民间组织发展与我国民主政治建设

民间组织是独立于政府和企业之外的各种非官方、非营利性公民自治组织,是公民社会的主要载体。民间组织作为公民参与政治生活的政治主体之一,不仅具有重要的民主政治意义,而且是全球化和现代化浪潮的推动下经济、社会、文化及制度发展的必然产物。我国民间组织的发展还存在许多亟待解决的问题,需要从多方面系统安排、重点突破、整体推进。     

农村民间组织的发展:困境、动力与前景

农村民间组织的发展是乡村现代化和民主化的必然产物,并构成了农村公民社会的重要组成部分,广泛参与到农村治理.但农村民间组织在组织内外部环境的约束之下,面临着自身难以克服的发展困境,从而影响了农村民间组织和农村公民社会的成长壮大,阻碍了农村民主政治建设进程.因而就需要解决农村民间组织发展的动力机制问题,进而在此基础上做出对农村民间组织发展前景的展望.     

当前我国农村民间组织的政治功能探析：治理的视角

改革开放以来,随着村民自治的深入推行和社会主义市场经济的不断发展,我国农村的民间组织发展很快.从治理和善治的视角看,作为农村公民社会主要载体的民间组织在农村社区治理和建设中发挥着不可忽视的政治功能,这主要体现在推动中国的基层政治民主建设、提高农民政治参与的制度化水平、维护农村社会秩序与稳定、弥补政府的"缺位"以及整合各种社会资源等方面.同时,民间组织存在的一些问题也不容忽视.     

公民社会政策参与视野下的我国民间组织发育问题探析

由于经济体制改革不到位、政治与行政体制改革缓慢,我国民间组织呈现出"弱小化""、行政化""、营利化"等特征。民间组织的弱小化、行政化、营利化是我国公民社会影响政策过程的主要障碍,也是公民社会政策影响力低下的重要原因。     

影响党群关系的社会因素分析

社会环境发生变化后,政党的群众基础随之变化,由此带来政党处理与群众关系的新变化。公民社会的兴起是当代中国影响党群关系的最重要社会因素。由此,党群关系面临新的挑战:一是,利益的分化是公民社会产生的前提,由此决定党群关系建设的总体思路必须突出利益代表性;二是,民间组织的大量生发和分化是公民社会生成的标志,发展民主政治建设成为处理党群关系的重要内容;三是,公民意识的形成是公民社会发展的保证,建设科学民主的公民文化成为处理党群关系的必然要求。     

公民社会视角下的社会管理创新研究

公民社会就是国家或政府系统以及市场或企业系统之外的所有民间组织或民间关系的总和。它是官方政治领域和市场经济领域之外的民间公共领域。公民社会的组成要素是各种非政府和非企业的公民组织,包括公民的维权组织、各种行业协会、民间的公益组织、社区组织、利益团体、同人团体、互助组织、兴趣组织和公民的某种自发组合等等。公民社会组织蕴含着巨大的社会管理功能,大力完善公民社会组织,积极推进公民政治参与是我国社会管理创新的方向。     

论社会民主建构的路径选择——基于社会资本的研究

人类政治存在于政治国家和公民社会两个领域,可以分为国家政治和社会政治,而社会民主是社会政治发展的目标。社会民主的建构包括三个条件,即民主国家的建构、有机的公共生活的建构和公民社会自身的建构。民主国家的建构是社会民主建构的外部环境,公共领域是社会自身制约国家的途径,而市民社会则是社会民主建构的主要内容。公民社会的建构,则是以社会成员之间的信任与合作为基础的。社会资本是社会成员之间的相互作用,有利于信任的增强。因此,社会资本是社会民主建构的基础。     

改革开放以来我国民间组织管理体制的回顾与展望

改革开放30年来我国民间组织管理体制几经变革,形成了现在以双重管理为核心的管理体制。这种体制在民间组织的发展和管理中发挥了积极作用,但也存在不少缺陷。优化我国民间组织管理体制既是我国经济体制改革和政治体制改革的要求,也是培育中国特色公民社会的必然选择。     

公民社会在民主政治建设中的角色与功能

公民社会是市场经济的伴生物,是民主政治建设的重要土壤和基础。随着中国公民社会的迅速崛起,公民社会在国家的政治、经济和社会生活中日益产生着重大的影响,成为推动政治民主和社会进步的重要力量。公民社会与民主政治是一种相伴而生且相互依存的关系。公民社会是民主政治发展到一定阶段的产物,而民主政治建设的进程又影响着公民社会的发展。公民社会在推动一个国家的民主政治建设与政治民主化进程中扮演着重要的角色并发挥着十分重要的作用,具体在于:影响政府决策,促进政治参与,推动社会自治,监督政府权力,推进政治民主,推动政府改革和增进社会稳定等。     

政治发展的社会新动力:试论中国民间组织兴起的政治发展意义

随着改革后国家与社会关系发生的重大变迁,民间组织已成为我国社会中重要的自主力量,发挥着多重社会功能。就其对于我国政治发展的意义而言,主要包括:协助政府职能转变;促进公民政治参与;培育公民文化,型塑社会资本;强化对公共权力的社会监督等方面。基于此,有必要进一步采取措施,以使民间组织对中国政治发展的助动潜力得到充分发挥。     

Civil society and democratization: The role of service-providing organizations amid closing civic spaces

This article argues that current democracy promotion strategies relying on rights-claiming advocacy NGOs are falling short of their democratization goals, as authoritarian regimes are closing the space through restrictions on the NGOs that attempt to carry them out. In response, we suggest a reexamination of earlier approaches to involving civil society in democratization efforts by shifting the focus back on service-providing civil society organizations that have largely become side-lined in democracy-building agendas. Specifically, service providers tend to be more capable of functioning “under the radar” thus contributing to democracy in both direct and indirect ways, and thus escaping closing space restrictions. The key concerns about their independence from the state, as well as under what conditions the state may be less successful in coopting the independent service-providers, however, remain unresolved and warrant future research.     

Promoting an Environmental Civil Society: Politics,Policy, and Russia's Post‐1991 Experience

In recent years the United Nations Environment Program, UN Conference on Environment and Development, and other international organizations have acknowledged the importance of civil society for engaging stakeholders in environmental change—especially at the local community level—and in promoting democracy. ¹ In Russia, efforts by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to promote reform since 1991 have aimed at achieving both objectives and face numerous political, legal, and attitudinal hurdles. This article examines these hurdles and the factors that facilitate development of an environmentally conscious civil society in Russia through analysis of the views of 100 representatives of environmental NGOs, news media, scientific community, corporations, and public agencies. We also investigate three abbreviated but illustrative vignettes that illuminate civil society impediments. Our thesis is that successful efforts to ensure adequate protection of Russia's environment require a strengthening of civil society.     

转型期中国公民社会的建构探析

改革开放以来,中国开始了由计划经济向市场经济的转型,但是转型进程中,我们发现,政治国家的力量大大超越了公民社会的力量,公民社会一直被政治国家所湮没,因此,如何构建一个成熟的公民社会就成为当代中国社会转型的轴心,并将影响着中国现代化的进程与前景。本文基于当代中国公民社会现状提出：建构一个成熟的公民社会是中国社会转型的必由之路,而在当代中国公民社会的构建进程中,市场经济的建立和完善是基础,现代公司的塑造是核心,社会组织的发展是关键,宪政民主制度的确立是保障。     

Breakpoint or Binder: Religious Engagement in Dutch Civil Society

Civil society as a social sphere is constantly subjected to change. Using the Dutch context, this article addresses the question whether religiously inspired engagement is a binder or a breakpoint in modern societies. The author examines how religiously inspired people in the Netherlands involve themselves in non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and voluntary activities. Religious involvement and social engagement in different European countries are compared and discussed. In addition, the author explores the models of civil society and applies these to both the Christian and Islamic civil society in the Netherlands. Using four religious ‘identity organizations’ as case studies, this article discusses the interaction of Christian and Islamic civil society related to secularized Dutch society. The character and intentions of religiously inspired organizations and the relationship between religious and secular involvement are examined. This study also focuses on the attitude of policymakers towards religiously inspired engagement and government policy on ‘identity organizations’ in the Netherlands.     

Civil society and democratic progression in postcolonial Nigeria: The role of non-governmental organizations

Abstract

With the ever increasing demands of market forces via globalization on governments, the parallel requests from citizens to fill the gap often left open by states have become just as prevalent in the modern era. Governments have become ill-equipped to handle such citizen demands or simply unwilling, thus civil society agents in the form of Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) are attempting to fill those gaps. Ideally, civil society actors like NGOs collectively mobilize and advocate more political openness, in the form of civil liberties and civil rights. However, NGOs can stymie democracy-building as well. Demands for more democratization are increasing precipitously, and seem to be coinciding with the rising tide of globalization, even in nascent democracies such as Nigeria. However, the idealism of the 1990s, that NGOs would be the panacea for democratic limitations, are not revealing themselves as once anticipated for a plethora of reasons. This paper will investigate the impact of NGO efforts and democratization in the face of instability in postcolonial Nigeria.     

Civil Society after Democracy: The Evolution of Civic Activism in South Africa and Korea

The phase of democratic consolidation can significantly impact the motives, dynamics and objectives of civil society. Its internal roles, dynamics and power balances are significantly altered by the advent of democracy, due to shifting resources, political opportunities and a general reframing of goals and objectives. By adopting a definition of civil society as an ‘arena’ (which highlights the continuously evolving composition and leadership of civil society) and borrowing a number of theoretical dimensions from social movement theory (which underline the importance of resource mobilization, political opportunities and conceptual framing processes), the article shows that the advent of democracy has posed a number of challenges to civil society organizations in Korea and South Africa. Moreover, the consolidation of democracy has inevitably changed the nature of government–civil society relations. While in South Africa institutional politics reasserted itself in the first years of democracy, thereby sidelining organizations and movements concerned with public accountability and good governance (which have only recently resurfaced through the action of new social movements), in Korea corruption and lack of transparency immediately marred the dawn of democracy, providing civic movements with a fertile terrain to galvanize civic mobilizations vis-à-vis the lack of responsiveness of the political class.     

The state and civil society in transition: the role of non-governmental organizations in South Korea

This paper presents a framework of the interdependence of various sectors of society and then investigates the development and current status of the civil society sector, specifically the growth of NGOs in South Korea. Recent years have witnessed an increase in public awareness where civil societies have begun challenging states in addressing public issues. The directive state intervention following the Korean War disallowed for a strong civil society, thus restraining the development of significant non-state actors. The 1987 Democratization Movement marked an increase in the activity of NGOs and also the provision of a pathway for citizens to begin engaging in social activity. The repressive apparatus of the state has weakened allowing Korean NGOs to mature in dealing with diverse social issues in the public domain. They have extended the scope of policy-related activities to ensure an environment conducive to the enlargement of public space and the expansion of citizens’ rights. The results of this study indicate that the growth of NGOs is both the result of the demise of authoritarian regimes and further stimulus to the transition solidifying democracy. The challenges for Korean NGOs will be to ply strategic roles as partners of the state in the transitional period.     

How Vigilant is the Vibrant Civil Society in Bangladesh? A Survey-based Analysis

Although international development organizations and donor countries regard civil society organizations (CSOs) as the best instrument for institutionalizing democracy in third world countries, few of these organizations have successfully influenced government policies or played a role in consolidating democracy. Based on survey data and empirical observations, this article will argue that civil society in Bangladesh may be noteworthy for its contributions to development and social welfare but that it can hardly contribute to democracy. CSOs participate in vibrant grassroots social services. However, they lack the necessary participatory attributes for proper interest articulation and monitoring of the state, resulting in a less vigilant civil society. The article links civil society's non-vigilant nature to co-optation and politicization by political forces.     

Catalysts for Cooperation: Non-Governmental Organizations in Santo Domingo

Abstract

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) engaged in development work have aimed traditionally to carry out infrastructure or human development in developing areas, but they have increasingly pursued the development of civic life as a pathway to democracy. Drawing on case studies from Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, this article points to ways in which NGOs can help to foster cooperation among other key sectors in civil society, namely grass-roots organizations (GROs) in poor neighbourhoods. Such cooperation cultivates solidarity among the marginalized and allows GROs working together to make demands on the political system and to enhance democracy in less developed countries. The maintenance of grass-roots autonomy is a key to success in fostering cooperation, along with a clear understanding by NGOs of the local context.     

Does the Involvement of Global Civil Society Make International Decision-Making More Democratic? The Case of the International Criminal Court

The negotiation and contents of the Statute for an International Criminal Court (ICC) were strongly influenced by global civil society actors. After examining definitions of global civil society, this article will consider whether and why such involvement of non-governmental actors in international negotiations should be considered desirable. In particular it will assess, in the light of the ICC negotiations, to what extent global civil society democratizes international decision-making processes, considering as elements of democracy: transparency, equality and deliberation, representation and participation. While concluding that this is only very partially the case, the final section will suggest that the tortured democracy question is not the only justification for global civil society involvement in international fora. It will discuss the much overlooked and by no means unproblematic ‘ethical contribution’ of global civil society and offer a qualified defence of more international law, with more global civil society participation, on this basis.