Download or read book Civil Society written by Brian O'Connell and published by UPNE. This book was released on 1999 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: O'Connell offers an action guide for citizen leaders and teachers--must-know information to help ensure that the democracy will last another century.
Download or read book Civil Society s Democratic Potential written by Nicole Bolleyer and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2024-01-11 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International licence. It is free to read on the Oxford Academic platform and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations. In Civil Society's Democratic Potential, Nicole Bolleyer explores which civil society organizations (CSOs) contribute to democracy, how, and why. Organized civil society, including interest groups, political parties, and service-oriented associations, is traditionally considered a cornerstone of democracy. Constituting the organizational fabric between government and society, these organizations encompass a wide diversity of entities thought to fundamentally contribute to both democratic participation and representation. However, CSOs' readiness and ability to serve as venues for participation, vehicles of democratic representation, or indeed both at the same time, are increasingly questioned in political science, sociology, and voluntary sector research alike. Bringing those fields together, the author argues that two contrasting organizational templates - the 'voluntary association' and the 'professionalized voluntary organization' - allow theorizing fundamental trade-offs shaping CSOs' 'performance' on three dimensions accounting for their varying democratic contributions: participation, representation, and societal responsiveness. The study's innovative theoretical framework is examined using a mixed-methods design. The latter combines the analysis of survey data covering over 3000 CSOs across four European democracies with qualitative case studies of the evolution of three CSOs - a political party, an interest group, and a service-orientated organization - over several decades.
Download or read book Civil Society and Political Change in Asia written by Muthiah Alagappa and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 2004 with total page 556 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A systematic investigation of the connection between civil society and political change in Asia - change toward open, participatory, and accountable politics. Its findings suggest that the link between a vibrant civil society and democracy is indeterminate: certain civil society organizations support democracy; thers could undermine it.
Download or read book Democracy and Civil Society written by John Keane and published by London ; New York : Verso. This book was released on 1988 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Sustaining Civil Society written by Philip Oxhorn and published by Penn State Press. This book was released on 2011 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Devoting particular emphasis to Bolivia, Chile, and Mexico, proposes a theory of civil society to explain the economic and political challenges for continuing democratization in Latin America"--Provided by publisher.
Download or read book Toward a Civil Society written by C. David Lisman and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 1998-08-30 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Addressing the need for marshaling the resources of education to help promote a more civil society, this book argues that education has a critical role to play in challenging the dominant views of politics and education. Service learning, or academically based community service,is seen as a promising educational pedagogy that can help students acquire civic virtue and serve as a mechanism to enable institutions of higher education become stronger community partners. However, there is currently is a lack of theoretical grounding for the service-learning movement; consequently,service learning is in danger of being co-opted by academic traditionalism, which could vitiate service learning's social transformative potential and in fact undermine efforts at democratic revitalization. The author provides a basic explanation of service learning and how it is connected to promoting civic virtue. It examines the underlying public philosophy debate between weak and strong democracy theorists, or procedural and civic republicanism. This book argues that certain approaches to service learning, such as the voluntarist or charity model, the experiential education model, and the justice model are ineffective because of their association with weak democracy theory or procedural republicanism. The central argument of this book is that a progressive communitarian public philosophy maintaining that individuals attain meaning and significance in the context of community is the most appropriate grounding for service learning.
Download or read book Civil Society Development written by Jude Howell and published by Lynne Rienner Publishers. This book was released on 2001 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Setting out to explore critically the way civil society has entered development thinking, policy and practice as a paradigmatic concept of the 21st century, Howell (development studies, U. of Sussex) and Pearce (Latin American politics, U. of Bradford) trace the historical path leading to the encounter between the ideas of development and civil society in the late 1980s and how donors have translated these into development policy an programs. They find that there are competing normative visions, which have deep roots in Western European political thought, about the role of civil society in relation to the state and market both among donors and within the societies where donors are operating. This leads to donors playing a major role in shaping the character of service provision. They also argue that their study exposes the hitherto unexplored power of the market, as opposed to solely the state, to distort donor programs. c. Book News Inc.
Download or read book Civil Society and Health written by Scott L. Greer and published by World Health Organization. This book was released on 2017-11-20 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) can make a vital contribution to public health and health systems but harnessing their potential is complex in a Europe where government-CSO relations vary so profoundly. This study is intended to outline some of the challenges and assist policy-makers in furthering their understanding of the part CSOs can play in tandem and alongside government. To this end it analyses existing evidence and draws on a set of seven thematic chapters and six mini case studies. They examine experiences from Austria Bosnia-Herzegovina Belgium Cyprus Finland Germany Malta the Netherlands Poland the Russian Federation Slovenia Turkey and the European Union and make use of a single assessment framework to understand the diverse contexts in which CSOs operate. The evidence shows that CSOs are ubiquitous varied and beneficial and the topics covered in this study reflect such diversity of aims and means: anti-tobacco advocacy food banks refugee health HIV/AIDS prevention and cure and social partnership. CSOs make a substantial contribution to public health and health systems with regards to policy development service delivery and governance. This includes evidence provision advocacy mobilization consensus building provision of medical services and of services related to the social determinants of health standard setting self-regulation and fostering social partnership. However in order to engage successfully with CSOs governments do need to make use of adequate tools and create contexts conducive to collaboration. To guide policy-makers working with CSOs through such complications and help avoid some potential pitfalls the book outlines a practical framework for such collaboration. This suggests identifying key CSOs in a given area; clarifying why there should be engagement with civil society; being realistic as to what CSOs can or will achieve; and an understanding of how CSOs can be helped to deliver.
Download or read book The Culture of Democracy written by Bin Xu and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2022-08-19 with total page 167 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Against the bleak backdrop of pressing issues in today’s world, civil societies remain vibrant, animated by people’s belief that they should and can solve such issues and build a better society. Their imagination of a good society, their understanding of their engagement, and the ways they choose to act constitute the cultural aspect of civil society. Central to this cultural aspect of civil society is the “culture of democracy,” including normative values, individual interpretations, and interaction norms pertaining to features of a democratic society, such as civility, independence, and solidarity. The culture of democracy varies in different contexts and faces challenges, but it shapes civic actions, alters political and social processes, and thus is the soul of modern civil societies. The Culture of Democracy provides the first systematic survey of the cultural sociology of civil society and offers a committed global perspective. It shows that, as everyone is eager to have their voice heard, cultural sociology can serve as an “art of listening,” a thoroughly empirical approach that takes ideas, meanings, and opinions seriously, for people to contemplate significant theoretical and public issues.
Download or read book Transnational Civil Society and the World Bank written by C. Pallas and published by Springer. This book was released on 2013-11-12 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Transnational civil society is often seen as an important contributor to the democratization of global governance. In their engagement with the World Bank, however, transnational civil society organizations prioritize pre-existing mission over responsiveness to claimed stakeholders and undercut the authority of developing country governments.
Download or read book Organizing Civil Society written by Philip D. Oxhorn and published by Penn State Press. This book was released on 2010-11-01 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Civil Society Democracy and Civic Renewal written by Robert K. Fullinwider and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 1999 with total page 462 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Civil society is receiving renewed attention from academics, politicians, journalists, community leaders, and participants in the voluntary sector. Civil Society, Democracy, and Civic Renewal brings together several of AmericaOs leading scholars_of history, sociology, political science, and philosophy_to explore the meaning of civil society, its positive and negative effects, its relation to government, and its contribution to democracy. The chapters range widely, taking up the connection between social trust and civic renewal, the role of citizen councils in environmental decisionmaking, the growth of self-help groups and their impact on community, historical patterns of civic activity by women and African Americans, and the place of expertise in public deliberation on scientific and medical issues. By examining the many disparate views of the civil society debate, this important volume will contribute to the process of civic renewal.
Download or read book Changing and Unchanging Face of U S Civil Society written by Marcella Ridlen Ray and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-12-02 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Ray has written a book that should be read by anyone interested in the current debates about the general health of civil society in the United States.--American Journal of Sociology The formation, maintenance, and well being of American civil society is a topic of intense debate in the social sciences. Until now, this debate has lacked rigor, with the term ""civil society"" commonly used interchangeably and imprecisely with other terms such as civic engagement. Today's discourse also lacks methodological discipline and relies too heavily on narrowly selected evidence in support of a particular argument. In this invaluable contribution to the debate, Marcella Ridlen Ray supplies an empirical study based on a theoretical model of democratic civil society, one that posits high levels of communication, diversity, autonomy, mediation, and voluntary association. In Ray's account, the emergent story of U.S. civil society is that of a dynamic institution, not necessarily one that is linear in its progression. It is a tale of flux, resilience, and stability over the long term that is consistent with subtexts on political equilibrium she notes in the work of early political analysts such as Aristotle, Machiavelli, Locke, Burke, and, later, Tocqueville. Ray dispels the widely accepted myth that Americans are increasingly apathetic and withdrawn from common interests. The evidence reveals a persistence of long-standing public spiritedness, despite the fact that individuals use wider discretion in deciding if and how to attach to community and despite a historical lack of enthusiasm for performing civic duties in lieu of more pleasurable leisure activity. This public-spiritedness continues to reflect embedded religious-cultural values that disproportionately influence how and when people dedicate time and money to associational life. U. S. civil society has grown more inclusive and democratic as Americans venture, at growing rates, across differences in perspective, "
Download or read book Civil Society and International Development written by OECD and published by OECD Publishing. This book was released on 1998-07-29 with total page 149 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Interest in the concept of civil society has undergone a remarkable renaissance in the 1990s. It is currrently seen as a potential tool to overcome some of the main theoretical and political stalemates. But what exactly does the concept of civil ...
Download or read book Community Development and Civil Society written by Paul Henderson and published by Policy Press. This book was released on 2010 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Set within the context of Europe, this book demonstrates the contribution that community development can make to strengthening civil society. The book interweaves case studies with discussion of community development principles and theory to provide a critical and accessible approach.
Download or read book Groups representation and democracy written by Darren Halpin and published by Manchester University Press. This book was released on 2013-07-19 with total page 339 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Whether called pressure groups, NGOs, social movement organisations or organised civil society, the value of ‘groups’ to the policy process, to economic growth, to governance, to political representation and to democracy has always been contested. However, there seems to be a contemporary resurgence in this debate largely centred on their democratising potential: can groups effectively link citizens to political institutions and policy processes? Are groups an antidote to emerging democratic deficits? Or do groups themselves face challenges in demonstrating their legitimacy and representativeness? This book debates the democratic potential and practice of groups; focussing on the vibrancy of internal democracies, and modes of accountability with those who join such groups and to the constituencies they advocate for. It draws on literatures covering national, European and global levels, and presents new empirical material from the UK and Australia
Download or read book Civility and Participatory Democracy written by Boje, Thomas P. and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2021-07-31 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This thought-provoking book conceptualizes the importance of civil society and citizenship in building a sustainable and participatory democracy. It considers the ways in which networks and organizations promoting common interests contribute to this mediating space between the public and private spheres, examining the impacts of the diversity of values and attitudes held by these organizations. Taking a normative position, Thomas P. Boje argues for the importance of social justice and civility in an active, liberating, equitable and participatory society. This book concludes with a detailed discussion of the conditions required for a participatory democratic system in which all citizens are involved in the planning, decision-making and implementation of crucial decisions.
