Civil Society Relations Research Articles

The promise and performance of data ecosystems: Australia’s COVID-19 response

Ecosystem metaphors are increasingly used to describe complex business and civil society relationships. This article argues that the rise of ecosystem thinking in public policy and administration represents a new, radically decentred model of policy action. It focuses on ecosystems of data-driven modelling and experts who use government public health data. This study presents a conceptual framework that suggests effective data ecosystems undergo organic adaptation, display institutional leadership, and respond instrumentally to policymakers’ information needs. It examines how Australia’s infectious disease data ecosystem performed before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. In-depth interviews with data experts involved in infectious disease modelling in Australia revealed trade-offs within and between organic, institutional and instrumental dimensions, which COVID-19 exacerbated. The article concludes that data ecosystems represent a hybrid form of policymaking in practice and that tensions must be managed to maximise the contributions of data ecosystems to facilitate evidence-informed decision-making.

Negotiating counterstrategies against the far right in Cottbus, Germany: shifting relations between the state and civil society

ABSTRACT This article examines how democratic actors from the state and the realms of civil society and the private sector form alliances to negotiate local counterstrategies against contemporary far-right contestations. It attends to two blind spots in the existing discussions about cities as bulwarks against the global rise of the far right. First, while much scholarly attention is paid to the heterogeneity of progressive civil society movements in this fight, state–civil society relations are understudied. Second, local contexts where far-right actors have already gained significant power are seldomly examined. Based on an explorative case study in the peripheral city of Cottbus, Germany – known as a hotspot of far-right organising – the article uses the Gramscian notion of the ‘integral state’ to analyse how actors come together and how this process is marked by contentious problematisations, positionalities and motivations. The discussion reveals that the state becomes a contested terrain in these negotiations as the far right's success does not leave municipal institutions untouched. While this weakens traditional democratic state–civil society alliances, it also enables the building of new ones as community activists’ perspectives shift from a position of resistance towards (cautious) partnership with the state. To conclude, I discuss the political implications of these findings.

시민사회 유형론

This study construct a typological framework from the viewpoint of public interest actions as a cognitive tool to comprehensively and systematically figure out the flow and current situation of Korean civil society. Through the review of theoretical resources, it was discerned two key issues that are important to the typology of civil society from the perspective of public interest actions; ‘relationships’ between civil society and other realms, and ‘roles’ performed by civil society. While considering the main factors affecting the discourse and practice of public interest actions in civil society, a typological framework was constructed using two dimensions, the relationship and role of civil society, which contain different perspectives. Regarding relationships, the view that civil society should actively ‘involved’ in other areas such as government and market, versus the view that it should establish an ‘independent’ area from other areas; Regarding roles, the view of ‘conflictive’ that raise issues and pursue social changes, versus the view of ‘functional’ that complements roles are distinguished from roles of government and market. Then, by crossing two dimensions, set four type sub-sector of civil society: ‘opposition’ (involvement-conflict), ‘autonomy’ (independence-conflict), ‘charity’ (independence-function), and ‘resolution’ (involvement-function), and looked at researches and discourses on each sub-sectors. Finally, In order to verify whether the typological framework can adequately explain related phenomena, I applied this framework to the historical practice of civil society and public interest actions in Korea. As a result of the discussion, this typological framework is verified to have an explanatory power about the discourse and situation of civil society and public interest actions in Korea.

The concept and genesis of powers, the mechanism of their regulation and legitimacy when established at the legislative level

The article is devoted to the disclosure of the concept of the theory of powers. Legitimacy of powers and consideration in their regulatory regulation of needs and interests of man and citizen, society as a whole is shown. It was found that the structural construction of the theory of the state and law requires the presence of relevant autonomous parts in its system, such an autonomous part is the theory of powers, which is a collection of reliable knowledge about powers. Authority is considered as a social phenomenon that manifests itself in modern relations of civil society, the delegation of the right to exercise certain rights and duties. It was determined that the powers in their content are a set of interrelated and interdependent rights and obligations. It was established that the legal structure of powers includes the duties of state bodies, public organizations, officials and other persons assigned to them in accordance with the procedure established by law. Powers are established in legal norms at both the legislative and sub-legal legal levels. It has been found that the term "authority" is used in various fields of law and is therefore considered general legal. Authority is defined as an element of a broader legal phenomenon - the system of law and the state. It was established that the authority has systemic and functional connections with the state bodies, through them the voters delegate the right to manage the state and society's affairs, these elements of the system are an integral part of the competence of the executive power bodies. The regularity of the use of the term "authorization" in the norms of not one, but all branches of law can be traced. It was determined that the general rule of recognition of the legitimacy of the powers of a government body or an official is that they acquire powers on the basis of compliance with all the requirements of the law, and act in the manner defined therein. A general definition of the concept of authority is proposed, as a general concept for the theory of law and the state, the content of which is a system of rights and obligations acquired in a legitimate way by the state, local self-government, state bodies and local self-government bodies, their officials, other subjects of legal relations in order to ensure the opportunities, needs and interests of a person and a citizen, individual social groups and society as a whole.

Правовые аспекты договора лизинга и особенности лизинговых правоотношений в современной России

The relevance of the study of stated topic is due to the rapid development of various types of legal relations in Russian civil society, and directly in legal relations related to entrepreneurship and other economic activities. The active development of a market economy in our country requires a large amount of funding in various areas of production. The state policy in the field of economic development is maximally aimed at developing and supporting various levels of business. The use of leasing significantly helps the development of entrepreneurship. The purpose of the study is to identify theoretical points that require revision and clarification both on the part of the scientific community and on the part of practicing lawyers, as well as to identify gaps in the current legislation in the field of leasing. Based on the above goal, we form the following tasks: to investigate the position of the leasing agreement in modern legislation and civil law doctrine, to identify the weaknesses of the legal regulation of the leasing agreement, to identify legal and technical shortcomings of regulatory legal acts in the field of the financial lease agreement. Methods used in the course of the study: analysis, synthesis, historical and legal method, comparative legal method. The practical value of the material is due to the fact that the results of the study can be used when concluding, changing and terminating a financial lease agreement, as well as in further reforming this area of civil law. The theoretical value lies in the possibility of using the materials of the study in the further study of the financial lease agreement, as well as in the study and teaching of civil law disciplines. As a result of the study, the gaps in the civilistic doctrine regarding the leasing agreement are identified, the conclusion is made about the need to single out the leasing agreement as a separate category of agreements, the need to make the term of the leasing agreement as a mandatory condition is determined, the current legislation is analyzed from the point of view of its compliance with the practice of applying the leasing agreement, as well as from legal and technical standards.

ФУНКЦИОНАЛЬНЫЕ СВЯЗИ ПРАВОПОРЯДКА И ГРАЖДАНСКОГО ОБЩЕСТВА В ПОЛИТИКО-ПРАВОВЫХ УЧЕНИЯХ РУССКИХ МЫСЛИТЕЛЕЙ

This article analyzes the views of N.N. Alekseev, A.D. Gradovsky, I.A. Ilyin, M.N. Katkov, B.A. Kistyakovsky, S.A. Kotlyarevsky, P.I. Novgorodtsev, V.S. Solovyov, N.S. Trubetskoy and A.S. Khomyakov on the functional relations of civil society and law and order. The conclusion is made that Russian thinkers believed that a free civil society contributes to a stable rule of law, but also needs state protection and support itself.

Exploring user co-regulation of public services: insights from the Grenoble water user committee

ABSTRACT The co-production of public services by users and professionals has been the subject of much discussion. By contrast, we know little about how users engage in the regulation of co-produced services, a process we call co-regulation. Relying on the concept of civil regulation, our qualitative case study analysis of the Grenoble water services reveals three activities at play in co-regulation: information processing, standard-setting and modifying behaviours. Moreover, we highlight boundary conditions for co-regulation to be effective and contribute to value co-creation, namely an active civil society and strong relationships with local decision-makers.

Formation of religious (Islamic) structures of civil society in the North Caucasus in the XX–XXI centuries on the example of the Republic of Dagestan

The article is devoted to the problem of formation and development of religious structures of civil society in the North Caucasus. The end of the twentieth century brought a rapid surge of religiosity to the region, there was a rapid Re-Islamization of people, various numerous religious organizations began to appear, between which there was a struggle for influence over the consciousness of the population. Religious Muslim organizations are the dominant (in terms of influence and numerical composition) institution of civil society. Only in Dagestan, the number of registered organizations is almost two and a half thousand. In addition to the registered organizations, there are informal Sufi communities, Salafist groups and communities in the republics. Therefore, the question of the existence of civil society in non-classical conditions, and even more so in the Muslim environment, has recently become more relevant and it is important to trace its specifics and dynamics of development in the region, in the context of the increasing activity of civil society structures of an Islamic nature and the peculiarities of their practical manifestation (Islamic councils, organizations, network communities, etc.). We use the results obtained by the author in the course of sociological research in the Republic of Dagestan, as well as the results of research by scientists and sociologists from Dagestan, which show that religious organizations actively work in the social sphere, influence the moods and behavior of believers, and also act as driving forces of change in different types of societies. Their activity, role in political transformations, and opportunities for mobilization require expanding the concept of civil society in relation to non-Western societies, especially Islamic ones, where there is a very controversial environment and conditions that differ from the classical ones. Islamic organizations, as structures of civil society, have their own potential, they use modern tools, forms and achievements, and at the same time they are based on the principles of justice, mutual assistance, charity (zakat, “waqf” (donations), consultation, and civic engagement.

The mutual constitution of illiberal civil society and neoauthoritarianism: Evidence from Turkey

Recent scholarship on state–civil society dynamics in neoauthoritarian contexts demonstrates that the space for civil society is rapidly shrinking worldwide. Faced with legal, administrative, and extralegal measures that restrict operations and resources, civil society actors are forced to choose between marginalization or co-optation. This article examines the ruling party–Islamic civil society symbiosis in Turkey and identifies mutual constitution as an alternative model of the state–civil society relationship in hybrid regimes. Defined as utilitarian reciprocity between the ruling authority and civil society actors where both parties expand and consolidate their respective domains, the mutually constitutive relationship between the AKP government and Islamic civil society actors has facilitated the consolidation of neoauthoritarianism. Drawing attention to the recent rise of conservative civil society actors worldwide, the article urges the civil society and neoauthoritarianism research program to shift its focus to non-state actors that endorse non-democratic socio-political agendas and function as co-constitutors of illiberal regimes.

Platformization in the third sector

In addition to platforms in paid consumer transactions, recent years have seen the rise of platforms operating in the third sector. This raises questions on how these platforms are embedded in urban spaces as well as how they reconfigure social relations in the city. This article aims to address these questions by examining how volunteer platforms (re)organize civic and social engagement in the city and how volunteering and civil society relations are encapsulated as a platform transaction. Specific attention is paid to the role of Berlin-based volunteer platform GoVolunteer in response to the 2015 refugee ‘crisis’ in Berlin, which spurred the emergence of spontaneous citizen initiatives and a lack of state coordination. By providing a logistical solution to this social-urban crisis the platform aimed to act as digital intermediary in a time of political chaos. As GoVolunteer developed after the peak of the crisis, it leveraged on the multitude of third sector organizations present in the city, established a large team of interns carrying out the daily operational tasks behind the scenes, and developed partnerships with the Berlin Senate.

The Civil Code of Ukraine – A Reliable Regulator of Civil Relations in Civil Society

Abstract This article is a study of the Civil Code of Ukraine as the main regulator of civil relations in civil society. The history of adoption of the Civil Code of Ukraine and its conceptual foundations were reviewed. Particular attention is paid to the problem of dualism of private law in Ukraine. The structure and content of the Civil Code of Ukraine were analysed. Attention is also paid to the main novelties of the Civil Code of Ukraine. The principal rules for the regulation of legal entities were analysed. Novelties in defining the object composition of civil legal relations are considered. Particular attention is paid to the main directions of modern scientific research in the field of the civil law of Ukraine. The study confirms the urgent need for a thorough recodification of the Ukrainian civil law, with mandatory consideration of the experience of the implementation of modern recodifications in many European countries.

International Civil Society Initiatives In The Fight Against Corruption And Their Demands

The article provides an overview of the literature on corruption relations in civil society, and then - the relationship between public administration, institutions and civil society. The study examined cooperation with civil society in the fight against corruption and its solution, as well as its eradication at the national and international levels, as well as the activities of international organizations in the fight against corruption, their objectives and goals. A comprehensive analysis of the international legal framework of civil society in the fight against corruption, the specifics of international legal regulation based on universal mechanisms, legal regulation of regional structures, as well as the level of interaction and powers of international NGOs in the fight against corruption was carried out.

The Commercial Determinants of Three Contemporary National Crises: How Corporate Practices Intersect With the COVID-19 Pandemic, Economic Downturn, and Racial Inequity.

Policy Points The United States finds itself in the middle of an unprecedented combination of crises: a global pandemic, economic crisis, and unprecedented civic responses to structural racism. While public sector responses to these crises have faced much justified criticism, the commercial determinants of these crises have not been sufficiently examined. In this commentary we examine the nature of the contributions of such actors to the conditions that underpin these crises in the United States through their market and nonmarket activities. On the basis of this analysis, we make recommendations on the role of governance and civil society in relation to such commercial actors in a post‐COVID‐19 world.

Judicial Practice of Protecting Human Rights: Problems of the Rule of Law in a Postmodern Society

Human rights issues are present today in almost every area of society and, accordingly, occupy a special place in it. Due to the fact that modern Ukraine is in a transitional state of creating legal, state and public institutions, the process of formation of civil society requires the identification of the nature of legal relations in a transitional period. After all, relations in civil society should be formed on the basis of awareness of the inalienability and non-repudiation of natural human rights. They should be based on the positive legislation of the state. They are the key to the effectiveness of the entire system of social relations. Ensuring human rights is the criterion by which the achieved level of democracy in the state is assessed. The beginning of this process can be called consolidation in the Basic Law of the provision that a person, his life and health, honor and dignity, integrity and security are recognized as the highest social value, and determining the priority of universal values. At the same time, the needs of the present, in fact, directs the development of modern law, is the development of certain general legal standards that allow us to move on to a new qualitative coexistence of nations in the modern world on substantial humanistic principles. In addition to examining the established mechanisms and specifics of protecting everyday human rights, the article examined the new human rights that exist in post-modern society, which today are called the rights of the “fourth generation”.

Civil Society and COVID-19 in Hungary: The Complete Annexation of Civil Space

Abstract The paper examines the CSOs – government relations during the COVID-19 pandemic, first introducing how the pandemic affected the already authoritarian regime in Hungary and how this regime utilized the epidemic to extend and fortify its power. Then the paper presents the antecedents of the relationship between civil society and government in the frame of the National System of Cooperation (NSC). This relationship is unilaterally dominated by the government, and it may appear as a “4C strategy”: Cooptation, Coercion, Crowding out, Creation (the creation of a new, loyal civil society). Exploring the civil society and government relations during the pandemic, the study will conclude that there was no government attempt to coordinate the activities of CSOs or to try to harmonize sectoral cooperation from a broader perspective. The occurrences demonstrated the explosion of solidarity and the carnival of solidarity. These forms of solidarity, however, remain informal and leave deepening structural problems untouched. The paper presents the results of an empirical research which was conducted between March and September of 2020. The nodal points of the research include the resilience and flexibility of the organizations, their efforts to assist during the emergency and lockdown, as well as the issues of networking and the nature of their relations with the national and local authorities.

State–Civil Society Relations in Zimbabwe’s “Second Republic”

The greater part of Robert Mugabe’s reign was characterised by attempts to silence and curtail civil activism. His rule crystallised in the banning of civil society organisations (CSOs) and wanton arrests of CSO representatives. The fall of Mugabe marked the genesis of the “Second Republic”, led by President Emmerson Mnangagwa. Euphoria gripped Zimbabweans as the new president promised a significant break with the old regime through re-engaging with the international community and opening up the democratic space. However, an analysis of relations between civil society and the state in the Second Republic reveals continuous threats against CSOs, the maintenance of restrictive laws, and superficial reforms. The Second Republic seems to be sympathetic to development- and welfare-oriented CSOs, considering those focusing on advocacy and governance as enemies bent on destabilising the state.

Safeguarding Public Values in Cooperation with Big Tech Companies: The Case of the Austrian Contact Tracing App Stopp Corona

In April 2020, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Austrian Red Cross announced it was encouraging a cooperation with Google and Apple’s Exposure Notification Framework to develop the so-called Stop Corona app – a contact tracing app which would support health personnel in monitoring the spread of the virus to prevent new infections (European Commission, 2020a). The involvement of Google and Apple to support combating a public health emergency fueled controversy over addressing profit-driven private interests at the expense of public values. Concerns have been raised about the dominant position of US based big tech companies in political decision concerning public values. This research investigates how public values are safeguarded in cooperation with big tech companies in the Austrian contact tracing app Stop Corona. Contact tracing apps manifest a bigger trend in literature, signifying power dynamics of big tech companies, governments, and civil society in relation to public values. The theoretical foundation of this research form prevailing concepts from Media and Communication Studies (MCS) and Science and Technology Studies (STS) about power dynamics such as the expansion of digital platforms and infrastructures, the political economy of big tech companies, dependencies, and digital platforms and infrastructure governance. The cooperative responsibility framework guides the empirical investigation in four main steps. First steps identify key public values at stake and main stakeholders. After, public deliberations on advancing public values and the translation of public values based on the outcome of public deliberation are analyzed. This research applies a qualitative case study, including document analysis and expert interviews. In total, 52 documents were analyzed and six expert interviews conducted. Findings show that key public values at stake concerning Stop Corona involve data protection and privacy, (cyber-)security and safety, accuracy, voluntariness and consent, accessibility, inclusiveness, transparency, trust, etc. Public deliberations of multiple stakeholders about public values can help to safeguard public values. While an involvement of EU, state, civil society, and science and research can be witnessed in defining and advancing public values, Google and Apple, ultimately, translate the outcome of public deliberations through technological design choices. Therefore, public deliberations require a public-value oriented process which is transparent and involves a strong civil society and science and research community, and a unified EU voice. There is a clear need for technical alternatives and policy frameworks to organize the cooperation with big tech companies at EU level.

Küreselleşmenin Türkiye’de Sivil Toplum-Dış Politika İlişkisine Yansımaları

As a result of globalization, the transformation of the state and civil society relationship in international relations has revealed public diplomacy as an example of soft power as well as traditional diplomacy. Public diplomacy activities carried out by states have become an area in which non-governmental organizations play an active role in time. Turkey was also affected from these developments occurring at national and international level in the world. The internationalization of civil society organizations have started at this point. Especially since the 80’s of neo-liberalism driven by the intensive use of the discourse civil society organizations in Turkey has become more important. Humanitarian aid activities and the development of economic relations have formed the backbone of the discourses and practices that bring civil society to the fore. However, because of the social, political and economic sense due to some differences, NGOs in Turkey does not have the level of activity like the developed societies. NGOs in Turkey ultimately influenced by developments such as globalization, internationalization has been built, but, has not reached the capacity to interfere with foreign policy discourse and construction. But NGO’s are taking an active role particularly in the humanitarian activities and the implementation and promotion of Turkey's foreign policy in the different regions.

Institutions and Civil Society Relations in Migori County (Kenya): A Social Network Analysis of Weak and Strong Ties

The goal of this paper is to investigate policy networks in Migori, a small county in the Western part of Kenya, near the border with Tanzania and Victoria Lake. In this study we build a unique network database and we use Social Network Analysis techniques to detect the structural relations among different stakeholders (e.g. institutions and civil society actors) within this county and we focus on different topics (i.e. overall interactions, training and cooperation, and for specific decision making on health and nutrition, and agricultural issues). The main results show the importance to distinguish, in policy networks, the rationale of interactions and their intensity, i.e. weak or strong ties. Institutions and civil society organizations are differently connected according to the functions and intensity of networks in which they operate. For example, for health and nutrition the Ministry is the core actor; the opposite occurs in agriculture, where local communities are the core players; and finally in training and coordination we have an intermediate layout, if compared to the two previous ones.

Transforming state–civil society relations: centralization and externalization in refugee education

AbstractIn the context of the arrival of Syrians as of 2011 and the subsequent humanitarian assistance received in light of the EU–Turkey deal in 2016, there has been increased control over civil society organizations (CSOs) in Turkey. Through the case study of language education, this paper examines the relationship between the state and CSOs as shaped by the presence of Syrian refugees and how it evolved through the autonomy of state bureaucracy. It demonstrates that increased control led to the proliferation of larger projects, the deterrence of smaller CSOs, and a hierarchy between organizations prioritizing those that are aligned with the state. It argues that this policy is not only the result of the increased lack of trust between state and civil society but also an attempt to channel funds through state institutions to handle an unprecedented number of refugees while externalizing some of its functions. At the same time, this emerging relationship effectively allows the state to avoid making long-term integration policies and facing growing tensions among the public. This study is based on a qualitative study encompassing interviews with state officials as well as stakeholders in different types of CSOs that deliver language education for adults.