The aim of this thesis is to explore a case of street and market vendors in urban Africa, who are members of a local network with transnational connections. The local network collaborates with a global network and a local policy institute with the purpose to strengthen capacity of street and market vendors. The thesis asks questions of membership experiences, processes behind agendas and implementation of capacity building for the vendors and perspectives on these capacity building efforts. Theories depart from contemporary globalization and focus on issues of transnational civil society networks and injustice. Specific theoretical contributions are drawn from Routledge and Cumbers (2009) global justice network-theory and Amartya Sen’s (2009) idea of justice. A qualitative case study was conducted in Accra, Ghana based on participatory observations and semi-structured interviews with street and market vendors and officials of both the collaborating network and policy institute. Membership experiences were understood to include capacity building effects and further concerned issues of knowledge, community and identity. Global and local factors combined and influenced the agenda and implementation of capacity building. Theoretical contributions were combined and useful in analysing the empirical case, and ethical considerations were fundamental to the research process.

This research explored the role of science and civil society environmental organizations in conservation planning, using a case study of Ontario’s Long Point region. Science is a dynamic field that is constantly adapting and evolving and is increasingly relied on as a basis for decision-making in conservation planning, policy and management. The role of civil society in conservation planning has also grown and organizations that operate outside of government now play an important role in acquiring land, conducting monitoring activities, and promoting local stewardship. Considering the activities of these organizations, and the underlying science that informs them, is essential given the increasing prevalence of this type of work and the increasing ability of civil society organizations to affect conservation planning outcomes. Through a literature review, document analysis, and semi-structured interviews, this research considered how characterizations of science, applications of science, and recent trends in science have influenced conservation plans, policies, and actions in the Long Point region. The results illustrate how different forms of information were considered and applied when prioritizing, justifying, and implementing conservation projects and provide a location-specific example of how the modern features of conservation planning and management are influencing environmental outcomes. Specifically, the results suggest how place-based knowledge can potentially be disseminated through policy and planning initiatives and also suggest how different forms of information may interact to influence overall project credibility. These findings have implications for both planning theory and practice by contributing to our understanding of the role of science in shaping conservation practices, the role of civil society in driving conservation innovation, and the importance of local knowledge in supporting effective conservation actions. / Thesis (Master, Urban & Regional Planning) -- Queen's University, 2010-07-05 20:55:39.924

This study investigates the role of civil society in the Nigerian polity between 1985 and 1999. The institutions that constitute civil society, particularly human rights organizations, professional groups, non-governmental organizations have played crucial roles in checking the excesses of Nigerian governments. They have also -served not only as instruments for protecting human rights and guarding against the aouse-of the rule of law in the absence of a constitution but also in the advocacy of democracy in Nigeria. e study examines generally and in theoretical terms not only the relationship between 'state and civil society but also how far, and in what ways the state can affect or engage, purposefully, civil society in general. Drawing on de Tocquiville, Diamond, Gramsci, Hegel, Hobbes, Mamdani, Marx, and Mill, the study attempts to cut through the definitional quagmire by defining civil society as an arena made up of voluntary associations with differing interests and objectives and anchored within the space between state and society, which work towards those diverse societal interests with the aim either of promoting change or maintaining the status quo. The struggle against military dictatorshijJ in Nigeria gave rise to a large and complex civil society. The study examines the activities and / internal problems of these organizations. Specifically, it focuses on the role and effectiveness of civil society groups as instruments of democratic change in Nigeria. In this regard, it examines extensively their oppositional stance against military dictatorship and assesses their effectiveness in promoting transparency, accountability, and good governance in Nigeria. In essence, then, the study seeks to provide insight not only about the workings ofNigerian civil society organizations but also their potential as a vehicle for emplacing transparent and effective governance. To drive the point home, the study examines three major civil society organizations (representing different categories of civil society) that played crucial roles in the struggle for good governance and the protection of fundamental human rights in Nigeria. These are the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), and the Campaign for Democracy (CD). Looking ystematically at eacn of the three cases, it investigates the dangerous and, often, brutal struggle by members of the civil society as they sought to compel successive military regimes to adhere to pnnciples of good governance, respect for basic human rights, transformative development, arid-democracy. A testimony of their relative success in pursuit of their appositional agenda was reflected not only in the political transition activities of each military government but also in their ability to isolate recalcitrant regimes and externalize the struggle by sensitizing the internationalcommunity as happened under General Sani Abacha. Nevertheless, the ability and capacity of civil society to sustain its role as a balancing force between the Nigerian state and people remains in doubt due both to continuing uneasiness in its relationship with the state and to organizational and operational problems associated with internal factionalization, proneness to infiltration and sabotage, victimization by obnoxious laws and decrees, inadequacy of funding, weak operating capacity, fragile organizational struchlres, and poor alliance and networking arrangements. The Study argues that in order to provide a constructive challenge to the authority and power of the state and to achieve their transformative agenda for social, economic, and political development of Nigeria, civil society groups would need to wrestle effectively with some of these problems. / Thesis (Ph.D)-University of Kwazulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2002.

This study aims at exploring the policy advocacy role of civil society organizations in land reforms policy using the Association for Rural Advancement in KwaZulu-Natal as a case study, and focusing specifically on the aspect of land redistribution programme. The specific objectives of the study are to identify the advocacy strategies used, to assess their strengths and weaknesses, to examine the extent to which land redistribution programme is being influenced by the advocacy action of AFRA, to identify the limitations in policy advocacy for land redistribution, and to assess the effectiveness of AFRA‘s policy advocacy work in the lens of the factors for effective policy advocacy delineated by Bratton (1994: 48-55). Thus, this study provides an understanding of the magnitude and challenges of policy advocacy functions of CSOs in such a sensitive issue as the land ownership in South Africa. This study has been informed by qualitative research methodology in both data gathering and analysis. Data were collected using a triangulation of data collection techniques, and analyzed using thematic analysis, which is a method for identifying, analysing and reporting patterns (themes) within data. It has emerged from this study that civil society organisations provide avenues for voices and issues that may not have been prioritised by policy makers to be placed on the public agenda. A wide range of strategies to engage with the state are employed by civil society organisations, and those strategies are strategically employed in a complementary manner so that they could be more effective depending on the issue at hand and the context within which advocacy is being made. Furthermore, it comes out the study that there are many challenges faced by the CSOs involved in land issues, among others are the antagonistic climate portraying the relationships with the state, the issue of funding, the low literacy level of rural landless people, etc. For more impact to be perceived in policy influence, the study suggests that CSOs in the land sector and AFRA in particular should establish an effective networking framework in order to pool resources, and share expertise and experience; they should increase their clients‘ involvement in policy process by making opening their membership to rural people living in the communities they work with; examine the possibility to gain domestic financial base. For government agencies, more particularly the Department of Land Affairs, it is suggested to reassess their relationships with the civil society so that the two sectors work collaboratively for the best of the poor people they all have to serve. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2011.

This research focuses on the role of civil society in policy implementation, using a case study of the Centre for Criminal Justice (CCJ). Realising that resolving problems of twenty-first century requires synergy of many actors from different organisations and sectors, this study focussed particularly on the role of civil society in public policy implementation. The study briefly discusses the key concepts such as civil society and public policy implementation. Consideration was also given to civil society in South Africa before and after Apartheid, their roles and functions in public policy matters and their improvement in these matters compared to other sectors that is public and business sector. The objective of the study was to find out the role of CCJ in implementing issues of human rights in the justice system. The results of this study have revealed that CCJ plays an important role in implementing issues of human rights in the justice system. Among the findings, this research has observed that CCJ is involved in activities that address issues of human rights in the justice system. Some of the activities comprise of presentations, workshops and attending community forums. The study also examined CCJ's partnership with the South African Police Service (SAPS). It shows how CCJ empowers its clients, bridges the gap between the community and SAPS, and plays a role in the dissemination of information. Despite facing challenges, mostly in terms of channels of communication and lack of responsiveness from CCJ's counterparts, which also originate from the informal kind of relationship between CCJ and its working partners, there is a strong working relation. This research was carried out using a qualitative approach in both data gathering (semi-structured interviews) and analysis (thematic). Out of the fifteen outreach centres of CCJ three were chosen and two police stations. This was done through purposive sampling. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sci.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2011.

Magistro darbe analizuojama pilietinio ugdymo/nepaklusnumo procesų ir formų raiška besiformuojančioje pilietinėje visuomenėje. Tyrimu siekiama pagrįsti pilietinio nepaklusnumo paradigmą valstybių kovų už nepriklausomybę kontekste, įvertinti jų sąsajas su socioedukaciniais ppilietinės visuomenėskūrimo procesais bei prognozuoti galimas pilietinio nepaklusnumo tendencijas naujų globalinių rizikų fone. Darbe teigiama, kad naujajame pasaulio ekonominės, politinės ir socialinės raidos etape vykstantys neprievartinio pobūdžio konfliktai yra strateginė demokratinės visuomenės bendrųjų vertybių ir interesų gynybos išraiška. Kartu daroma išvada, kad globalizacijos sąlygomis, pakituspasaulio politinei architektūrai visuotinis politinis nepaklusnumas, siejamas su pilietinių laisvių išsaugojimu yra ypatingai aktualus. Socialinės edukacijos požiūriu šiandieninė neprievartinio strateginio konflikto kaip tyrimo objekto analizė galima tik kaip bendra integralių vadybos, politikos ir ekonomikos, psichologijos ir socialinės komunikacijos kompetencijų raiška. / The aim of the study is the justification of civil disobedience in order to summarize a paradigm of unique historical and current experience of civil disobedience in the world; the struggle for independence in the context of the assessment of their linkages with civil society socioeducational processes and to predict possible trends in civil disobedience to the new global risks in the background. In the new world of economic, political and social development, the natures of nonviolent conflicts within a democratic society are the strategic values and common interests in terms of defense. On the other hand, on the Euro-Atlantic integration condition of the general civil disobedience is linked to the preservation of civil liberties is particularly relevant, and remains a universal response to any threats. In this context of state socioeducational priorities education/disobedience expands civil society and democratic formation opportunities, creates secure not only internal but also external risk management in emergency situations. The method of experts’ survey was used to analyze the problem approaches for comparison, to generate ideas and socioeducational dimension modeling. The expert questionnaire was used to clarify problem areas and practical recommendations. The structured summary of expert responses was created. In conclusion, a social communication helps to build civic networks, also helps citizen to access qualified information while at the same time promotes their... [to full text]

As the European Year of Citizens (2013) dawns, the European Union (EU) finds itself at a crossroads. One of the largest international organisations in the world, it has built a reputation as an international community model and democratic figure judged in the context of a multi-level system. However, the EU has recently departed from both roles, as its economic practices suffer dramatically from a lack of political pressure and regulation. The EU now faces an uncertain future: should it break apart or move forward with deeper integration and a “more Europe” attitude? In contrast to public and scholarly concern, this thesis does not treat the crisis as abstract evidence of a structural democracy deficit. This thesis instead attempts to draw attention to the point of departure, the European citizen, and a social cleavage that can be easily addressed despite ongoing economic insecurity. In this sense, this thesis differs from current academic thought in that it focuses less on understanding how democracy can be achieved and more on understanding how democracy, which already exists, can be enhanced. This paper looks at how two discourses identified in the literature (civil society and cosmopolitanism) could be combined in a governance framework that would support the EU to become a civilian power. It will complete this investigation through the use of case studies on two civil society organisations based in Spain and primary data collected from within the European Parliament (EP). The case studies will be used to understand how local civil society can improve the democratic quality of EU governance whilst meeting individuals’ needs and rights. This paper will conclude that, in the case of Spain 2012, local civil society creates three core conditions for active citizen participation that the EU can benefit from, despite the challenging environment surrounding it.

The EU, over time, has garnered international recognition and acclaim as a successful agent of democratisation in third countries. The transitions of Greece, Spain and Portugal in the 1980s coupled with the recent Eastern enlargements of the EU into erstwhile communist space attest to the success of the EU in fostering tangible democratisation. However, as the EU rapidly approaches its institutional capacity, questions remain as to its viability as an agent of democratisation in the post-enlargement setting where the EU can no longer offer full membership as an incentive for political and economic reform. This thesis attempts to examine the viability of the EU as a democratic facilitator in the post-enlargement setting, through examination of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), a policy described by the EU as ‘everything but institutions’. Two mechanisms of normative transfer relative to the ENP were identified in the literature: conditionality, where the EU attaches incentives for successful political and economic reform, and socialisation, a newer notion whereby norms are transferred via interaction through generating close links with domestic actors. It was ascertained that in the context of the ENP, socialisation represented the dominant mechanism for normative change; conditionality was still utilised as a mechanism, however its scope had reduced greatly. To illuminate the phenomenon of EU democratic promotion, the case study of Armenia was chosen, a small but politically intriguing state in the EU’s Eastern Neighbourhood which had experienced (as is the case with the majority of post-Soviet states) stagnation and regression of the democratisation process since independence. Two facets of the EU’s democratisation strategy inherent in the ENP were chosen as empirical research areas: free and fair elections and interaction with domestic civil society organisations (CSOs). Free and fair elections offered evaluation of the conditionality aspects of the ENP through examining the 2008 Armenian presidential election. Interaction with domestic Armenian CSOs presented a rich phenomenon to examine the impact of socialisation in the ENP through utilising a case study examining four democratically minded NGOs. Ultimately, this thesis contends that through the ENP, the EU can no longer effectively wield conditionality as a viable mechanism of normative change and currently lacks the tools or a suitable environment to initialise normative transfers through socialisation. Consequently, it is argued that the EU has had little effect in facilitating democratisation in Armenia since the advent of the ENP.

Those who are very wealthy may also be extremely free. Independently wealthy philanthropists epitomize this type of freedom. They seem to be able to act in whichever way they please, as long as they respect the limits of the law. Their freedom also implies that they do not experience as much accountability as other funders. Considering philanthropists’ ambitions as policymakers, and given their imposition of performance demands on their grantees, their accountability is relevant to investigate. However, there are no comprehensive comparative studies of philanthropists’ accountability, and there is mainly anecdotal evidence of a lack of accountability being derived from their independent wealth. This dissertation is a study of philanthropists’ accountability. I compare their experienced and exhibited accountability to that of other funders within societies, and I also compare philanthropists’ accountability across societies. I investigate whether philanthropists’ independent wealth influences to whom they are accountable, for what they are accountable, and how they are accountable. To learn about these topics, I examine their accountability relationships, their accountability mechanisms, and how they justify their potentially controversial funding of human embryonic stem cell research. Across these dimensions, I study their legal, financial, hierarchical, peer, professional, political, and fiduciary/social accountability. Empirically, I make a cross-sectional comparison of philanthropists to other funders of human embryonic stem cell research within and across three welfare regimes - liberal California, social democratic Sweden, and statist South Korea. I compare the accountability of independently wealthy philanthropists to that of public agencies, corporations, and fundraising dependent nonprofits. The empirical materials include 101 structured interviews with open-ended questions covering 51 funding organizations, as well as questionnaires explored in ANOVA and social network analysis. The study indicates that philanthropists experience and exhibit less accountability than other funders in some ways, in some contexts. By developing and using a framework to analyze their accountability, I show that philanthropists’ accountability is patterned within the societies in which they fund, and it differs greatly across societies. In California, philanthropists enact themselves as free actors, whereas in Sweden they enact a moral identity as funders of science. In South Korea, there is no clear boundary between philanthropic and corporate accountability. My results point to the contextual limits of philanthropists’ accountability. By enacting their moral identity in a way that conforms to local norms, philanthropists simultaneously retain and enable their continued freedom. In terms of their accountability, philanthropists are free to conform, and they become free by conforming.

In the new democratic dispensation, the Gauteng Education and Training Council (GETC) is the first statutory council instituted in South Africa, allowing civil society to participate in education policy-making. Against this background, this study explored the policy process and the participation of stakeholders. A literature study investigated the theory on policy and the participation of civil society in the policy process. The inception of the GETC was fully documented and a qualitative study undertaken to determine the role of the GETC in education policy-making. Data gathering was done mainly through semi-structured interviews with GETC members. The data was analysed, discussed and synthesised. The major findings were that stakeholders valued the opportunity to participate and members had high expectations of the contribution they could render in the policy-making process. Although most members had a good grasp of the policy process, lack of administrative resources and participative skills founded in the exclusion of large segments of society from partaking in such consultative structures in the past, was evident in some organisations. The function of the Administrative Secretary is deemed important in facilitating the functions of the GETC and training for this incumbent was emphasised. The lines of communication between the GETC and the Member of the Executive Council (MEC) need to be clearly structured in order to expedite the movement of documents between them. The MEC needs to be more visible to GETC members. The GETC, MEC and the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) have to explore ways and means of establishing a sound relationship to serve the cause. Consensus between the GETC and the GDE should be reached regarding the role and place of the GETC in the GDE Policy Route. Areas for further investigation that would enhance the role of the GETC in the policy-making process have been identified. The study concluded that the GETC renders a valuable contribution empowering citizens to become involved in formal participative structures which will contribute towards broadening the basis of acceptance of responsibility for education, by society This will assist in attaining its declared vision to improve the level of education in South Africa.