Download or read book Governance and European Civil Society written by Acar Kutay and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-02-24 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a critical analysis of the European Union’s approach to ‘governance’, focusing on the way in which civil society is incorporated within the EU decision-making process and arguing that it is not conducive to the democratisation of EU governance. Using a governmentality approach, Kutay demonstrates that civic actors are not incorporated into EU decision-making processes as they are; rather, they are formed, manipulated and guided by political programming. The author explains how this acts to prescribe and construct particular types of subjectivities, thereby limiting and constraining the types of participation that might emerge as part of European civil society and the process of political participation. Governance and European Civil Society will be of interest to students and scholars of European Union politics, global governance, civil society and democracy, Central and East European studies and political and international theory.
Download or read book Civil Society Participation in European and Global Governance written by J. Steffek and published by Springer. This book was released on 2007-12-04 with total page 261 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is often argued that the enhanced consultation of civil society contributes to the democratization of European and global governance. This collection investigates whether this theoretical argument is supported by empirical evidence. Ten original essays analyze current patterns of civil society consultation in 32 intergovernmental organizations.
Download or read book Civil Society and Governance in Europe written by William A. Maloney and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2008-01-01 with total page 285 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The research presented in this book based on new primary data demonstrates that in terms of civil society actors adapting to the European political space the Europeanization process has an uneven development. This innovative book integrates top-down approaches for the study of relationships within the developing EU-multilevel system (i.e., the consequences of Europeanization for civil society at the local level) and bottom-up approaches (i.e., the consequences of civil society for the process of European integration and democracy in the EU). The contributors argue that exploration of these recursive linkages requires a rethinking of the relationships between (local, national, and trans-national) civil society on the one hand, and multi-level governance on the other. In analyzing the opportunities for civil society associations to contribute to European integration and decision-making from various perspectives, the following findings are presented, amongst others: engagement with and confidence in the EU (compared to national institutions) is relatively weak among associational members party elites play a key gatekeeper role in the European space the EU and interest groups have had limited success in stimulating the development of citizen engagement, civil society and social capital in various countries. In the rapidly expanding field of research on democratic decision-making in Europe, this book will be welcomed by academics and scholars alike at postgraduate levels and above. Experts working in the field of European decision-making (such as lawyers and lobbyists) who are looking for conclusions based on high-quality empirical research will also find much in this book to engage them.
Download or read book Civil Society and Legitimate European Governance written by Stijn Smismans and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2006-01-01 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Smismans gathers a fine selection of papers. The book gains particular authority from its interdisciplinary approach. Ulrike Ehling, European Law Journal This book explores the concept of civil society , which over recent years has been revived and introduced into the institutional debate within the EU. Significantly, EU institutions themselves have made reference to civil society and, on an academic plane, it has been argued that the debate on the legitimacy of European governance should value the role of civil society organisations. Bringing together lawyers and political scientists, the book studies the role of civil society organisations in the multi-level context of European governance. Civil Society and Legitimate European Governance bridges the distance between normative suggestions, legal instruments and empirical analysis. Providing original contributions to the research on European governance, this book will appeal to all scholars and students with an interest in European integration and European institutions.
Download or read book The New Politics of European Civil Society written by Ulrike Liebert and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2012-08-21 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over the past two decades, civil society has played a pivotal role in Europe, from the demise of Communist rule to the reunification of Europe, followed by the expansion of the single market to the reconstitution of democracy in the enlarged European Union. European civil society has emerged as a social space between EU governance and the citizens of the member states, populated by non-state agents claiming to represent, speak for or participate on behalf of the most varied social constituencies in EU decision making. This book consolidates European civil society research by re-viewing its conceptual, normative and empirical-analytical foundations. With contributors from political science to sociology to law, it captures the evolving practices of European civil society that stretch across the national (local), the European and the global realm. Developing an analytical framework that highlights the interplay between civil society building and polity building from above as well as from below, within the legal and institutional framework of the EU, they examine whether and how civil society can contribute to making democracy work in normative democratic theoretical perspectives. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of civil society, European politics, political science and sociology.
Download or read book Civil Society and International Governance written by David Armstrong and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2010-11-23 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A PDF version of this book is available for free in open access via www.tandfebooks.com as well as the OAPEN Library platform, www.oapen.org. It has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 3.0 license and is part of the OAPEN-UK research project. Structures and processes occurring within and between states are no longer the only – or even the most important - determinants of those political, economic and social developments and dynamics that shape the modern world. Many issues, including the environment, health, crime, drugs, migration and terrorism, can no longer be contained within national boundaries. As a result, it is not always possible to identify the loci for authority and legitimacy, and the role of governments has been called into question. Civil Society anf International Governance critically analyses the increasing impact of nongovernmental organisations and civil society on global and regional governance. Written from the standpoint of advocates of civil society and addressing the role of civil society in relation to the UN, the IMF, the G8 and the WTO, this volume assess the role of various non-state actors from three perspectives: theoretical aspects, civil society interaction with the European Union and civil society and regional governance outside Europe, specifically Africa, East Asia and the Middle East. It demonstrates that civil society’s role has been more complex than one defined in terms, essentially, of resistance and includes actual participation in governance as well as multi-facetted contributions to legitimising and democratising global and regional governance. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of political science, international relations, civil society, sociology, European politics and global governance.
Download or read book European Governance and Democracy written by Richard Balme and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2008 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Considering the future of European integration, this clear and compelling study explores the interplay between collective action and democracy in the European Union. Richard Balme and Didier Chabanet convincingly show that as support for broadening and deepening integration has waned, contentious and powerful social movements have flourished. The authors analyze the relationship among interest group politics, social movements, and public policy at the EU level though a wealth of case studies on regional policy, unemployment and poverty, women's rights, migration policy, and environmental protection. An essential primer on European democracy, this study will be invaluable for scholars and students in European politics and public policy, globalization and democracy, and comparative social movements.
Download or read book The European Court and Civil Society written by Rachel A. Cichowski and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2007-03-08 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The European Union today stands on the brink of radical institutional and constitutional change. The most recent enlargement and proposed legal reforms reflect a commitment to democracy: stabilizing political life for citizens governed by new regimes, and constructing a European Union more accountable to civil society. Despite the perceived novelty of these reforms, this book explains (through quantitative data and qualitative case analyses) how the European Court of Justice has developed and sustained a vibrant tradition of democratic constitutionalism since the 1960s. The book documents the dramatic consequences of this institutional change for civil society and public policy reform throughout Europe. Cichowski offers detailed empirical and historical studies of gender equality and environmental protection law across fifteen countries and over thirty years, revealing important linkages between civil society, courts and the construction of governance. The findings bring into question dominant understandings of legal integration.
Download or read book Governance and Civil Society in the European Union Vol 1 written by Carlo Ruzza and published by Manchester University Press. This book was released on 2007-09-15 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Addresses important issues about the terms of representation in politics beyond the state. This book focuses on the extent to which governance, and all it implies for different forms of governing, and addresses as well as raises issues about the legitimate basis for democratic rule beyond the boundaries of the state.
Download or read book European Civil Society on the Road to Success written by Matthias Freise and published by Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft. This book was released on 2008 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The new challenges of globalization - of economy, society, and politics - appear in the Europeanization of social and political networks in different policy areas. New forms of citizens' involvement in policy processes - as well as planning, implementation, and evaluation - require new forms of governance on local, regional, and European levels, as well as global participation of European actors. In this process, civil society emerged as a political program, and as a scientific and theoretical challenge for the social sciences. The issue of civil society in the axis of the different fields and directions of political and social research in a European context is the focus of this anthology. The book breaks the barriers between the traditional division of labor of European governance and national-regional-local oriented social and political research. Two leading questions are addressed: What do civil society organizations contribute to social, cultural, and leisure time services in the context of Europeanization? In a European comparison and at the organizational level, what risks and opportunities result from the inclusion of civil society organizations in new concepts of governance?
Download or read book The Political Uses of Governance written by Didier Georgakakis and published by Verlag Barbara Budrich. This book was released on 2012-09-17 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The term of governance and the way it has been used by European institutions have elicited much interest in the academic world. However, the notion and its uses have often been studied only in terms of intellectual development or network analysis. Such researches leave us in the dark on a key question. What meaning does this concept actually hold to the actors involved? To what degree do they have a shared definition of the term? Does “European governance” work as a self-fulfilling prophecy, structuring the space of the EU and the practices of its actors?
Download or read book Governance and Democracy written by Arthur Benz and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2006-04-18 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For the first time, this new collection brings together country specialists, researchers on the European Union, and leading international relations scholars to tackle a crucial question: how compatible are today’s new patterns of ‘policy networks’ and ‘multi-level’ governance with democratic standards? This important question is attracting attention both in political science and in political practices. In political science, the question is mainly dealt with in separated sub-disciplines, which focus on different levels of politics. So far, no serious exchange has actually taken place between authors working on these different levels. The editors of this book – both specialists of network and multi-level governance – show that although the issue is raised differently in the institutional settings of the national state, the European Union, or transnational governance, excellent insights can be gained by comparison across these settings. This major new contribution includes cutting edge work from junior scholars alongside chapters by leading specialists of governance such as Guy Peters, Jon Pierre, Philippe C. Schmitter and Thomas Risse. It also contains a collection of new case studies, theoretical conceptualisations and normative proposals for solutions dealing with the issue of democratic deficits, which all give the reader a better understanding of the most crucial problems and perspectives of democracy in different patterns of "governance" beyond conventional ‘government’ approaches. This is a valuable book for policy analysts, students of the European Union and international relations, and all students in social and political science.
Download or read book Governance and Civil Society in the European Union Vol 2 written by Carlo Ruzza and published by . This book was released on 2007-09-15 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume focuses on the role of organized civil society in European public policies. The contributions discuss the role of public-pressure groups and their relations with organized business and institutional actors. They examine the context of interest representation in EU institutions, reviewing the functions and opportunities of EU lobbies and public-interest groups in several policy areas. These include environmental policy and the impact of environmental social movements, and anti-racist policy in the broader context of anti-discrimination policy. Several contributions suggest that policy-making emerges from a fragmented coalition of NGOs, politicians and civil servants operating in connected but distinct regulative environments.
Download or read book Social Capital and Governance written by Frane Adam and published by LIT Verlag Münster. This book was released on 2007 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The intention of this book's contributions is to focus on some key aspects of social capital in the context of civic participation, governance and civil society at both national and EU levels. The role of new EU members is particularly stressed. The texts aim to demonstrate how social capital in the form of co-operative norms and actions facilitates the self-organisation of civil society and its internal ability to articulate policy relevant alternative proposals. The efficiency and responsiveness of governance at different - local, national, transnational - levels are also addressed. Besides theoretical reconsiderations, the book draws attention to the issue of the quality of data and greater methodological reflexivity.
Download or read book European Union Governance written by Karen Heard-Laureote and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2010-04-05 with total page 351 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The European Commission has increasingly focused on the benefits it can derive from the greater participation of organized civil society in its role and activities. In the face of general decline in public trust in the institutions of government, it facilitated and encouraged new channels of access and consultation opportunities as a means to legitimize its position within the European political system. Karen Heard-Lauréote’s comparative analysis of four European Commission advisory forums innovatively investigates the existence of a conflict between the capacities of such forums to deliver standards of good governance. The author questions whether these venues can provide efficiency gains via the production of sufficient policy output without delays or deadlocks at reasonable cost and sustain adequate democratic credentials such as legitimacy. This study makes a significant contribution to its field by pursuing contemporary legitimacy debates asking whether under certain conditions or in certain policy-making contexts, legitimacy and efficiency may be reconciled or become at least partially compatible in European Commission committees. European Union Governance will be of interest to students and researchers of European Union politics and policy-making.
Download or read book De Mystification of Participatory Democracy written by Beate Kohler-Koch and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2013-07-25 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The democratic legitimacy of the European Union has become an increasingly urgent issue. In searching for a way out, academics, EU institutions, and political forces advocate the involvement of civil society. The Commission's new governance approach and the Lisbon Treaty introduced elements of participatory democracy and elevated civil society to a key actor in democratizing the EU. Does this hold upon closer scrutiny? This is the main question of the book. It investigates how the promise of civil society participation is put into practice and, based on an elaborate theoretical framework, evaluates whether the political practice deserves the quality attribute 'participatory democracy'. The book presents the results of a large research project composed of several highly original empirical studies. The research team used various methodological approaches and generated a rich data set. The wealth of empirical insight is evaluated against clear criteria deduced from normative democratic theory. As key elements of the analyses - democracy, participation, and civil society - are contested concepts, the authors placed particular emphasize on clarifying their understanding of these concepts and on considering competing interpretations. By relying on a consistent theoretical approach the authors present an unusually balanced evaluation. They come to convincing, though rather skeptical conclusions. Civil society participation in EU governance is not the democratic remedy its advocates had hoped for. This may not be a welcome but nevertheless it is an important finding both for European decision-makers, for civil society organizations and for scholars.
Download or read book Europe and Civil Society written by Carlo Ruzza and published by Manchester University Press. This book was released on 2004-07-16 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Europe and Civil Society provides an in-depth examination of how public interest groups and social movements seek to influence the European policy-making process. The book is based on a comparison of the role of networks of activists and their allies--broadly defined as Movement Advocacy Coalitions--in influencing decision-making at the European Union level in three specific areas of policy-making: environmentalism, anti-racism and ethno-nationalist regionalism. It draws on systematic documentary analysis and an extensive series of interviews with activists and institutional actors to examine the role of public interest organizations in these three areas. This focus reflects topical societal concerns and facilitates new insights into the study of European policy-making, political sociology, and social movement research.
