published_or_final_version / Politics and Public Administration / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

This dissertation examines contemporary changes in relations and forms of urban governance by focusing on neighborhood associations in Tucson and analyzing their practices and experiences in the midst of an emerging trend that values collective action and direct democracy. This urban ethnography focuses on practices, strategies, and ideologies of neighborhood associations to discuss issues of representation, participation, and social integration. This dissertation is based on fieldwork conducted for a total of 24 months between 2005 and 2007. It combines participant observation and in-depth interviews with Tucson residents, members of neighborhood associations, and City and non-governmental organizations' officials.This work is presented in three main parts divided into several chapters. In the first part, I provide a general review of the development of concepts of governance and representative democracy in contemporary as well as earlier times. I aim to contextualize the work of neighborhood associations within a general movement towards more direct participatory democracy and argue that a new understanding of the transformations impacting the functioning of representative democracy is crucial to its preservation as a central institution of social integration.The second part of this dissertation presents an analysis of fieldwork data and argues that neighborhood associations are positioning themselves, at the local and global levels, as an important part of the emerging discourses and practices of civil society. Within this broad context, neighborhood associations engage in a variety of activities, pursue multiple strategies, and adopt very different ideologies. A central idea that results from this analysis is that neighborhood associations greatly value practices of direct democracy and strive to exercise greater control over processes of representative democracy in order to prevent its perceived deficiencies from thwarting their projects and corrupting their ideals.The third part extends the data analysis and provides a political and historical reconstruction of neighborhood associations and their cultural evolution as a continuation of the counterculture movement of the 1960s. I also argue that there is a powerful drive towards the global implementation and exercise of direct democratic processes. I draw on the example of Morocco's urban governance reforms and discuss its growing neighborhood associations to show the delicate and conflicted paths they tread between their engagement with the existing system of representative democracy and their attempts to step beyond the limitations of that system to carry out some of the ideals of building a direct and participatory urban democracy.

Demokratinėje valstybėje svarbu kurti ir puoselėti pilietinės visuomenės pagrindus. Kiekvienas pilietinės visuomenės narys turi deramai, išsamiai ir atsakingai suvokti pilietinę visuomenę kaip tokią, identifikuoti jos nuostatas, principus ir tikslus, įsisąmoninti ir pažinti savo teises ir pareigas, lūkesčius ir galimybes veikti demokratiniame, visuomeniniame gyvenime. Šiandieniniame pasaulyje kiekvienas demokratinės visuomenės pilietis suvokia, kad valstybės, o kartu ir jo, tobulėjimas ir ateitis priklauso nuo jaunosios kartos. Jaunimas turi būti kiekvienos demokratinės valstybės bendros politikos objektas. Tačiau, ar nepastebime Lietuvoje visiškai priešingos situacijos? Šio magistrinio darbo tikslas: ištirti Lituvos jaunimo dalyvavimą ir nuostatas pilietinės visuomenės kontekste. / For everyone of us it is very important to have ability to express own ideas, to understand and to know how to deal with civil rights and responsibilities, to identify principes, goals and mission of civil society and to have apropriate attitude to civility and democracy to be enshrinen. Without any doubts such conditions and attitude gives opportunity for every person to attend and positivelly operate in political and public life. As one of the main goals of civil society is to create a better welfare in the country, therefore we do understand, that youth is extremely important for all countries. The youngsters are the future of the country. The policy of youth has to be one of the main objects in country‘s general policy. Every country has to encourage youngsters to participate in public and political country‘s life. Unfortunatelly, today in Lithuania we can hardly find manifestations of civility among the youngsters in Lithuania. On the basis of current a situation in Lithuania, this diploma thesis appeared as nessesity to explore the reality of civil society, faced by youngsters in Lithuania.

The relationship between civil society organisations and donors in South Africa is dynamic, and takes different forms over time. This is attributed to a number of factors, including political landscape, domestic government policies and donor policies. These factors then affect the manner in which donors relate to civil society organisations and disburse development project funds. Prior to 1994 civil society organisations enjoyed abundant financial support from foreign donors, mainly due to the illegitimacy of the apartheid government policies and humanitarian crisis. This situation changed after the election of democratic government in 1994, as most of the donor funds were channelled through the government to support its policies and programmes, and partly because of bilateral agreements with some of the developed countries across the world. In this study the impact of donor policies, processes, and management systems on the work of civil society organisations was explored, using the United Sates Agency for International Development (USAID) South Africa, Nelson Mandela Children's Fund (NMCF) and Sibambisene partnership. Themes explored included policies, processes, management systems and tools, partnership and power relations. The research methodology used included semi-structured interviews, documentary analysis, emailed questionnaires and telephone discussions. Theories on power, policy management frameworks, and partnership were reviewed, drawing on, for example, the views from the views of Lukes (1974), Parsons (1995), Brinkerhof & Cosby (2002), Howell & Pearce (2002) and Nchabeng (2001). The results of the study highlighted a number of issues. Firstly that there is unequal power within the partnership relationship and donor agencies, and this is mainly caused by the fact that donors control policies, management processes and systems, as well as the disbursement of project funds. Secondly, civil society organisations, particularly NGOs, are dependant on their donors, and as a result prioritise their programmes at the expense of communities they serve. Thirdly, both parties value and icontribute complementary services towards the achievement of partnership goals. The study also revealed that donors embrace principles of equal partnership, participation, flexibility and mutuality; but in practice this was found to be wanting. Thus donors are challenged to practice these principles, and NGOs to seek other strategies that would ensure their independence. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.) -University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2007.

The phrase a 'culture of silence' is attributed to Jerry Rawlings in the late 1980s, at a time when he was military head of state in Ghana. The irony is that he appeared to be complaining about the 'culture of silence' created by his own military regime. In a 'culture of silence' the masses are mute, that is, they are prohibited from taking part in the transformation of their society. In a neo-colonial state, a 'culture of silence' is imposed on the masses and peace and order are guaranteed by ferocious repression. The basic premise that motivates this research is that the neo-colonial state, a byproduct of the colonial state was influential in imposing the 'culture of silence' and fear in the lives of ordinary people. As such, a defining feature of the neo-colonial state, it is argued, is a 'culture of silence'. Definitions and analysis of the neocolonial state follow lines of arguments put forward by African writers such as Claude Ake, Ngugi wa Thiong'o and Mahmood Mamdani. Within this broad paradigm of neo-colonialism, and analysis of Banda's Malawi is developed which pays particular attention to a 'culture of silence'. This in turn leads to an examination of the effect of liberalization on political and civic space in Malawi. The dissertation then, examines civil society activities, during the period of transition of the Malawian state from de jure one-party to de jure multiparty. Here the key research question are: to what extent has an expansion of political space been accompanied by an expansion of civic space, and how, if at all, do civil society organizations ensure that government pays attention to the diversity of voices of the Malawian people? Are traditionally marginalized voices now heard? The objective is to examine to what extent the 'culture of silence' has been dismantled in terms of the opening up of political and civic space in order to enable a 'clamour of voices' to be heard. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2002.

With the Culture Survey 2009, the Cultural policy in Sweden has got a new direction. The new direction emphasises the importance of broadening the non-public funding for the cultural sector. The new direction opens up new phenomenon to establish themselves in Sweden. Crowdfunding is such a phenomenon. Crowdfunding is an online-method "by which the individual becomes financiers of projects and activities they have passion for" (Jakten på medborgarfinansiering, 11). The essay has resulted in a comprehensive presentation of the phenomenon crowdfunding and a deepening of the platform Crowdculture. Crowdculture is an online-platform for funding cultural projects through a combination of crowdfunding and public support. Societal trends digitization, stronger donation culture, economization of culture and cultural policies that seek broader financing is considered to be the foundation for Crowdcultures existence. The method crowdfunding contribute to a participatory and an audience perspective, witch is not previously been used frequently in the cultural sector. The platform Crowdculture suits a particular type of cultural project, and should not replace the existing funding. Within the cultural sector Crowdculture has the potential to make an impact but the potential has not yet fully spread. Cultural projects that fit within crowdfunding is usually owned and produced by civil society, as these projects have been difficult to get public funding. The method Corwdfunding is not only about getting funding but also with opportunity for early marketing. / Kulturutredningen 2009 har gett kulturpolitiken i Sverige en ny inriktning. Den nya inriktningen betonar vikten av att bredda den icke offentliga finansieringen av kultursektorn. Inriktningen öppnar upp för nya fenomen att etablera sig i Sverige. Crowdfunding är ett sådant fenomen. Crowdfunding är en online-metod ”genom vilken individen blir finansiärer av projekt och verksamhet de känner engagemang för” (Jakten på medborgarfinansiering, 11). Uppsatsen har resulterat i en övergripande presentation av fenomenet crowdfunding och en fördjupning av plattformen Crowdculture. Crowdculture är en online-plattform för att finansiera kulturprojekt genom en kombination av crowdfunding och offentligt bidrag. Samhällstrenderna digitalisering, starkare donationskultur, kulturens ekonomisering och kulturpolitiken som eftersträvar breddad finansiering anses vara grunden till Crowdcultures existens. Metoden crowdfunding bidrar till en deltagarkultur och ett publikperspektiv som tidigare inte använts flitigt inom kultursektorn. Plattformen Crowdculture passar en viss typ av kulturprojekt och bör inte ersätta redan befintligt finansieringssystem. Crowdculture har potential att få genomslag inom kultursektorn men är inte riktigt där ännu. Kulturprojekt som ryms inom crowdfunding är oftast ägda och producerade av civilsamhället då dessa projekt har svårt att få offentlig finansiering. Crowdfunding handlar inte endast om att finansiera projekt utan belyser också ett nytt sätt av marknadsföring.

The first part of the dissertation presents an analysis of theoretical aspects of the influence of social capital and civil society on the effectiveness of the regional government. This part analyses a conception of the effectiveness in public administration; formulates a notion of the effectiveness of the regional government and identifies the criteria of the effectiveness of the regional government in implementing the regional policy. This part analyses the conceptions of social capital and civil society; evaluates the influence of social capital and civil society on the effectiveness of the regional government. The second part of the dissertation presents an analysis of the political, legal, institutional, functional aspects of the regional government and evaluation of the prerequisites for the formation of social capital and participation of civil society in the national and the EU context. The third part of the dissertation presents the description of the methodology of the research, an analysis of the results of the empirical research of the influence of social capital and civil society on the effectiveness of the regional government in implementing the regional policy in Lithuania. Dissertation closes with conclusions and proposals, a bibliography, a list of publications published by the author and annexes. / Pirmoje disertacijos dalyje analizuojami socialinio kapitalo ir pilietinės visuomenės poveikio regioninio valdymo veiksmingumui teoriniai aspektai. Šioje dalyje nagrinėjama veiksmingumo viešajame sektoriuje koncepcija, formuluojama regioninio valdymo veiksmingumo samprata, identifikuojami regioninio valdymo veiksmingumo įgyvendinant regioninę politiką kriterijai. Šioje dalyje atliekama socialinio kapitalo ir pilietinės visuomenės koncepcijų analizė, nagrinėjamas socialinio kapitalo ir pilietinės visuomenės poveikis regioninio valdymo veiksmingumui. Antroje disertacijos dalyje analizuojami regioninio valdymo veiksmingumo politiniai, teisiniai, instituciniai ir funkciniai aspektai, nagrinėjamos prielaidos socialinio kapitalo ir pilietinės visuomenės formavimui regioniniame valdyme nacionaliniame ir Europos Sąjungos kontekste. Trečioje disertacijos dalyje aprašoma tyrimo metodika, analizuojami socialinio kapitalo ir pilietinės visuomenės poveikio regioninio valdymo veiksmingumui įgyvendinant regioninę politiką Lietuvoje empirinio tyrimo rezultatai. Disertaciją užbaigia tyrimo rezultatų aptarimas, išvados ir siūlymai. Disertacijos pabaigoje pateikiamas naudotos literatūros sąrašas, autorės mokslinių publikacijų sąrašas ir priedai.

Problem Statement. Anyone trying to analyze the dimensions of the impact of non-governmental organizations on democracy in the Baltic States comparatively faces a double dilemma: on the one hand, dimensions should be conceptualized and integrated into a range of theories and, on the other hand, the characteristics of the system in these countries both referring to historical reality and theoretical exceptions have to be taken into sufficient considerations. The latter constructs the following problem statement – the impact of non-governmental organizations on democracy can be regarded from approach of social sciences as a comprehensive interconnection, on which could be based theoretical outputs and which can be analyzed empirically applying qualitative and quantitative measures and meta-analysis. The problem statement has been used to guide the thesis by principle research questions: 1. What are the chances of support of non-governmental organizations to democracy?; 2. Which are the factors contributing most to the development of democracy in the Baltic States referring to the role of non-governmental organizations, and what are the differences among the countries? 3. What is the quality of the impact of relations between non-governmental organizations and democracy in the Baltic States, and what are the differences among the countries? The answers to these questions are definitely neither simple nor straight forward. They depend on the method of analysis and also on the... [to full text] / Temos aktualumas Demokratijos plėtros sąlygomis Rytų ir Centrinėje Europoje vienu svarbiausiu tyrimo objektu žlugus Sovietų Sąjungai tampa demokratija. Skirtingų šalių mokslininkai atlieka lyginamuosius tyrimus, remdamiesi gausiais statistikos duomenimis ir originalių tyrimų rezultatais, ir taip formuluoja išvadas, pabrėždami efektyvios demokratijos plėtros galimybes. Tačiau daugiausia tyrimų apima Lenkiją, Čekiją, Slovakiją, Vengrijos Respubliką ar net Rusijos Federaciją, bet maža jų dalis yra siejama su Baltijos šalimis. Pažymėtina ir tai, kad nėra pakankamai analizuojamos demokratijos ir pilietinės visuomenės sąsajos bei nevyriausybinių organizacijų, kaip pilietinės visuomenės elemento, įtakos demokratijai identifikavimo dimensijos. Skirtingų šalių mokslininkai (A. Uhlin, T. Vanhanen, L. Diamond, D. Held, R. Dahl ir kiti) teigia, kad svarbiausia demokratijos prielaida yra pilietinės visuomenės gebėjimas mobilizuotis. Pabrėžiama, kad nėra taip svarbu užtikrinti, kad kiekvienas pilietis aktyviai dalyvautų politiniame procese, tačiau kiekvienas turi turėti tokią galimybę (A. Uhlin, 2004). Praktinėje veikloje pastebima, kad pilietinei visuomenei siekiant dalyvauti politinėje, socialinėje, ekonominėje ar kultūrinėje arenoje būtina pasitelkti nevyriausybines organizacijas, kurių veikla padeda įgyvendinti pilietinės visuomenės idėjas, tačiau šioje disertacijoje nagrinėjama ne nevyriausybinių organizacijų veikla, o tik jų sąsajos su demokratija. Vis dėlto nepaisant gana gausių... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]

Darbą atliko Vilniaus Pedagoginio universiteto Socialinių mokslų fakulteto Sociologijos ir politologijos katedros Politinės sociologijos magistrantūros studentas Gleb Šuklin. Darbo tema – lyties stereotipas bendruomenėje. Tyrimo hipotezės: 1. Šiandieninėje visuomenėje vis dar vyrauja skirtingi lyčių socialiniai vertinimai, tačiau jaunoji karta vis mažiau dėmesio skiria stereotipams; 2. Bendruomeninis judėjimas yra puiki prielaida stereotipų mažinimui – taip mano daugelis respondentų. Bendruomenė, kaip institucija, įgalinta paneigti nusistovėjusius lyčių stereotipus, daugelis kurių anksčiau ar vėliau turėtų išnykti. 3. Respondentų nuomone, didelę įtaką formuojantis stereotipams turi visuomenės informavimo priemonės, auklėjimo aplinka. Didele dalimi susiformavę stereotipai – auklėjimo ir gyvenamosios aplinkos pasekmė. Tyrimo objektas: pilietinė bendruomenė ir jos sąsajos su socialiniu lyčių stereotipų vertinimu. Tyrimo problema: pilietinės bendruomenės suaktyvinimas naikinant lyčių vertinimo stereotipus bendruomenėje. Tyrimo tikslas: atskleisti kai kurias pilietinės bendruomenės ir lyčių vertinimo šiandienos kontekste tendencijas. Tyrimo uždaviniai: 1. Išanalizuoti stereotipų sampratą ir vaidmenį visuomenėje; 2. Apibrėžti bendruomenės sampratą ir bendruomenės narių svarbą jos gyvenime; 3. Atlikti tyrimą, kuris leistų nustatyti bendruomenės narių poziciją lyčių stereotipų klausimu bei vertinimu. / The work was made by Gleb Šuklin, Political sociology master‘s degree student of VPU Social sciences faculty Sociology and political sciences department. Hypotheses of an investigation: 1. Different social evaluations of the sexes still dominate in modern society, but the new generation pay less and less attention to stereotypes; 2. Communal movement is a great assumption for minifying the stereotypes – many respondents think like this. Society as the institution is empowered to negate settled sexes’ stereotypes, many of which earlier or later should disappear. 3. Respondents think that a very big influence in forming stereotypes has mass media, the education atmosphere. Settled stereotypes largely are the outcomes of the education and living atmosphere. The object of the investigation is civil society and its correlations with social evaluation of the sexes’ stereotypes. The problem of the investigation: is the energisation of the civil society for eliminating evaluation of the sexes’ stereotypes The purpose of the investigation is to disclose some civil society‘s and sexes’ evaluation tendencies in nowadays context. Tasks of the investigation: 1. To analyze the conception of the stereotypes and role in the society; 2. To define the conception of the society and the importance of the society members in its life. 3. To fulfill the investigation that would let to ascertain the position of the society members’ about the questions of sexes’ stereotypes and evaluation.

This study explores with theoretical and practical challenges surrounding the roles of civil society organizations (CSOs) and participatory approaches in development and democratization processes in contemporary Africa. Through a grounded, contextualized analysis of a coalition of Zambian CSOs, the Oasis Forum, and its (dis)engagement with the ongoing constitution-making process, this thesis interrogates the possibilities and limitations of various conceptions of „popular participation? in efforts to open up potentially transformative spaces for citizen engagement. The case of the Oasis Forum complicates, enriches and challenges both liberal and critical narratives of civil society, and demonstrates that even within superficially liberal language and objectives, there can be efforts to advance, and articulate with, more far-reaching possibilities for social change. Though the constraints of neoliberal globalization fundamentally constrain the scope of Zambian economic and political self-determination, this work reveals the under-acknowledged radical potential of liberal conceptual and policy tools to challenge this hegemonic order. More grounded, nuanced theoretical approaches are required to address the mutually constitutive nature of hegemonic structures and the agential subjects struggling within and against them.