Managerialism and Beyond: Discourses of Civil Society Organization and Their Governance Implications

Different disciplinary, theoretical, and empirical lenses have contributed to a kaleidoscopic picture of the governance of civil society organizations (CSOs). Most of the time, CSO governance is contrasted with corporate governance in business organizations; only rarely is the broad variety of CSOs taken into account. To widen this perspective, we develop an empirically grounded typology of five discourses of organization in CSOs: managerialist, domestic, professionalist, grassroots, and civic discourse. We argue that each of these discourses gives specific answers to the three core questions of governance: To whom is the CSO accountable, i.e., who are the key actors who need to be protected by governance mechanisms? For what kind of performance is the CSO accountable? And which structures and processes are appropriate to ensure accountability? The way in which different discourses answer these questions provides us with a deeper understanding of the reasons behind the manifold notions of governance in CSOs.     

Civic Agency in Governance: The Role of Legitimacy with Citizens vs. Donors

Civil society strengthening programs aim to foster democratic governance by supporting civil society organization (CSO) engagement in advocacy. However, critics claim that these programs foster apolitical and professional organizations that have weak political effects because they do not mobilize citizen participation. This literature focuses on how donor programs lead to low legitimacy of CSOs with citizens, limiting the means to develop agency toward the state. Here I investigate the influence of CSO legitimacy with donors and citizens on civic agency. Empirical research was conducted in Bosnia–Herzegovina on CSOs considered legitimate by donors, citizens, and both. I found that different forms of legitimacy were associated with different strategies and agency. CSOs with both forms of legitimacy, which have not received much attention until now, turned out to be of particular interest. These CSOs demonstrated agency as intermediaries between donors, government, and citizens, which enabled greater agency and broader outcomes.     

Donor withdrawal and local civil society organizations: An analysis of the HIV/AIDS sector in Vietnam

The impact of international donor arrival on local civil society organizations (CSOs) is well researched. Less well understood is how local CSOs react and adapt to donor withdrawal. This article explores this phenomenon in the context of the HIV/AIDS sector in Vietnam. Using data from government, donor and CSO sources in Vietnam, it examines how current and planned cuts in donor funding, including donor exit, impact local CSO agency and effectiveness. It finds that while donor withdrawal may reduce CSO capacity and independence, it can also prompt local innovations that—if successful—may improve CSOs’ responsiveness to local stakeholders.     

Policy Windows for CSOs in Latin America: Looking Outside Legal and Regulatory Frameworks

This paper presents a comparison of the legal and regulatory frameworks for civil society organizations (CSOs) in the Andean countries. Given the restrictive policies, CSOs are becoming policy entrepreneurs and identifying policy windows, that is, opportunities in public policies that are not inherently related to their sector. It focuses on the case of Ecuador and its 2010 higher education reform that requires universities to generate more research and to establish community outreach. The paper argues that while collaborations with universities might not bring substantial financial resources to CSOs, and that the roles and responsibilities in collaborative projects are constructed through a learning process, the higher education reform might have the potential to create win–win relationships among universities and CSOs. Opportunities like this, allow CSOs to demonstrate their expertise and experience in social development, and in doing so, gain, and in some cases regain, their legitimacy. In the process, CSOs might stave off further restrictive public policy.     

Civil Society Organisations in Research: A Literature-Based Typology

This article explores literatures from various sources to highlight and understand differences among key players surrounding the perceived nature and role of civil society in research from different literature streams. Including Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in research activities is an integral part of a broad drive towards integration of science and society. Interest in CSO inclusion in research is widespread, but lacks a coherent focus and clarity on what CSOs are. Without this clarity, CSO-inclusive research, or policy, may be ineffective. This article addresses this gap in knowledge by presenting findings from an exploration of academic, policy and research project literature in order to come to a view on CSOs in research. This culminates in a typology of CSOs and provides a means of identifying types of CSOs. The typology shows four main types of CSO (common cause, shared voice, research-oriented, commercially oriented) and provides a definition for each type, along with a basis for the definition; an example of each; some typical terminology; typical area of activity; properties; typical mission; key areas of interest and their ‘action logic’ in research.     

Two for One: Public Welfare and Regime Legitimacy Through State Funding for CSOs in Russia

Civil societies are usually seen as facilitators of democracy or as oppositional powers withstanding authoritarian rule. However, more and more often civil society organizations (CSOs) appear to contribute to the legitimacy of non-democratic incumbents. Taking the example of contemporary Russia, this paper argues that state funding for CSOs under authoritarian regime conditions serves for securing regime legitimacy in two respects—by supporting CSOs contribution to public welfare and by transmitting state-led legitimacy discourse to the civil society sector. The analysis of applications submitted between 2013 and 2016 to the Presidential Grant Competition (PGC), the biggest public funding programme for CSOs in Russia, shows that the state is (1) supporting CSO activities above all in social, health and education-related fields, and (2) privileging projects that relate to a state-led conservative public discourse not only but foremost within those welfare-related fields. These results highlight the importance of investigating state support to CSOs in order to access the changing role of civil society under authoritarian regime conditions.

     

The Relationship Between Liberian CSOs and International Donor Funding: Boon or Bane?

The Liberian environment is characterized by enormous reliance on international aid, substantial amounts of which is channeled through civil society organizations (CSOs). These civil society organizations have played an important role in Liberia’s redevelopment since the end of the civil war in 2003, despite the fact that international aid to Liberia is increasingly characterized by unstable funding patterns and shifting donor priorities. This makes it vital to deepen our understanding of international aid funding to Liberian CSOs. This study uses mixed methodology to examine what impacts the ability of Liberian CSOs to attract aid funding, the nature of the donor–CSO relationship, and how this relationship impacts the capacity and behavior of CSOs. Results indicate CSO competence and efficiency are associated with ability to attract aid funding. Pressures and imbalance in the donor–CSO relationship contribute to high levels of environmental uncertainty for Liberian CSOs in the sample, leading to adaptive behaviors related to activities and funding streams.     

The Revitalization of a Popular Movement: Case Study Research from Sweden

This article tries to enhance knowledge about organizational characteristics and processes that are important for mitigating oligarchic tendencies in the governance of CSOs, and to discuss the factors that condition the operation of these characteristics and processes. Civil society is frequently seen as an important part of societal governance and discussed as the intermediary link between the individual and society. This connection is often made through the aggregate function of civil society organizations (CSOs). Currently there are discussions regarding the decline of traditional cross-class federative CSOs and the possible effect of this on democracy in society. This article presents a longitudinal case study of the governance within a large, membership-based federative CSO and illustrates the revitalization of a CSO and its mission through the influx of a new group of members from the surrounding environment. The author argues that this revitalization process was possible partly because the proposed changes were in keeping with the organization’s original ideological core and partly because of the organization’s open democratic governance system. This permeability is found at two levels: first, the borders are open for individuals to enter the organization as members, and second, the borders of the internal governance system are open for members to take part in the decision-making process. This enabled ideas to percolate up from the members through the democratic decision-making system to the top of the organization, and some ideas are translated into statutes and policies, which then trickle down to the members again through the executive structure. The conclusion is that a functioning democratic governance system, which is able to stay true to the organization’s ideological core at the same time as it is able to modify it in light of societal change, seems imperative for this kind of organization. By doing this, the organization is not just staying true to its original mission but also actively contributing to democracy in society by including new groups into the decision-making process.     

Face-to-Face Interaction with Government Officials and Its Effects on the Political Attitudes on the Civil Society Organizational Members: The Study from Japan

This study attempts to answer the question: When do civil society organizations (CSOs) function as a bridge between the informal political sphere and the formal political sphere by changing the political attitudes of their members? To answer this question, I used the Japanese General Social Survey 2003 (JGSS 2003). My main findings involve the effect of the face-to-face interactions that the CSO members have with government officials. The findings suggest that while CSO members without such interactions are no more psychologically politically engaged than non-members, the members with such interactions are. The findings have an empirical importance to those who study Japan since the country is currently undergoing CSO–government relationship reform and the number of CSOs is growing rapidly in the recent years. The study also has a theoretical importance to civil society scholars since this study attempts to unfold the mechanism in which CSOs’ positive effects on the members’ political attitudes are produced.     

Connecting Society and Policymakers? Conceptualizing and Measuring the Capacity of Civil Society Organizations to Act as Transmission Belts

Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) are considered important intermediaries between citizens and policymakers. They are assumed to function as transmission belts that filter societal preferences and channel them to policymakers. Although the ability of CSOs to connect civil society with policymakers has been put into question, it has rarely been theoretically specified and empirically tested. This paper develops a conceptualization of CSOs that examines their capacity to function as transmission belts. It does so by distinguishing two organizational dimensions related to member involvement and organizational capacity. The paper draws on a large survey of CSOs active at the EU to empirically assess these organizational dimensions and relate them to basic CSOs’ characteristics. The findings indicate that one out of three organizations approximates the ideal-type transmission belt. The findings contribute to a better understanding and assessment of CSO’s potential contribution to policy-making in representative democracies.     

The Involvement of a Concerned Significant Other in Gambling Disorder Treatment Outcome

Interpersonal distress is a common feature in gambling disorder and adding a concerned significant other (CSO) to the recovery process could be an effective tool for improving treatment outcome. However, little empirical evidence is available regarding the effectiveness of including a CSO to interventions. We aimed to compare treatment outcomes (i.e. compliance with therapy guidelines, dropout from treatment, and relapse during treatment) in a CBT program involving a CSO to CBT treatment as usual (TAU) without a CSO. The sample comprised male gambling disorder patients (N = 675). The manualized CBT intervention consisted of 16 weekly outpatient group sessions and a 3-month follow-up period. Patient CSOs attended a predetermined number of sessions with the patient and were provided with resources to acquire a better understanding of the disorder, to manage risk situations, and to aid patients in adhering to treatment guidelines. Patients with a CSO had significant higher treatment attendance and reduced dropout compared to patients receiving TAU. Moreover, patients whose spouse was involved in the treatment program were less likely to relapse and adhered to the treatment guidelines more than those with a non-spousal CSO. Our results suggest that incorporating interpersonal support to gambling disorder interventions could potentially improve treatment outcomes.     

Field trials of a novel toolkit for evaluating 'intangible' values-related dimensions of projects

A novel toolkit has been developed, using an original approach to develop its components, for the purpose of evaluating 'soft' outcomes and processes that have previously been generally considered 'intangible': those which are specifically values based. This represents a step-wise, significant, change in provision for the assessment of values-based achievements that are of absolutely key importance to most civil society organisations (CSOs) and values-based businesses, and fills a known gap in evaluation practice. In this paper, we demonstrate the significance and rigour of the toolkit by presenting an evaluation of it in three diverse scenarios where different CSOs use it to co-evaluate locally relevant outcomes and processes to obtain results which are both meaningful to them and potentially comparable across organisations. A key strength of the toolkit is its original use of a prior generated, peer-elicited 'menu' of values-based indicators which provides a framework for user CSOs to localise. Principles of participatory, process-based and utilisation-focused evaluation are embedded in this toolkit and shown to be critical to its success, achieving high face-validity and wide applicability. The emerging contribution of this next-generation evaluation tool to other fields, such as environmental values, development and environmental sustainable development, shared values, business, education and organisational change is outlined.     

Aufbau des Zivilsektors in Transformationsländern: Lokalisierungsprozesse von Nichtregierungsorganisationen

The civil society in the transformation countries in Central and Eastern Europe is considered as the success factor for the development status of the democratic reforms in this area. Based on long years experience in the field the author shows how civil society organisations (CSO) are formed and what kind of problems they face concerning organizational development, voluntarism and professionalisation and fundraising. Due to the fact that CSO are initiated from outside or that they copy Western patterns the localisation processes—adaptation to the local condition and enculturation—are the basis for sustainability. But, the exclusive view to the civil sector and its extraordinary support may cause reluctance in parts of the population. The across-the-sectors Development Partnership is a way of cooperation in strategic development and project management of CSO, governmental organisations and enterprises. The results of this comprehensive approach on local, regional and national level are documented by best practice examples from Lithuania, Hungary, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.     

Women’s Tertiary Education Masks the Gender Wage Gap in Turkey

This paper investigates the gender wage gap for full-time formal sector employees, disaggregated by education level. The gap between the labor force participation rate of women with tertiary education and those with lower levels of education is substantial. There is no such gap for men. Hence, existing gender wage gap studies for Turkey, where we observe lopsided labor force participation rates by education levels, compare two very different populations. We disaggregate the whole sample by education level to create more homogenous sub-groups. For Turkey, without disaggregation, the gender wage gap was 13% in 2011, and women are significantly over-qualified relative to men on observed characteristics. Once we disaggregate the sample by education level, we show that the gender wage gap is 24% for less educated women and 9% for women with tertiary education in full-time formal employment. Observed characteristics only explain 1 % of this gap in absolute terms. We further disaggregate the data by public and private employment. The gender gap is higher in the private sector. However, women with tertiary education in the public sector are significantly better qualified compared to men, and consequently the adjusted gender wage gap is higher for women with tertiary education in the public sector. Our estimates also indicate a rise in the gender wage gap between 2004 and 2011.     

Online Civic Engagement and the Anti-domestic Violence Movement in China: Shifting Norms and Influencing Law

In the context of China’s new law against domestic violence, proposed by the State Council in November 2014 and passed in July 2015, this article examines online engagement by Chinese citizens leading up to the legislative revision, and examines the Sina Weibo microblog activities of one influential organisation, nǚquán zhī shēng (Feminist Voice). I ask how a Chinese Civil Society Organisation (CSO) uses online media to open public discourse on, and in some cases challenge, formal and informal institutions around a normatively marginalised issue, the case of domestic violence. Drawing on and synthesising literature on domestic violence, civil society and online communications in China, this study provides a timely contribution given the relative limitedness of up-to-date data, after the huge wave of publications following the 1995 Beijing conference. Findings are based on content analysis of the Feminist Voice microblog during 2012. While Chinese CSOs are often dismissed as non-confrontational and therefore ineffective change agents, Feminist Voice does challenge status quo marginalisation of domestic violence in the public sphere and facilitate discussion around formal and informal institutional reform, thereby influencing social attitudes and potentially also policy and law making.     

The Governance of International Nongovernmental Organizations: How Funding and Volunteer Involvement Affect Board Nomination Modes and Stakeholder Representation in International Nongovernmental Organizations

The governance of civil society organizations (CSOs) is a crucial determinant of organizational legitimacy, accountability, and performance. International nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) are a subtype of CSOs and have received a lot of attention as actors in global governance. Research suggests that INGOs can follow a membership model, where the board is elected by the membership, or a board-managed model, where the board is appointed to represent major stakeholders. Following resource dependency theory, we argue that the choice between these two models depends on the INGOs different sources of funding and the degree of volunteer involvement: As donors and volunteers provide important resources, they are in turn granted the right to nominate board members or to sit on the board. In our quantitative study we show that individual members, regional member organizations, and governmental donors hold a stronger position in the governance of INGOs than philanthropists, foundations and volunteers. Our results inform research on CSO governance by highlighting the relevance of board nomination modes and by showing how CSOs can incorporate stakeholders into their governance mechanisms.     

Virtual Shop Fronts: The Internet,Social Media,and Caribbean Civil Society Organisations

The Internet and, more recently, social media seem to promise the ability for non-state actors to more easily participate in domestic and international politics. ‘Global civil society’ can become ever more global with the help of these ‘new media’. This article uses the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) case to question the capacity of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to contribute positively to the insertion of developing country civil society organisations (CSOs) in a global civil society. Notwithstanding the possibilities that ICTs may open, Caribbean CSOs are not yet able to tap into these potentials effectively. Caribbean CSOs face resource constraints that ICTs alone may be unable to solve. However, the most significant hurdle that Caribbean CSOs face to elevating their work within global civil society is their relative powerlessness within global civil society. The article contends that this limited ability to be of influence is historically contingent and illustrates that hierarchies exist within global civil society that mirror asymmetries of power inherent in the state system.     

Constraining Is Enabling? Exploring the Influence of National Context on Civil Society Strength

This article analyses the influence of national context on civil society strength based on four key dimensions: level of democracy, political stability, rule of law and economic development. Whereas existing studies mainly focus on Western and post-communist countries, we explicitly include developing countries in our analysis. We use associational membership as proxy for civil society strength and include data of 53 countries. Rule of law, economic development and (to a lesser extent) political stability emerge from our multilevel regression models as the main factors affecting civil society membership. Unlike previous studies, we show that these relations are quadratic instead of linear. This means that where existing theories predict a drop in memberships in developing countries, we find a rise. In other words, harsh conditions actually strengthen civil society in terms of membership levels. We argue that this could be the case because reasons for CSO membership are essentially different in the developed and in the developing world. Contrary to theoretical assumptions, democratic rights do not appear critically important for civil society membership.     

Organizational Wellbeing in CSOs in Morelos (Mexico): Findings from a Qualitative Study

In recent years, civil society organizations (CSOs) have become a significant aspect of Mexican reality given the number of people involved in them and their contribution to the services sector. These entities are organizations where voluntary and paid workers may experience wellbeing conditions that are inherent in empowerment processes, feelings of usefulness, and the satisfaction associated with participating in decision-making. At the same time, contradictory dynamics related to governance, power relations, leadership, and decision-making may be activated in CSOs and create uncertainty and psychosocial malaise. In this research, based on a grounded theory approach, 11 interviews and 89 questionnaires were realized in 14 service-providing CSOs in the Mexican State of Morelos, highlighting the wellbeing/malaise dimensions and psychosocial factors that are relevant for their members.