRATEGIES FOR SUPPORTING PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES IN THE LIBYAN SOCIETY (AN EXP. IN THE SOCIAL INTEGRATION OF CHILDREN)

2021 ◽  
Vol 03 (03) ◽  
pp. 299-303
Author(s):  
Hassan Mohammed ABUOKATYYIF
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Summer School ◽  
Community Integration ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Education And Health ◽  
The Social ◽  
War And Conflict ◽  
The Government

Many are strategies to ensure disability in areas of education and health and access to place and information, but in this experience, we are in the role of civil society organizations in providing possible services in the community integration of an important chip, especially the time of crises and wars (The subject of this experience). We aimed to prepare a model for an inclusive and supportive summer club for children with disabilities with ordinary children from 7 to 14 years old, taking into account the awareness and understanding of ordinary students or children and accept them for their counterparts, unity, mobility and others. We have divided the club into many programs, paragraphs and science and put them through video, participation and entertainment as well as many supporting psychosocial and participation and entertainment as well as many supporting mental and social programs and contracted a specialized organization that took it upon itself to study the behaviors and submit reports with the club's specialists. the topics of the club have covered an interactive and entertainment study as well as the science of Quran and development and life skills such as drawing and coloring – young media, theater and crochet – computer principles as well as weekly and monthly encouraging competitions which made us believe that we have been in the theme of cleaving and integration, and this is evident in the clear harmony through competitions, dances, songs, and the fear and tightness and intensity we have noticed at the beginning of the club, which made us seek to mainstream and develop the idea and recommend to the government, private sector and civil society and urged them to conduct efforts for effective participation and ensure persons with disabilities, especially children to remove them from the situation of war and conflict and support their psychological and social balance..

Indymedia in Belgium: the delicate balance between media activism and political activism

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (6) ◽  
pp. 1031-1038
Author(s):  
Robin Van Leeckwyck ◽  
Pieter Maeseele ◽  
Maud Peeters ◽  
David Domingo
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Political Activism ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
European Countries ◽  
The Political ◽  
Media Activism ◽  
The Media ◽  
Original Website

Belgium was one of the first European countries to establish a local ‘national’ branch of the global Indymedia network. The diversity of those involved in this ‘national movement’ ultimately turned out to be both the strength of the original website and the cause of its decline. Indeed, due to political and organizational disagreement, many activists decided to create their own ‘local’ Independent Media Centre (IMC). This article distinguishes two perspectives on the role of Indymedia: the political activists saw Indymedia as a means to an end, as an instrument to discuss strategies and tactics, and to coordinate social movements and grassroots movements. The media activists, on the contrary, saw Indymedia as an end in itself, as a platform for civil society organizations to make their voices heard and facilitate democratic debate – in this vein, the experience of Indymedia.be was transformed into the alternative news site DeWereldMorgen.be.

scholarly journals Meta-Cognition of Efficacy and Social Media Usage among Japanese Civil Society Organizations

Information ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 118
Author(s):  
Tomoya Sagara ◽  
Muneo Kaigo ◽  
Yutaka Tsujinaka
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Interest Group ◽  
Political Efficacy ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
The Political ◽  
Media Usage ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Flow Of Information

This paper examines how social media are affecting Japanese civil society organizations, in relation to efficacy and political participation. Using data from the 2017 Japan Interest Group Study survey, we analyzed how the flow of information leads to the political participation of civil society organizations. The total number of respondents (organizations) were 1285 (942 organizations in Tokyo and 343 from Ibaraki). In the analysis of our survey we focused on the data portion related to information behavior and efficacy and investigated the meta-cognition of efficacy in lobbying among civil society organizations in Tokyo and Ibaraki. We found that organizations that use social media were relatively few. However, among the few organizations that use social media, we found that these organizations have a much higher meta-cognition of political efficacy in comparison to those that do not use social media. For instance, social media usage had a higher tendency of having cognition of being able to exert influence upon others. We also found that organizations that interact with citizens have a higher tendency to use social media. The correspondence analysis results point towards a hypothesis of how efficacy and participation are mutually higher among the organizations that use social media in Japan.

scholarly journals The Silent Gatekeeper: Authoritarianism and Civil Society in China

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 66-72
Author(s):  
Kate Mah
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Chinese Communist Party ◽  
Social Mobilization ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Authoritarian State ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Government ◽  
Market Capitalism

This paper examines the emergence of civil society in China under the authoritarian system in the last thirty years. It seeks to explore the ways in which an initial, traditional notion of civil society has altered in the context of China, as well as the respective challenges faced by both the organizations and the government in carrying out their goals and governance. The rapid rise of market capitalism, globalization and Chinese economic success in the last forty years to present day has made room for the rise of non-governmental organizations as well as social mobilization and engagement from citizens. This paper suggests that China has been able to accept the emergence of civil society, however, despite these developments, the government has been able to sufficiently suppress civil society from carrying out any objectives of transparency, social justice and accountability. It surveys the history of civil society within the authoritarian state, analyzes the specific government-NGO relations between the Chinese Communist Party and civil society organizations, and reflects upon the implications of the current legal and political framework that Chinese civil society must operate under.

Rethinking Legitimation: Positional and Mediated Legitimation Processes for Croatian NGOs

2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 475-498
Author(s):  
Laura J. Heideman
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Organizational Form ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Archival Data ◽  
Civil Society Organization ◽  
Political Transitions ◽  
Dominant Form ◽  
The Past ◽  
Multiple Audiences ◽  
New Type

How do new forms of organizations legitimate themselves? Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have emerged as a dominant form of civil society organization in the past 35 years, often in societies undergoing social and political transitions. This paper analyzes legitimation processes for NGOs in postwar and postcommunist Croatia using interview and archival data. Starting from a principle that legitimation is a process involving multiple audiences, I examine the mechanisms NGOs use to legitimate themselves to different audiences. I find that Croatian civil society organizations adopted the NGO organizational form to legitimate themselves to international actors, who in turn pressured the Croatian government to accept these organizations as legitimate. However, the actions NGOs took to legitimate themselves to international actors undermined their legitimacy with the Croatian public. This case demonstrates that legitimation is a challenging prospect for a new type of organization, especially given the fragile nature of mediated legitimacy and the conflicting priorities of different audiences.

Mrs Gandhi’s Personalisation of Power, 1966–1975

2021 ◽  
pp. 275-312
Author(s):  
Christophe Jaffrelot ◽  
Pratinav Anil
Keyword(s):  
Power Structure ◽  
The Political ◽  
Internal Factors ◽  
Authoritarian Personality ◽  
Checks And Balances ◽  
Political Situation ◽  
Congress Party ◽  
The People ◽  
The Government

This chapter focuses on the internal factors that led to the declaration of the Emergency. It primarily explores Mrs Gandhi’s authoritarian personality and the deinstitutionalisation of the Congress Party. The power structure within the Congress, especially after Mrs Gandhi split the party in 1969, meant that checks and balances ceased to exist. This factionalism enabled her to impose her authoritarian tendencies on the government as safeguards were dismantled. The chapter further explores the relation between authoritarianism and populism. It uses the political situation in India from the late 1960s to the early 1970s as an illustration. Mrs Gandhi, like other populist leaders, was convinced that she was the people of India. This idea was epitomised by D. K. Barooah’s slogan: ‘Indira is India and India is Indira.’

The Extended Scope of Accountability in Public Administration

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Mulgan
Keyword(s):  
Authoritarian Regimes ◽  
Representative Democracy ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Usual Sense ◽  
Government Accountability ◽  
Hierarchical Networks ◽  
Democratic Regimes ◽  
The Government ◽  
Democratic Elections ◽  
Informal Accountability

The accountability of governments to their citizens is usually framed within a relationship of principal and agent in which the government, as agent, is obliged to answer to the citizens as agents. It is also commonly located within a structure of representative democracy where political leaders are elected by, and answerable to, the voters. However, these two theoretical frames do not adequately capture the relations of government to their citizens or the parameters of government accountability. Governments increasingly operate through non-hierarchical networks that are not subject to the vertical accountability assumed in principal-agent theory. Instead, networks offer alternative, informal accountability mechanisms based on horizontal relationships. These are evident, for example, in the responsiveness of professionals to their clients and the mutual accountability of network members to one another. These mechanisms have a sufficient share in the characteristics normally associated with accountability, including the obligations to inform, discuss, and accept consequences, for them to count as mechanisms of accountability in the usual sense. Redefinition of accountability, for instance to exclude the requirement of answering to another person or body, while understandable, is not essential. Accountability mechanisms also function without the support of effective democratic elections. For instance, formal institutions of horizontal accountability, such as courts and anti-corruption agencies, can operate in non-democratic regimes and are better seen as conditions of representative democracy rather than as consequences. Partially democratic or authoritarian regimes also exhibit various forms of social accountability in which civil society organizations call governments directly to account without recourse to state-based agencies of accountability. Large authoritarian regimes can encourage limited accountability processes as a means of bringing public pressure to bear on recalcitrant cadres. To be effective, however, all such measures require at least some legally robust support from government institutions.

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