Civil Society and Democratic Governance in Ghana: Emerging Roles and Challenges

1970 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Seidu Alidu ◽  
Maame A. A. Gyekye-Jandoh
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
Democratic Governance ◽  
Great Caution ◽  
Civic Organizations ◽  
Political Position ◽  
Liberal Perspective

Though the essence of ‘civil society’ appeared in the writings of Rousseau, Ferguson, Tocqueville and Gramsci, the use of the term did not become prominent until the 18th century. Variously defined, the meaning, applicability and categorization of civil society are embedded in highly contextualized ideological debates of Tocqueville’s liberal democracy and Gramscian post-Marxist school of thought. Whilst liberals see civil society as characterized by high social capital, trust and cooperation necessary for democracy, the Gramscian conception assumes a more direct political position and considers civil society an instrument of resistance and activism that promotes challenges to political, social and economic hegemony. The use of the term civil society among Ghanaian scholars has been aligned largely with Tocqueville’s neo-liberal perspective. In as much as the role of civil society is applauded, great caution must be exercised in universalizing all civic organizations in Ghana as pro-democratic entities. This article therefore examines civil society from the Tocquevillian perspective, and its influence on the analysis of civil society in Ghana. The essay reviews the works of Gyimah-Boadi, Ninsin, Drah and Ocquaye that adopt Tocqueville’s liberalist characterization of civil society and how it has helped to shape democracy and checked the despotic tendencies of the Ghanaian state. It concludes with recommendations on how a broader conceptualization beyond de Tocqueville could enhance the analytical and empirical relevance of civil society in promoting the liberty of citizens against the encroachments of a powerful state.Keywords: Civil society; 'alternative' civil society; Ghana; democracy; democratic consolidation

scholarly journals Key Approaches to the Study of History of Altai in 18th Century in Modern Russian Historiography

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (10) ◽  
pp. 310-322
Author(s):  
D. S. Bobrov ◽  
L. G. Zaitseva
Keyword(s):  
18Th Century ◽  
Initial Development ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Holistic Understanding ◽  
Comprehensive Examination ◽  
History Of ◽  
Colonization Process ◽  
Modern Russian

The article is devoted to a comprehensive examination of theoretical approaches to the study of the history of Altai in the 18th century, developed by Russian specialists over the past three decades. The relevance of the study is associated with the emerging trend in domestic science towards a holistic understanding of the retrospective of individual regions, including through understanding the interdependent role of various social and administrative factors in the colonization process. Special attention is paid to the conceptual assessment of the nature of the initial development of Altai. The methodological grounds for applying the theories of military colonization, frontier, frontier modernization to the history of the region are outlined. The authors state the presence in the scientific literature of two non-identical approaches to the characterization of the Russian border in the south of Western Siberia. The authors demonstrate the obvious desire of historians to carry out comprehensive studies of regional and local levels of civil and mining management, which has emerged against the background of the preservation of the heuristic significance of microhistorical analysis of the role of individual fortified (fortresses, forts) or production facilities (factories). The diversity and conceptual heterogeneity of modern Russian historiography of the history of Altai in the 18th century is summarized. Some forecasts of the development of the historiographic situation are formulated.

The Liberal State and Criminal Sanction

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan A. Jacobs
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
Legal Culture ◽  
Political Order ◽  
The Political ◽  
Criminal Sanction ◽  
Liberal State ◽  
The U.S

Current forms of incarceration in the U.S. and U.K. are morally problematic in ways that are antithetical to the values and principles of liberal democracy. While indicating those morally problematic features the book defends the basic political and legal culture of the U.S. and U.K. A significant remaking of the political order is not needed for the required reforms of incarceration to be made. Greater faithfulness to the values and principles of liberal democracy could be adequate for such reforms. It is crucial to make those reforms because of the ways prisoners are currently being harmed, rendering many of them incapable of reintegrating successfully into civil society. The liberal order makes a dynamic, pluralistic civil society possible, and participating in civil society gives people a reason to value the liberal order. That relation is weakened by penal practices that diminish the agential capacities of offenders and fail to respect them as members of society. The book explores the relation between criminal justice and justice more comprehensively understood, highlighting the distinctive elements of criminal justice. It explains the role of desert in criminal justice and why criminal justice needs to be distinguished from distributive justice. Criminal justice includes a retributivist conception of punishment, one in which desert, proportionality, and parsimony are centrally important. A retributivist conception of punishment most effectively respects the voluntariness and accountability of agents in ways well suited to a liberal political order. The account examines misinterpretations of retributivism and highlights weaknesses of consequentialist approaches to sanction.

Australia: Expanding and Applying the Field of Civil-Military Relations

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben Wadham ◽  
Willem de Lint
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Cultural Diversity ◽  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Conflict Zones ◽  
Civil Military Relations ◽  
Military Relations ◽  
The Military

Civil-military relations research in Australia is limited. There is no field of civil-military relations to speak of, as there is in, for example, the United States tradition. It is this tradition of research that has a significant influence on the Australian Defence Force through the work of Samuel Huntington and Morris Janowitz. Indeed, civil-military relations is used in defense establishment parlance to describe the military encountering nongovernment organizations and the civil sector in conflict zones. However, there is not enough research and writing to represent a body of work within the Australian academy. The use of the term and its traditions are argued to be normative. The concept reproduces an ideal of civil-military relations that does not represent the rich cultural diversity that constitutes this field. Civil-military relations in the United States sense are an appropriate frame for Australian liberal democracy and the place and role of the military. Drawing on cultural theory, and using the phenomenon of scandal, it may be argued that the cultural diversity of the state, the military, and civil society must be conceptualized to improve the explanatory value of this field. The fraternal and contested character of institutional interaction must also be a focus. The lack of attention to the role of the market is also an area for further development. The element of the market in civil-military relations describes the adaptive maneuvers of these entities—state, military, market, and civil society—in sustaining institutional hegemony in Australian liberal democracy.

scholarly journals Civil Society as Networks of Issues and Associations: The Case of Food

2021 ◽  
pp. 149-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario Diani ◽  
Henrik Ernstson ◽  
Lorien Jasny
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Social Network Analysis ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
Cape Town ◽  
Communicative Practices ◽  
Civic Organizations ◽  
Collective Goods ◽  
Civil Society Networks

AbstractScholars usually conceptualize civil society as both a discursive and an associational space. In the former, focus is on communicative practices; in the latter, attention shifts to the actors that cooperate or clash about the identification and production of collective goods. In this chapter, we sketch the contours of an approach to civil society that treats both dimensions in an integrated way. Looking at the role of food issues in urban settings as diverse as Cape Town, Bristol, and Glasgow, we borrow from social network analysis to explore first, how civic organizations combine an interest in food-related issues with attention to other themes, thus defining different, specific agendas; next, we ask if and how interest in food identifies specific clusters of cooperation within broader civil society networks.

Digital x-ray mapping of nanometer-size supported bimetallic catalysts

1988 ◽  
Vol 46 ◽  
pp. 530-531
Author(s):  
L. T. Germinario
Keyword(s):  
Background Radiation ◽  
Metal Cluster ◽  
Single Element ◽  
Beam Diameter ◽  
X Rays ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Major Interest ◽  
Induced Changes

Understanding the role of metal cluster composition in determining catalytic selectivity and activity is of major interest in heterogeneous catalysis. The electron microscope is well established as a powerful tool for ultrastructural and compositional characterization of support and catalyst. Because the spatial resolution of x-ray microanalysis is defined by the smallest beam diameter into which the required number of electrons can be focused, the dedicated STEM with FEG is the instrument of choice. The main sources of errors in energy dispersive x-ray analysis (EDS) are: (1) beam-induced changes in specimen composition, (2) specimen drift, (3) instrumental factors which produce background radiation, and (4) basic statistical limitations which result in the detection of a finite number of x-ray photons. Digital beam techniques have been described for supported single-element metal clusters with spatial resolutions of about 10 nm. However, the detection of spurious characteristic x-rays away from catalyst particles produced images requiring several image processing steps.

The Role of Muslim Women in Civil Society In Promoting Values and Principles for Building Peace: Action Guide from The Qur’ān

Sains Insani ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-36
Author(s):  
Che Amnah Bahari ◽  
Fatimah Abdullah
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Lifelong Learning ◽  
Significant Role ◽  
Textual Analysis ◽  
Muslim Women ◽  
Peace Building ◽  
Analysis Method ◽  
Pluralistic Society ◽  
Women And Children

The whole world, the Muslim in particular has witnessed conflicts in different areas, which have hindered the developmental efforts of the nations concerned. It should be learned that most victims of these conflicts are women and children. This article attempts to elaborate the role of Muslims Women as a crucial segment in civil society in initiating peace building through nurturing process. It maintains that the adoption of the principles and values derived from the Qur’ān and Sunnah of the Prophet is necessary as a process of lifelong learning.  Those identified values constituted the framework of this article and it adopts the textual analysis method.   This article concludes that through the implementation of those values and frameworks for peace building, women as one of the important segments of civil society are able to play significant role towards initiating peace building and promoting peaceful co-existence in pluralistic society. Abstrak: Dunia Islam khususnya telah menyaksikan konflik di pelbagai daerah yang berbeza. Konflik ini telah menghalang usaha kearah pembangunan Kawasan yang berkenaan. Kebanyakan mangsa konflik ini adalah wanita dan kanak-kanak. Artikel ini cuba untuk menghuraikan peranan wanita Islam sebagai segmen penting dalam masyarakat madani dalam membangun proses kedamaian dengan mendidik dan memupuk prinsip dan nilai murni janaan al-Qur’an. Penggunaan prinsip dan nilai yang dikutip dari ayat-ayat Qur'an dan hadis Rasulullah adalah keperluan yang mendesak sebagai wadah bagi proses pembelajaran sepanjang hayat. Nilai-nilai yang dikenal pasti merupakan rangka kerja artikel ini, dan metod yang dirujuk adalah analisis teks. Artikel ini menyimpulkan bahawa melalui pelaksanaan nilai-nilai dan kerangka kerja Islam bagi proses kedamaian, wanita Islam dalam masyarakat madani mampu memainkan peranan penting dalam memulakan pembinaan keamanan dan menggalakkan kehidupan yang harmonis, sejahtera dan saling bantu membantu dalam masyarakat majmuk.

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