Exploring the Impact of Political Context on State–Civil Society Relations: Actors’ Strategies in a Developmental State

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - How does a state govern civil society organizations (CSOs) under the framework of a developmental state? This article...     

Politics of Conviviality? State–Civil Society Relations Within the Context of Counter-Terrorism in Nigeria

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - There are emergent interests on the dynamics of counter-terrorism measures (CTMs) at global, regional and national levels,...     

Comments on “Social Origins of Civil Society”

Lester Salamon and Helmut Anheier's Social Origins of Civil Society: Explaining the Nonprofit Sector Cross-Nationally offers a thorough cross-national quantitative analysis of the correlates of nonprofit-sector size, composition, and sources of funding. The first study of its kind, it is remarkable in both its theoretical ambition and empirical scope. Still, this research is plagued by problems that affect almost all research of this type: small numbers, poor measures, vague theories, a preponderance of cross-sectional data, and so on. Suggestions for improving the research include: (1) disaggregating the definition of the nonprofit sector to address criticisms from both the right and the left; (2) adopting a multidimensional approach to assessment of the nonprofit sector, to deal with its great heterogeneity; (3) devoting more attention to possible nonlinear relationships; and (4) casting a wider theoretical net in the effort to build a convincing social origins perspective. In the end, Salamon and Anheier may be forced to devote more effort to qualitative analysis of specific sectors to demonstrate the explanatory power of the social origins perspective.     

Understanding the Microfoundations of Government–Civil Society Relations

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - This article adds a much needed microlevel perspective to the literature on interactions between civil society...     

State Versus Civil Society? A Non-Binary Model of Domination Through the Example of Israel

Through the Israeli case, the article questions the validity of the Western liberal model according to which (civil) society and state are two separate entities, the state ostensibly existing outside the society and imposing its will on it. Covering five distinct historical periods, from the beginning of the century until the present, and utilizing Antonio Gramsci's concept of hegemony, the article surveys one of Israel's core myths, if not the core itself, that of the pioneer ( halutz ). The result exposes an intriguing system of domination, which is based on intensive activity and responsiveness of the population, and on a blurred distinction between the rulers and the ruled, between objects and subjects, and between state and society. Because of the existence of this system of domination it is difficult to talk about Israel in terms of a despotic state; hence also the obstacle to the constitution of a civil society in Israel. For this is effectively a hegemonic system of domination, which repels all social change by its ability to absorb any innovation and shape its meaning.     

Do Professionals Take Over? Professionalisation and Membership Influence in Civil Society Organisations

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - While many scholars have postulated the decline of membership influence as an important consequence of the...     

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.     

Design Contradictions in the ‘New Architecture of Aid’? Reflections from Uganda on the Roles of Civil Society Organisations

This article considers how changing trends in patterns and modalities of aid are affecting the roles of civil society organisations. It draws on research carried out in Uganda in 2001 to argue that donors are adopting an oversimplified conception of the roles of CSOs. In particular, by separating ‘service delivery’ from ‘advocacy’ roles, donors fail to appreciate a situation in which organisations play several roles simultaneously, and the vital synergy that can be created between roles. Furthermore, there is a danger that the changes in funding modalities will force a new dependence on government which will restrict CSOs’ ability to carry out the very role that donors are trying to enhance — that of ‘holding government to account’.     

Is the Fountain of Youth on Niujie Street?

NIUJIE Street, Beijingers all know, is a neighborhood populated by the Hui nationality people south Beijing. Along this one-kilometer street that is nearly 700 years old are numerous traditional, single-storey houses and courtyards made of gray brick and tile, which form a sharp contrast with the modern skyscrapers not far away. The mosque at the center of the street is     

Is the Grass Greener on the Other Side of the River?

No abstract available for this article.     

Does Nonprofit Marketization Facilitate or Inhibit the Development of Civil Society? A Comparative Study of China and the USA

With the rise of the global associational revolution and the expansion of neoliberalism across the world, nonprofit organizations (NPOs) have increasingly tended to adopt market values and approaches in many countries. A recent debate has concerned the impacts of nonprofit marketization on the civil society sector. A primary concern among Western scholars is the potential harm that marketization may cause to the traditional roles of NPOs, especially in their ability to create and maintain a strong civil society. This article joins the debate by engaging in a comparative analysis of China and the USA to answer the following question: Are the same concerns in the West applicable to non-Western countries, particularly those gradually liberalizing but still highly controlled authoritarian countries? By exploring the variations in objectives, models, and effects associated with the marketization taking place under different political–social systems, we find that unlike the nonprofit marketization in the USA, the similar yet distinct process in China is facilitating rather than inhibiting the development of civil society. On the other hand, our findings also provide nonprofit practitioners with a contextual guideline to help them devise more effective service strategies tailored to fit diverse sociocultural settings.     

Ideology,Practice, and Process? A Review of the Concept of Managerialism in Civil Society Studies

Managerialism is today a frequently applied concept in studies of how ideas and practices related to corporate management are diffused in society. Some assert that managerialism even is what mostly affects the development of contemporary civil society organizations. It is, however, far from clear how the concept of managerialism is used and defined across interest fields. The main conclusion in the present review, involving 105 peer-reviewed articles in civil society studies published between 1990 and 2014, is that the concept of managerialism is so broadly defined that it runs the risk of losing its analytical powers. To avoid this, the paper argues for a more precise conceptual use and suggests that the concept of managerialism should be applied to denote an ideology, the concept of management to capture managerial practices, and the concept of managerialization to describe an organizational change process.     

A Comment on Salamon and Anheier's “Social Origins of Civil Society”

In this paper we examine Salamon and Anheier's characterization and testing of alternative theories of the size and scope of the nonprofit sector in different countries. We identify various nuances and refinements of these theories, and we suggest ways in which their validation through statistical testing can be extended and improved. Finally, we offer additional avenues of research that could productively exploit the important cross-national data set assembled by the Johns Hopkins Project.     

Interest Groups,NGOs or Civil Society Organisations? The Framing of Non-State Actors in the EU

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - Scholars have used varying terminology for describing non-state entities seeking to influence public policy or work with...     

Civil Society Organizations: the Site of Legitimizing the Common Good—a Literature Review

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - The concept of legitimacy—i.e., being regarded as “lawful, admissible, and justified” (Edwards in NGO...     

What makes a big demonstration? Exploring the impact of mobilization strategies on the size of demonstrations

ABSTRACT

Massive demonstrations are the staple of powerful social movements, but research on the factors affecting the size of demonstrations (in terms of number of attendants) is almost nonexistent. Why do some demonstrations pack long avenues with masses of people while other ones barely fill a street corner? Combining resource mobilization, political opportunity, and framing theories, we argue that mobilization strategies – the sequence of decisions and actions taken by protest organizers before staging a protest – shape demonstration size. Multivariate models with 937 Chilean demonstrations between 2000 and 2012 show that demonstrations are larger when they display more demands (especially universalistic demands), target the national government, attract more organizations (especially umbrella organizations), and mobilize cohesive groups with broad public support. We reinforce the internal validity of our argument using interviews with movement leaders and secondary research on Chilean society.