Strategies for Survival: Human Rights Organizations’ Responses to the Closing of Political Opportunity Structures in Hungary

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-139
Author(s):  
Márton Gerő ◽  
Pál Susánszky ◽  
Ákos Kopper ◽  
Gergely Tóth
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Political Opportunity ◽  
Opportunity Structures ◽  
Political Opportunities ◽  
Human Rights Organizations ◽  
Political Opportunity Structures

In the last decade, there has been a tendency for governments to impose tighter restrictions on civil society organizations, especially those promoting democracy and human rights. In this study, we examine how human rights organizations are responding to the increasingly hostile political environment in Hungary. The expanding limits on civil society organizations is usually discussed within a framework labelled as the closing space for civil society, which emphasizes the legislation and governmental actions directly attacking civil society organizations. Despite the impression that the restrictions threaten the existence of these organizations, a closer examination reveals that well-established organizations are capable of developing coping strategies to survive. To fully understand how these strategies are developed, we need to supplement this framework with the theory of political opportunity structures. This broader theoretical perspective examines the openness of decision-making processes for non-ruling actors and includes the role of perceptions in the examination of reactions to changes in the opportunity structure. As our study shows, perceptions about the social environment have a crucial role in understanding the strategies of human rights organizations. Examining the reactions of ten organizations, primarily using the method of organizational interviews, we show that rather than direct restrictions attacking civil society organizations, the major factor shaping their strategies is the closing of political opportunities. As a consequence of an almost total closure of decision-making mechanisms, they have been changing their activities from focusing on their roles as experts and working with state institutions to emphasizing social embeddedness, community building and raising awareness.

scholarly journals Why have Anti-Offshore Tin Mining Movements Failed in Bangka but Succeeded in East Belitung? Political Opportunity Structures and Political Settlement in the Context of Indonesia's Democratic Future

PCD Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-227
Author(s):  
Eko Bagus Sholihin
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Economic Resources ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Opportunity ◽  
Opportunity Structures ◽  
Political Opportunities ◽  
Political Access ◽  
Political Opportunity Structures ◽  
Important Position ◽  
Political Settlement

Civil society movements have occupied an important position in Indonesia's democratisation. This article seeks to determine why anti-offshore tin mining movements in the post-authoritarian era failed in Bangka but succeeded in East Belitung, an area where tin mining has historically been important. By analysing the political opportunity structures and political settlement mechanisms involved, this article argues, first, that the movement's success in East Belitung can be attributed to open political access, fragmentation within elite circles, and alliances with influential elites; such political opportunities were not available in Bangka. Second, in Bangka, the local bourgeoisie and brokers used clientelistic approaches in their political settlement and prevented resistance by co-opting local communities within the extraction chain. In East Belitung, meanwhile, such efforts were stymied by the lack of local bourgeoisie, the strength of environmental awareness, and the availability of alternative economic resources. It may thus be concluded that, while a clientelistic approach to settlement may prevent conflict, it also limits the political participation of civil society movements—an important element of democracy.

scholarly journals It's Not Just Structural: Social Movements are not Homogenous Responses to Structural Features, but Networks shaped by Organisational Strategies and Status

2009 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clare Saunders
Keyword(s):  
Structural Features ◽  
Political Opportunity ◽  
Opportunity Structures ◽  
Government Institutions ◽  
Political Opportunities ◽  
The Status ◽  
Political Opportunity Structures ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Different Characteristics ◽  
Environmental Organisation

Political opportunity structures are often used to explain differences in the characteristics of movements in different countries on the basis of the national polity in which they exist. However, the approach has a number of weaknesses that are outlined in this article. The article especially stresses the fact that such broad-brush approaches to political opportunity structures fail to account for the different characteristics of movement organisations within the same polity. The article therefore recommends using a more fine-tuned approach to political opportunities, taking into account that the strategies and status of organisations affect the real political opportunities they face. This fine-tuned approach is used to predict how the status and strategy of environmental organisations might influence the extent to which different types of environmental organisations in the UK network with one-another. We find that organisations that face an open polity - those with a moderate action repertoire and a constructive relationship with government institutions - tend not to cooperate with those with a radical action repertoire and negative relations with government institutions. On the other hand, those that vary their action repertoires, and which have variable status according to the issues involved or campaign targets, have a much broader range of network links with other types of organisations. Thus, there is much more diversity in types of environmental organisation in the UK than the broad-brush to political opportunity structures would account for. Nonetheless, it does seem that environmental organisations are aware of how their own behaviours might influence (non-structural) political opportunities, and that they mould their strategies and networking patterns around this awareness.

scholarly journals Transnational Relations and Activism in International Relations: Debates and Consensus in Literature

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 142
Author(s):  
Ani W. Soetjipto ◽  
Arivia Tri Dara Yuliestiana
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Transnational Activism ◽  
Transnational Advocacy ◽  
Political Opportunity ◽  
Transnational Relations ◽  
Norm Diffusion ◽  
Opportunity Structures ◽  
Political Opportunity Structures

This article explores the concepts of transnational relations and activism in the study of International Relations, specifically the role of civil society in transnational advocacy. It is fascinating to discuss the role of civil society when state actors are no longer the most prominent actors in International Relations studies in the midst of globalisation. Some articles related to transnational relations have been written by the scholars of International Relations such as Thomas Risse-Kappen (1995). Even so, one of the most sophisticated concepts of transnational activism was introduced by Margaret Keck and Kathryn Sikkink (1998), in Activists Beyond Borders: Advocacy Networks in International Politics. In order to fully understand transnational activism in the study of International Relations, a divergent perspective can be applied. In this article, the authors aim to examine the recent debates and its counternarratives in International Relations through critical and constructivism lenses. Firstly, this article would describe the concepts of transnationalism and transnational activism in the study of International Relations (state of the art). Secondly, it would be a discussion in the literature on transnationalism and transnational activism which cover themes about norm diffusion, the ‘boomerang pattern’, political opportunity structures and accountability and effectiveness. The last part is conclusion that can be drawn from this consensus and debates in the concept of transnational activism.

Resource Dependency and Political Opportunity: Explaining the Transformation from Excluded Political Opposition Parties to Human Rights Organizations in Post-Communist Uzbekistan

2007 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 96-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Grodsky
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Systematic Research ◽  
Political Elites ◽  
External Funding ◽  
Political Opportunity ◽  
Political Opposition ◽  
Political Opportunities ◽  
Human Rights Organizations ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Opposition Parties

AbstractWhile there is significant anecdotal evidence that excluded political opposition parties in repressive states adopt the form of human rights organizations, there is little systematic research into this phenomenon. What does exist tends to be descriptive rather than theoretical in nature. This paper draws from collective action and resource mobilization literatures, arguing that excluded political elites respond to repression by searching for political opportunities both domestically and internationally, and then transform their organizations into units better able to take advantage of those opportunities. The politics of external funding push these organizations towards a human rights and democratization orientation. The article evaluates this argument through an analysis of human rights movements in politically repressive, post-Communist Uzbekistan and considers the impact of this phenomenon on democratization and civil society development.

Intergovernmental Organizations and LGBT Issues

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina Kiel ◽  
Jamie Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Nongovernmental Organizations ◽  
International Institutions ◽  
The Political ◽  
Intergovernmental Organizations ◽  
Political Opportunity ◽  
Advocacy Organizations ◽  
Opportunity Structures ◽  
Lgbt Issues ◽  
Political Opportunity Structures

Intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) and international institutions have proliferated since the end of World War II. This development has changed the landscape of international relations not only for states, but also for nongovernmental organizations and social movements. The advocacy of international nongovernmental organizations (INGO) plays a central role in pushing IGOs and their member states toward action. INGOs’ success in doing so depends on a number of factors, opportunity prime among them. Political opportunity structures (the institutional arrangements and resources available for political and social mobilization) determine lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) INGO access to power holders and thus their chances of bringing their concerns, and possible solutions to those concerns, to IGOs. The opportunity structures vary significantly from one IGO to the next. For example, the political opportunity structure offered by the European Union (EU) has been favorable to LGBT activism, while the United Nations is much less open to comprehensive inclusion of LGBT and sexual orientation, gender identity, and expression (SOGIE) human rights. As LGBT issues move onto an IGO’s agenda, a symbiotic relationship develops between the IGO and advocacy organizations. The changing opportunity structures influence NGOs’ structure, strategy, and resource mobilization. Coordination between advocacy groups with similar goals becomes easier when many organizations have physical offices at IGOs. For diplomats and bureaucrats working at the IGO or national representative offices, INGOs can be beneficial, too. In particular, advocacy organizations are experts and purveyors of information. However, the interdependence between INGOs and IGOs has the potential of silencing voices that do not neatly fit into the internationalist, liberal rights-based discourse. Besides the political opportunity structures in IGOs, the frames INGOs use to advocate for issues have been found to be essential for campaign success. One tactic that often constitutes successful framing is the grafting of issues to existing norms. In the LGBT context, the frames proposed by activists include human rights, health (specifically HIV­-AIDS), and women and gender. International institutions assure that similar issues will be politicized in multiple countries. In order to meaningfully affect domestic populations, the policy needs to translate to the local level through norm diffusion. The mechanisms of diffusion include material inducement (e.g., conditions for membership), learning, and acculturation and socialization.

WPS and Civil Society

2018 ◽  
pp. 427-438
Author(s):  
Annika Björkdahl ◽  
Johanna Mannergren Selimovic
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Local Ownership ◽  
Peace And Security ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Just Peace

Civil society is often understood as a normative vehicle for the promotion of human rights and democracy, as it plays a central role in ensuring gender equality and advocating for local ownership in the decision-making processes of states. Civil society agents and organizations have been instrumental in promoting and advancing the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda. In this chapter, we examine the experiences of Bosnian Civil Society Organizations (CSO) and their activities to advance a gender-just peace. Drawing on examples from the Bosnian case study, we argue that women civil society organizations are key actors, as they not only set the agenda when it comes to WPS, they also play a key role in ensuring that the WPS principles are institutionalized and operationalized in policy. Moreover, we observe that women CSOs are particularly successful in advocating for the needs of victims of conflict-related sexual-based violence.

Protest Dynamics under the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces Transitional Government

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kira D. Jumet
Keyword(s):  
Armed Forces ◽  
Power Relationship ◽  
Political Opportunity ◽  
Transitional Regime ◽  
Opportunity Structures ◽  
Political Opportunities ◽  
Supreme Council ◽  
Political Opportunity Structures ◽  
The Military

This chapter explains how changes in political opportunity structures following the 2011 revolutionary protests affected subsequent anti-regime mobilization and the dynamics between the military transitional regime and those who contested it. Through an examination of protest cycles in Egypt 2011–2012, the chapter explores how government violence, repression, and concessions affected individuals’ emotions and their decisions to protest or not protest. The chapter demonstrates that changes in political opportunities created during the 18-day uprising altered repertoires of contention and reconfigured the power relationship between the regime and its opponents. The chapter also claims that particular elements of protest dynamics under the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) led to a relatively quick transition to civilian rule.

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