Linking Disconnected Spaces or Venue Shopping? Trade-Offs in Participatory Opportunities in the EU

This article discusses why national civil society organisations (CSOs) use or abstain to use the participatory opportunities that the EU has developed in the last years. This is done by analysing the role of French and Spanish civil society groups in the debates on participatory democracy during the drafting and the referendum debates of the European Constitution (2002–2005). The paper departs from existing assessments of the role of national civil society in the Convention and demonstrates that national organisations built on their expertise on certain EU policies, on access to EU-level political actors and on contacts and alliances with other CSOs. It also differs from previous studies in finding that participation does not entail sharing the interpretive frame promoted by the EU. The finding that access opportunities do not fundamentally influence the frames of the organisations is related to their ability to strategically choose to participate in European and national venues. The paper finds that because of their scepticism on the constitution's participatory framing, French organisations preferred a stronger role at the national level, whereas Spanish organisations did not have real incentives to develop a campaign at the national level. While it is expected that dialogue with CSOs can contribute to bridging the gap between the EU and its citizens, this paper finds that the institutional setting provided incentives for national organisations to get involved only in one of the levels rather than to link them.     

Le marché comme rencontre d’activités de régulation : initiatives et innovations dans l’approvisionnement bio et local de la restauration collective

How to apply Jean-Daniel Reynaud's theory of social regulation to market relations? When applied to the results drawn from fieldwork on the supplying of organic and local produce to catering businesses serving public institutions in France, this grid of analysis shows that organizing this supply chain involves many activities of regulation. An explanation is provided about how hard existing regulations make it to search for local produce. Two contrasting cases show the degree to which the parties involved can skirt around existing regulations and also, use certain regulations to construct new ones. The innovative regulations that enter into application are qualified as being “joint”, since they stem from the efforts of the parties in catering and in agriculture to agree about how to organize transactions, which had previously been done through the work of market middlemen. In that case, instead of reasoning in terms of a pre-existing supply and demand, we have to understand how supply and demand gradually take shape through the process of working out regulations.     

Performance indicators for collaborative networks based on collaboration benefits

Collaborative networks are typically assumed to bring clear benefits and competitive advantage to the participating members. However, the identification and characterisation of objective and measurable collaboration benefits is an important element for the wide adoption of this paradigm. Departing from a brief categorisation of the intuitive advantages of collaboration, this paper introduces an approach for the analysis of benefits in collaborative processes, introducing a number of performance indicators. The potential application of the indicators derived from this analysis is then discussed in the context of a virtual organisation's breeding environment. Finally, experimental results based on data from two existing collaborative networks are presented and discussed.     

Room for climate advocates in a coal‐focused economy? NGO influence on Australian climate policy

Many Australian environmental non‐government organisations (NGOs) have campaigned for greater political action and community awareness on human‐induced climate change for almost two decades. Australian emissions are the highest per person in the world, yet the Government's response is heavily influenced by the economically‐significant fossil fuel industry. NGO campaigners are sceptical of their campaigns' effectiveness. This paper presents three methods for evaluating the effectiveness of NGO climate change campaigns: Moyer's Movement Action Plan, Schumaker's Assessment of Political Effectiveness, and a document analysis of the influence of NGO submissions to climate policy processes. Evaluation is critical for NGO campaigns to improve their effectiveness, and evaluation criteria and methods should ideally be designed in parallel with the campaign strategy. Using these evaluation methods, it is evident that Australian NGO campaigns on climate change have been effective.     

Marketisation policies in different contexts: Consequences for home‐care workers in Germany,Japan and Sweden

Market‐oriented restructurings of long‐term care policies contribute significantly to the aggravation of care workers’ situations. This article focuses on the effects of broader long‐term care policy developments on market‐oriented reforms. Germany, Japan and Sweden are three countries that have introduced market‐oriented reforms into home‐based care provision embedded in distinct long‐term care policy developments. Conceptually, this article draws on comparative research on care to define the institutional dimensions of long‐term care policies. Empirically, the research is based on policy analyses, as well as on national statistics and a comparative research project on home‐care workers in the aforementioned countries. The findings reveal the mediating impact of the extension and decline of long‐term public care support and the corresponding development of the care infrastructure on both the restructuring of care work and the assessments of the care workers themselves.     

Changing social responsibilities: the role of advocacy organisations in the construction of the Social Support Act in the Netherlands

This paper describes a study on civic participation in legislative processes. In January 2007 a new law on health and social care in the Netherlands was implemented: the Social Support Act (SSA). This law specifically aims at greater civic participation in the implementation of the law, in the provision of health and social care and in the social policy making process. This study focuses on civic participation in policy making, more specifically on civic participation in the legislative process of the Social Support Act. It examines whether national advocacy organisations were successful in their efforts to influence the legislative process and the final construction of the Social Support Act. The main conclusion is that the client and patient organisations were indeed successful in obtaining important changes in the law both through a well informed and professional individual lobby as well as by means of collective action. Yet questions concerning the justification of high expectations for successful local civic participation in the local policy-making process remain.     

Misperceptions of social norms about tax compliance: From theory to intervention

Taxpayers may estimate others’ acceptance of tax evasion as being greater than their own. This self–other discrepancy in tax ethics could undermine people’s tax compliance as they conform to the misperceived social norm. Feedback about the self–other discrepancy could correct the misperception and improve compliance. This approach was first tested in a scenario study with 64 students. Respondents showed the expected self–other discrepancy in tax ethics and feedback about the finding increased their hypothetical compliance. Further results showed that the effect was due to the intervention improving the perception of others’ tax ethics, as expected. Study 2, a field experiment with 1500 Australian taxpayers, replicated the self–other discrepancy and provided taxpayers with information about the result. Compared to control groups, the feedback did not affect work-related expenses claims but significantly reduced other deduction claims.     

Liquid advocacy: Social welfare advocacy in neoliberal times

This article examines current inconsistent trends in social welfare advocacy literature. Some studies show evidence of widespread engagement in advocacy by nonprofit organisations, while other studies conversely offer evidence of limited advocacy activities. Another controversial aspect stems from the question whether governmental funding undermines the extent to which nonprofits engage in advocacy. We argue that these findings reflect the contradictory impact of neoliberal governance on social welfare advocacy. The article highlights and discusses three interrelated components of neoliberalism and their impact on current social welfare advocacy: marketisation, precariousness and commodification. Neoliberalism has propelled a model of market-driven civil society that has remade the practice of social welfare advocacy in contradictory ways. With its complex rationales, neoliberalism has simultaneously undermined the ability of nonprofits to engage in advocacy but in a paradoxical way has also created conditions that induce these organisations to practice advocacy. Implications for practice and research on social welfare advocacy are discussed.     

The influence of faith‐based organisations on Australian social policy

This historical overview explores the crucial and changing relationships between faith‐based organisations and governments, not only in the implementation of social services but also in the formation of social policy. Historically Australian governments have left large areas of social provision to the non‐government sector. For example, income support for the unemployed was not taken up by governments until World War II and income support for sole parents remained largely a responsibility for non‐government organisations (NGOs) until the 1970s. Prior to governments taking responsibility for income support, most of these NGOs were religious organisations surviving on donations, philanthropic support and limited government funding. It is argued that the dominant, semi‐public role of religious organisations in service delivery and social policy formation is an important but largely overlooked aspect of the Australian historical experience.     

多元化决策主体在诉求表达实现机制中的功能分析

文章在阐释诉求表达实现机制概念的基础上,强调了该机制中决策主体的多元性,并进一步分析了多元化决策主体在诉求表达实现机制运行过程中,所发挥的尊重利益、承认差别、促进沟通、协调整合、客观可行和促进发展等六大功能。