scholarly journals Comment: The State and Civil Society in Pakistan

1998 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-154
Author(s):  
I. A. Rehman

The state of Pakistan appears to have embarked upon a process of transforming itself. It faces a host of grave socio-political and economic issues which manifestly do not yield to the traditional style of governance. It has also realised that its decayed and outdated administrative system cannot enable it to discharge its social sector obligations even on the limited scale the population has become used to. Thus, on the one hand, it is availing of the opportunities afforded by the rhetoric of globalisation and market economy, and withdrawing from whatever social responsibilities to the people it hitherto recognised - in the areas of education, health, employment, communications, public utilities, etc.

2021 ◽  
pp. 310-312

This chapter examines Hanna Yablonka's Children by the Book, Biography of a Generation: The First Native Israelis Born 1948–1955 (2018). This book is unique in that it is neither politically committed to nationalist political slogans that are thrown daily into the arena of Israeli politics in the days of Netanyahu nor connected to the one-dimensional, sweeping condemnation of critics of the Israeli enterprise on the Right and Left. Instead, it suggests to set aside, even if only for a moment, what Yablonka calls “the current Israeli discourse, which furiously shatters everything that has happened in the state since it was established, brutally erasing all the achievements of Little Israel.” Yabonka is guided by Karl Mannheim's concept of a “historical generation”: a group in which there is a shared historical consciousness derived from historical experience. She shows how the state educational system fashioned the image of the new Israeli, endowing children with a local, native identity and imbuing them with the consciousness of belonging both to the people and to the land.


2013 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 110-128
Author(s):  
Ned Rossiter

I start with the premise that the decoupling of the state from civil society and the reassertion of the multitudes over the unitary figure of ‘the people’ coincides with a vacuum in political institutions of the state. Against Chantal Mouffe’s promotion of an ‘agonistic democracy’, I argue that the emergent idiom of democracy within networked, informational settings is a non- or post-representative one that can be understood in terms of processuality. I maintain that a non-representative, processual democracy corresponds with new institutional formations peculiar to organised networks that subsist within informationality.


1973 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. J. Sharpe

In his celebrated study of American democracy written in 1888, Lord Bryce reserved his most condemnatory reflections for city government and in a muchquoted passage asserted: ‘There is no denying that the government of cities is the one conspicuous failure of the United States. The deficiencies of the National government tell but little for evil on the welfare of the people. The faults of the State governments are insignificant compared with the extravagance, corruption and mismanagement which mark the administration of most of the great cities'sangeetha.


Author(s):  
Joseph Cheng

Deng Xiaoping (b. 1903–d. 1997) secured power and launched a policy program of economic reforms and an opening to the external world at the end of 1978. He also initiated a peace offensive toward Taiwan, and had to face a new challenge in China’s Hong Kong policy. In January 1979, the Chinese authorities announced a nine-point proposal for solving the Taiwan issue and guaranteed that after reunification, the existing economic and social systems, as well as the way of life, would remain unchanged. Subsequently, the new Constitution of the People’s Republic of China promulgated in December 1982 contains a new provision; Article 31 states, “The state may establish special administrative regions (SAR) when necessary” (available online). In March 1979, Sir Murray MacLehose (b. 1917–d. 2000), then Governor of Hong Kong, visited Beijing. He met Deng Xiaoping and formally raised “the New Territories lease” question. Chinese leaders gradually began to understand that the Hong Kong future issue could no longer be delayed. The view of recovery gained a distinct edge; Liao Chengzhi (b. 1908–d. 1983), head of the newly established Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of the State Council, was given the responsibility of planning for the recovery of the territory. In April 1981, he proposed the “one country, two systems” model policy, which demonstrated the Chinese leadership’s liberation in thinking at that time. The leadership was eager to show the world that China could govern Hong Kong better than the British colonial administration; it wanted the Hong Kong model to have a significant demonstration effect on Taiwan. The policy played a key role in maintaining the confidence of Hong Kong people, and facilitated Chinese leaders’ success in the Sino-British negotiations on the territory’s future. In the decade and a half since Hong Kong’s return to China, the “one country, two systems” model has been working quite well. Stability and prosperity have been maintained; the rule of law and the freedoms enjoyed by the people have been largely intact. Hong Kong’s relative international economic competitiveness has been in slow decline, and the economy has become increasingly dependent on that of Mainland China.


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 26-30
Author(s):  
Тимур Чукаев ◽  
Timur Chukaev

The Article is devoted to the theoretical and legal heritage of the prominent Russian lawyer Vasily Nikolaevich Leshkov (1810–1881), his ideas about society as a subject of public administration, about the interaction of civil society and the police as subjects of the implementation of the law enforcement function. The methodological basis of the research is general scientific (historical, systemic, functional) and special (formal-legal, historical-legal, comparative-legal) methods of legal research. A theoretical legacy, V. N. Leshkov, which contemporaries did not understand, and the descendants of the forgotten, to comprehend the researchers in the twenty-first century.


2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 1803-1805
Author(s):  
Dimitar Spaseski

The state has a central place in the political system. Through its structure and positioning the country has the strength to be a unifier of society against its overall division of the various classes and layers, ethnic, cultural and other groups. The legitimacy of all these processes is given by laws that determine the trajectory of all processes and the conditions under which the processes take place. The state, by adopting the highest legal acts such as: the constitution and the laws, achieves one of its most important functions, which is the management of society. The state directs society to promote development, but also punishes and sanction infringements and mistakes. Depending on who exercises power in the state, i.e. whether it belongs to the people, to an individual or to a powerful group, the political system can be determined. The political system in itself includes the overall state relations, the relations in society and the guidelines for the conduct of the policy of the state. A state in which the government is elected by the people through direct elections certainly fulfills the basic requirement for the development of a stable civil society. The political system is one of the sub-systems of the entire civil society. The political system is specific in that all the activities and relations of which it is composed are directed to the state and its functions. The structure of the political system is composed of political and legal norms, political knowledge, political culture and political structure. These elements confirm the strong relationship between the state, the law and the political system. Developed democratic societies can talk about a developed political system that abounds with political culture and democracy. It is the aspiration of our life. Investing in democratic societies we invest in the future of our children. If we separate the subjects of the political system, we will determine that the people are the basis of the political system. All competencies intertwine around people. Political systems are largely dependent not only on the political processes that take place in them every day, but also on the economic performance and the economic power of the states. Economic stagnation or regression in some countries often threatens democracy and its values. We often forget that we cannot speak of the existence of a functioning and well-organized democratic political system without its strong economic support. In conditions of globalization, it is necessary to pay special attention to international positions as the main factor of the political system, for the simple reason that the functions of the state in this process are increasingly narrowing.


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-50
Author(s):  
Nadirsah Hawari ◽  
Rachma Octariani ◽  
Eva Rosalia ◽  
Sinta Arifka ◽  
Asep Candra

Abstract According to Islamic Shari'a, holding a public office is not a right for an individual, but an obligation for the State. Therefore, the government, both the regional head and all its officials, must select the most suitable and most suitable person for every government job. It should not be made of nepotism by looking at kinship, friendship, or faction from any relationship with the eligibility of someone to hold a position .The existing rulers should appoint officials from the best people (al-ashlah), the Prophet said which means "whoever holds a Muslim's business (meaning being a ruler) then he appoints someone to be an official even though he knows there are more people good for (benefit) of the Muslims, then really he has betrayed Allah and His Messenger "(Ibn Taimiyah). If the head of state or other officials do not find the right person for a certain position, in this situation they must choose the person who is more representative. Representative here means the person who is the most appropriate from the one for each government position. And also in this selection process, the head of state and other officials must know about the standards of eligibility al-quwwah (strength) and al-amanah (trust). Al-Quwwah is the ability and feasibility of a job assignment. Whereas trusteeship is a behavior that focuses on the management process regarding the position or function of a position that is in accordance with Islamic Shari'a with the intention of only devoting to Allah and not based on fear of humans and expecting their self-interest. nominating yourself is required to convey the vision and mission and the state program that will be implemented. In this case, the community or community is very necessary to obtain information on the candidate pairs who nominate themselves, and the campaign that can be used as a means of communicating politics and public education. The leaders, servants of the State, civil servants or the military, judges and so on, are essentially representations of the voices of the people they lead. The leaders are no more than public servants who must devote and dedicate their leadership to the benefit of the people. The leaders are only representatives of the fulfillment of the rights of the people, so that they are obliged to run the government properly.    Abstrak Menurut syariat islam, memegang suatu jabatan-jabatan umum bukanlah hak  bagi individu, melainkan kewajiban atasnya bagi Negara. Oleh sebab itu, pemerintah baik kepala daerah dan seluruh pejabatnya harus menyeleksi orang yang paling cocok dan paling layak bagi setiap pekerjaan pemerintahan.Tidak boleh beerbuat nepotisme dengan memandang kekerabatan, persahabatan, atau golongan dari manapun yang tidak ada hubunngannya dengan kelayakan seseorang untuk memegang suatu jabatan.Para penguasa yang telah ada hendaknya mengangkat para pejabat dari orang orang terbaik (al-ashlah), Nabi bersabda yang artinya“barang siapa memegang suatu urusan kaum muslimin (maksudnya menjadi penguasa) kemudian ia mengangkat seseorang menjadi pejabat padahal ia mengetahui ada orang yang lebih baik bagi (kemaslahatan) kaum muslimin, maka sungguh ia telah mengkhianati Allah dan Rasul-Nya” (Ibnu Taimiyah).Apabila kepala Negara atau para pejabat lainnya tidak menemukan orang yang tepat untuk suatu jabatan tertentu, dalam keadaan ini mereka harus memilih orang yang lebih representative. Representative disini memiliki arti yakni orang yang paling tepat dari yang ada untuk setiap jabatan pemerintahan. Dan juga dalam proses penyeleksian ini, kepala Negara dan pejabat lainnya harus mengetahui tentang standar kelayakan  al-quwwah (kekuatan) dan al-amanah (kepercayaan).Al-Quwwah ialah kemampuan dan kelayakan suatu tugas jabatan. Sedangkan amanah, merupakan perilaku yang dititik beratkan pada proses  pengelolaan perihal jabatan atau fungsi dari suatu jabatan yang sesuai dengan syariat islam dengan niat hanya bertaqwa kepada Allah dan bukan berdasar pada ketakutan kepada manusia dan mengharap pamrih dari mereka.Didalam pelaksanaan kampanye, pasangan calon kandidat yang mencalonkan diri diharuskan untuk menyampaikan visi dan misi serta program kenegaraan yang akan dijalankan. Dalam hal ini, umat atau khalayak masyarakat sangat perlu untuk memperoleh informasi atas pasangan calon kandidat yang mencalonkan diri tersebut, dan kampanyelah yang dapat dijadikan sebagai sarana berkomunikasi politik dan pendidikan masyarakat. Para pemimpin, abdi Negara, pegawai sipil atau militer, hakim dan lain sebagainya, pada hakikatnya merupakan representasi suara rakyat yang mereka pimpin. Para pemimpin tidaklah lebih dari pelayan masyarakat yang harus mengabdikan dan mendedikasikan kepemimpinannya untuk kemaslahatan rakyat. Para pemimpin hanyalah wakil akan pemenuh hak hak umat, sehingga mereka wajib menjalankan roda pemerintahan dengan baik.


2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-37
Author(s):  
Anubhav Sengupta

In the last decade, India has witnessed a resurgence of Maoist movements. At the same time, the country’s polity has been rocked by various protests against displacement by local population. These protests have commonly been referred to as people’s movement. In some cases, both, Maoists and people’s movements have overlapped and thus raising the question about people’s agency and Maoists’ role in it. This essay posits the question: who is this people? The assumption is only by exploring the answer, questions pertaining to autonomy or agency can be answered. The essay takes the case of Lalgarh movement, West Bengal, where adivasis rose up against the state, police atrocities. Subsequently Maoists came into the picture. In exploring the debate, mentioned above in the context of Lalgarh, the essay studies a set of letters written to civil society, issued by an organization on behalf of adivasis. The essay finds that the issues of agency must be reconceptualised as subjectivity. Instead of finding a pure voice of adivasis, it is subjectivity as process that helps us to grasp politics of the people. The paper finally argues that the process of becoming people is congealing of adivasis as a political collective.


2002 ◽  
Vol 171 ◽  
pp. 741-779
Author(s):  
Thomas B. Gold

Robert Weller has given us a virtuoso display of theoretical sophistication combined with rich primary data in a densely packed yet consistently stimulating volume. Recognizing the controversy over the applicability of the concept of “civil society” to areas outside the West, he elaborates the idea of an “alternate civility,” by which he means forms of association between the family and the state deeply rooted in society at the grassroots level (therefore not broad-based enough to qualify as “civil”) that, in his view, have provided the basis for Taiwan's democratic transition, and may provide the seeds for a similar political transformation in mainland China. He calls this the “informal social sector” and contrasts it with a sector comprising formal organizations, which are more likely to be co-opted by the state.


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