Civil Society Influence on International Organizations: Theorizing the State Channel

Abstract

The literature on transnational civil society tends to treat civil society organizations (CSOs) as independent actors, accomplishing policy change largely through moral force or popular pressure. However, a significant portion of CSO successes in policy advocacy actually utilizes alliances with state actors. To understand the implications of this ‘state channel’ of CSO influence, we develop a new model of CSO use of state influence. We identify four factors that determine whether the state channel is accessible for CSOs to use and is likely to produce more effective CSO influence than direct CSO engagement with the international organization (IO): the porousness of the targeted states and IOs, the availability of contacts, the possibility for alignment of interests, and the relative power of aligned state and IO contacts. We illustrate this theory using four case studies of civil society engagement: two case studies involving the World Bank and two involving the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Our analysis suggests that the factors determining CSOs' successful use of the state channel currently tend to favour a small number of well-resourced, reformist CSOs from porous and powerful states.     

Social policies in Switzerland and Japan: Managing Change in Liberal‐Conservative Welfare States

Both the Swiss and the Japanese welfare states are difficult to classify in any one of the most widespread typologies, as each of the two countries combines features that are typical of the liberal model, such as a large private sector role in the delivery of welfare, with aspects that are more reminiscent of the conservative model. These include a social insurance system geared toward status preservation and low employment rates for mothers. In this article, Japan and Switzerland are characterised as liberal conservative welfare states. After pointing out the key features of this hybrid welfare state model, the article puts forward some hypothesis with regard to the reform trajectory that this model is likely to follow. In particular, it is argued that retrenchment in these two countries is likely to be more substantial than in conservative welfare states, because the private schemes that are going to be curtailed are less accountable to public scrutiny and do not automatically expose retrenchment‐oriented governments to the risk of electoral punishment. The hypothesis is only partially confirmed by the empirical analysis of reform, as Swiss direct democracy institutions are proving a formidable obstacle to a generalised dismantling of welfare programmes. In Japan, uncovered needs resulting from retrenchment and social change are being picked up by families.     

Lesson-Drawing in Family Policy: Media Reports and Empirical Evidence about European Developments

Since 1980, the U.S. press has painted a vivid picture of widespread welfare state dismantling in Europe. Yet our analysis of social expenditures in 14 European countries from 1980–1995 finds a pattern of resilience and, with respect to family benefits, a pattern of expansion. Our review of qualitative research on policy reforms upholds the expenditure-based findings. We conclude that U.S. media misrepresentation of social welfare developments in Europe is likely to impede lesson-drawing from abroad by U.S. policymakers. This constitutes a lost opportunity, as the U.S. is now engaged in social policy reformulation, especially with respect to programs for families.     

中国城市社区的治理模式

本文认为,中国城市的社区发展是经济市场化改革的重要结果之一,它使社区作为独立的社会主体与独立的市场主体企业相对应缺,所以社区制改革本质上是国家与社会关系的重新调整。本文在此立论的基础上,以上海和沈阳社区发展的不同模式为案例,具体探讨中国基层社会的组织重建和政治民主建设问题。     

Will the North’s secessionist winds blow South? The past,present, and future of self-determination and border change in Africa

World politics tend to go through cycles of long periods of stable borders followed by bursts of secessionist movements. For this reason, it is important to examine whether the two recent cases of secessionism in the Northern Hemisphere symbolise such a turn in world politics. After reviewing the Catalan and Kurdish secessionist movements, the article turns to the history of secessionism in order to distil comparative insights and lessons. The main part of the article examines six categories of secessionism in Africa. In particular, the emphasis is on highlighting the various historical patterns of self-determination and border change in Africa. The final part is a comparative reflection on the future of secessionism in Africa.     

The discourse and study of terrorism in decolonised states: the case of Pakistan

The existing literature in the terrorism field does not address the absence of terrorism scholarship in developing countries. This article focuses on this intellectual gap using the case of Pakistan. It argues that most decolonised states, including Pakistan, are yet to grasp the complexities of traditional approaches to the study of terrorism, let alone its critical dimensions. The article explores some of the prevailing conditions in developing countries, specifically decolonised states such as Pakistan, which prevent the development of a robust academic discourse on terrorism and the development of a strong field of study. It suggests that the main barriers that account for this shortfall include the state’s legitimacy deficit, a flawed education system that nurtures fictions as truth and inhibits knowledge production, the institutionalised role of conspiracy theories in national politics and the multiplicity of terrorism discourses among government and sociopolitical entities. The conclusion highlights a number of reasons that might help to explain this persistent condition and offers a few policy recommendations.     

The Dalriada Document: Towards a Multinational Compromise that Respects Democratic Diversity in the United Kingdom

Northern Ireland and Scotland could and should stay within the European Union while remaining inside the United Kingdom. This proposal need not prevent, and may facilitate, England and Wales in leaving the EU, and it is in accordance with the respective preferences of the peoples of the two Unions who voted in the advisory referendum held on 23 June 2016. Prime Minister May and her Cabinet should address carefully the question of whether to trigger Article 50, or instead to give notice that only parts of the UK—England and Wales—will be leaving the EU. The price of enforcing the entirety of the UK's exit from the EU may be lasting damage to the two Unions that make up the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.     

世界新秩序的建立与国家的选择

苏东剧变结束了二战以来的雅尔塔体制,也结束了冷战秩序。震荡之后,世界在经济和科技的发展带动之下,开启了真正意义的全球化大门,不再有两个阵营之间的固定壁垒,取而代之的是世界上的任何国际行为主体间都有了交流与合作的自由。国际社会体系的这种重大而深刻的变革对世界新秩序的形成造成了极大的冲击,各种力量重新调整彼此之间的关系,探索自身发挥影响所能达到的限度,寄希望于在新的世界秩序中占据有利地位。正是在这样一个格局转变的时刻,国家对于利益的追求方式也在做出新的选择。     

美国的公务员制度改革及其启示

“重塑人力资源管理”是美国联邦政府公务员制度自1883年建立以来持续时间最长的重大改革。这一持续8年的公务员制度改革,既是为了解决传统公务员制度的种种问题,也是为了实现制度变革与发展的愿景,即形成一种与现时代政府环境相适应的联邦政府人力资源管理理想制度。美国联邦政府的公务员制度改革,反映了当今时代公共部门人事管理的某些普遍要求,对于包括我国在内的其它国家的公务员制度改革与发展具有一些启示意义。