This thesis tries to analyze the role of civil society within the process of democratization in Turkey with special reference to the impact of civil society policies of the EU on the internal operating styles of civil society organizations in Turkey. In this respect, a critical evaluation of the said issue was tried to be put forward in the sense that the extensive discussions on the concept of civil society were examined and gathered with the observations and empirical evidence gained on the subject in order to reach an answer on the very nature of civil society-democracy relationship. In doing this, the purpose was to uncover the reasons behind the recent popularization of the concept as an indispensable precondition of democracy and to question whether certain circumstances exist under which the term may rather harm than enable the process of democratization. Within this framework, the consideration of the civil society policies of the EU implemented in Turkey was seen as all the more necessary because of the fact that the process of Turkey&rsquo / s EU membership has major implications for not only the process of democratization in Turkey, but also on the development of civil society as a significant part of this process. In accordance with the purpose of the study, in order to understand the extent of democratic capacity of civil society organizations in Turkey and the impact of the EU in that sense, a field research was conducted in Ankara, Turkey with the participation of 46 CSOs active mostly in the fields of women, children, disabled, human rights and environment. Through the field research, the main purpose was to understand the dynamics of the internal operating styles of those organizations, their views concerning the relations between CSOs as well as between the CSOs and the state on the one hand, to measure the extent to which their participation to civil society programs of the EU influence their intra-organizational structures on the other. According to the results of the field research, over the experience of 46 participant organizations, an analysis of the extent to which the EU-implemented civil society programs serve for the building of democratic capacity of civil society organizations in Turkey was tried to be made.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 394-420).

This multi-year, multi-city investigation seeks to examine how and why civic associations are employing information communication technologies (ICTs) in their work and the extent to which these uses are transforming urban ‘civic space.’ Rather than being passive non-state actors shaped by technologies in the ‘networked city,’ civic environmental associations are treated in this study as co-evolving ‘actor-networks’ that are both shaping and shaped by their ICT practices. This study systematically examines how ICT-linked tools or platforms are reconfiguring civic associations and civic space in the three ‘tiger city’ settings of Hong Kong, Singapore and Taipei. This investigation employs grounded theory, case study methods, and actor-network theory to examine the co-evolution of ICTs and civic environmental associations. The concept of info-sociations (ICT-associations) is employed in constructing a socio-technical model for analysis of the fast-evolving ICT practices of civic associations. Such an approach suggests that diverse forms of ICT-linked praxis—where civic ideals and knowledge are being put into practice—involves multimodal digital practices; alongside blended or multiplexed physical and virtual practices; and multiscalar practices. The info-sociational model compares ICT-linked organizational, participatory and spatial practices at the associational level by examining digitally-linked: internal and external organizational change; reconfigurations in the public sphere and cyberactivism; scalar transformations and associational alliance formations. Analyses of city-specific ‘civic space’ storylines; alongside a discussion of the problems and potentialities of ICT-linked practices also contributes to an integrated info-sociational model. An info-sociational approach therefore serves to examine transformations in knowledge, power and space as civic environmentalists employ ICTs. The info-sociational model supports an analysis of three pairs of age-distinct civic environmental associations in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taipei. These six cases (as units of analysis) were selected for their diverse civic environmental activities; their differences in age; and their variety of ICT-linked practices, including uses for: public deliberations, and mobilizing activism; networked alliance formations; identifying environmental and spatial issues in city regions; and creating alternative green media. Employing the info-sociational model in analyses of the six civic environmental associations led to the observations that: ‘externally-oriented’ ICT-linked practices were of greater importance than ‘internal practices’ amongst civic associations; that groups prioritized ‘digital green public sphere’ practices compared to ‘cyberactivism’; and these associations employed ICTs more frequently for ‘alliance-building’ than for ‘spatial transformations.’ Several of the cases illustrated how ICTs can enhance or augment existing alliances and potentially support new types of civic-cyber formations. By touching on questions of knowledge, power and space an info-sociational approach therefore can contribute to integrated explanations of how and why civic associations are using and (re)shaping ICTs in pursuit of their diverse aims for more livable and just cities. / published_or_final_version / Urban Planning and Design / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Social capital research has traditionally been conducted in western and Christian settings as a precursor of changes such as democratization and development. This paper focuses on Islamic religious engagement and its potential to foster social capital. The model presented here is designed to suggest whether the Islam's influence occurs through doctrinal channels, or through Islam's capacity to organize social structures. The analysis conducted is a linear regression model with measures of social capital as dependent variables and measures of religious engagement as independent variables. The analysis is conducted on data from the fourth wave of the World Values Survey. Results suggest that religious engagement and social capital have both belief and behavioral elements that should be treated as separate entities in quantitative research.

The thesis deals with the topic of operating space for civil society organizations in the Republic of Moldova during the period from March 2017 to February 2019. The main aim of the thesis was to determine whether the case of Moldova corresponded to the concept of shrinking space for civil society defined by Saskia Brechenmacher in her paper Civil Society under Assault in 2017. Shrinking or closing space, which occurs more and more frequently in different countries throughout the world, can be defined on the basis of three main areas: tactics, impact and international reaction. The operational space for the civil sector in the Republic of Moldova differed from Brechenmacher's concept partially in the areas of tactics and international reaction and more significantly in the area of impact due to fact that that the restrictive legislation remained in the phase of a bill. As Brechenmacher's concept does not cover all aspects of operating space in Moldova, a supplementary chapter has been added. The main difference from Brechenmacher's concept was the aspect of "simulated collaboration". State officials pretended that the civil society was involved in the decision-making process, but in fact they ignored its views.

The paper deals with the current form of civil society in the Czech Republic on the basis of classic and contemporary concepts. The importance, conditions and other aspects of the civil society are explained, which can help in describing these problems. A description of history of the Czech civil society should show on which its present form is based since the beginnings of civil society in Europe via its origin in the Czech Lands up to characteristics of the civil society after the revolution. The main part of the paper includes opinions of Václav Havel and Václav Klaus as principal participants in the discussion on civil society in the Czech Republic and comparison of their concepts. The analysis of the contemporary Czech civil society should define the form of civil society in the Czech Republic and its characteristics and circumstances even in comparison with both the leading personalities´ views. Both strong and weak points of the Czech civil society are described as well as its future potential dangers and prospects.

The thesis deals with the impact of European Voluntary Service (EVS) programme on civic competences of its participants and their active participation within civil society, both Czech and European. The text is structured into three chapters. The first chapter deals with a definition of the concept of civil society and its historical development, historical development and present situation of Czech civil society and definition of European civil society. The second chapter first explains the phenomenon of volunteering in general and then continues with explaining of functioning and principles of EVS. The third chapter is a result of qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews with six former participants of EVS. At first, the personal story of each participant is written. According to the stories, the cumulative analysis and conclusions of the thesis are formulated.

A major objective of the Human Rights Act (HRA) was to bring about a culture of rights in the UK. Its introduction fore-grounded questions about the use of rights to advance social justice issues and was the impetus for this research. At about the same as the Act came into effect another law, Section 55, an antithesis of what the HRA promised, was passed which forced thousands of asylum-seekers into destitution. Section 55 became a major battleground pitting non-governmental organisations (NGOs) against the Home Office in a three-year long campaign, characterised by rancour and viciousness, unlike any in recent memory. The NGOs, with the new HRA as a key part of their strategy, defeated the legislation. This thesis, a bottom-up case study of rights at work, examines the role of rights in the campaign to assess (1) if rights brought about social changes and (2) is a culture of rights developing in the UK? The paper first considers the various theoretical frameworks on rights and social change and analyses various case studies of rights at work. Context is important; therefore, it also examines how asylum has come to be framed in present-day discourse, with an overview on the evolution of welfare as a coercive measure. The study, framed against current events of the day, concludes that while test-case challenges eventually defeated Section 55 welfare as a coercive measure continues. In short, the HRA has proven to be ineffective against illiberal policies and the development of a culture of rights, insofar as asylum is concerned, has stalled. And it has happened with deliberation by a government determined to be tough on asylum irrespective of the HRA.

鍾志堅. / 論文(哲學碩士)--香港中文大學, 1998. / 參考文獻: leaves 152-168. / 中英文摘要. / Zhong Zhijian. / 論文摘要 --- p.i / Chapter 第一章 --- 導言 --- p.1 / Chapter 第二章 --- 公民社會理論的重點回顧 --- p.7 / Chapter 第一節 --- 三種公民社會觀點 --- p.8 / Chapter 第二節 --- 三種公民社會理論的應用 --- p.16 / Chapter 第三節 --- 小結 --- p.22 / Chapter 第三章 --- 公民社會在澳門的軌跡 --- p.24 / Chapter 第一節 --- 公民社會在澳門發展的遠因 --- p.25 / Chapter 第二節 --- 公民社會在澳門發展的近因 --- p.56 / Chapter 第三節 --- 公民社會在澳門浮現的不同面貌 --- p.76 / Chapter 第四章 --- 澳門天主敎會屬下組織 在公民社會形成中的角色 --- p.80 / Chapter 第一節 --- 羅馬天主敎會近代的改革 --- p.80 / Chapter 第二節 --- 影響澳門天主敎會發展的外在因素 --- p.90 / Chapter 第三節 --- 澳門天主敎會近代轉變的動力 --- p.95 / Chapter 第四節 --- 澳門天主敎會屬下組織的發展 --- p.98 / Chapter 第五節 --- 溝通行動理論的思考：敎會屬下組織 的民主參與個案--澳門敎育制度的 訂定 --- p.121 / Chapter 第五章 --- 結論 --- p.136 / 註釋 --- p.152 / 參考書目 --- p.161

by Susan Blumberg Liu. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 112-116). / ACKNOWLEDGMENTS / ABSTRACT / DECLARATION / CHAPTER / Chapter I. --- NTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Civil Society as a Theoretical Concept / Relevance of Thesis / Organization of Thesis / Chapter II. --- CIVIL SOCIETY AND LATE IMPERIAL CHINA --- p.11 / Habermas and the Public Sphere / Habermas as Applied to the Chinese Case / Recent Debate on Civil Society in Late-Qing China / Rankin versus Wakeman / Rowe versus Wakeman / Recent Discussion on Civil Society in Contemporary China / The Question of Autonomy / Civil Society with Chinese Characteristics / Gathered Comments / Chapter III. --- THE DYNAMICS OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE LATE-QING ERA --- p.44 / The Emergence of a New Public / Social Class Correlation / The Constitutionalists / Women in Late-Qing China / The Press and Public Opinion / Chapter IV. --- THE MOVEMENT FOR ESTABLISHING PROVINCIAL ASSEMBLIES --- p.63 / Getting Started / The Elections / Chapter V. --- THE PROVINCIAL ASSEMBLIES COMMENCE --- p.75 / The Nature of the Assemblies / Interaction and Organization of the Assembly Members / Chapter VI. --- TWO CASE STUDIES FROM THE PROVINCIAL ASSEMBLIES --- p.83 / The Jiangsu Assembly / Organization and Preparation / The Assembly Commences / Zhang Jian: Example of the New Gentry in Late-Qing China / The Hubei Assembly / Organization and Preparation / The Assembly Commences / Chapter VII. --- CONCLUSION --- p.107 / The Fate of the Assemblies / Analysis of Findings / Lasting Implications of Civil Society in China / BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.112