10. Political actors: citizens & civil society Flashcards
colour revolutions
- started in yugoslavia
- protests against election fraud
- wanting to get rid of the autocratic leader at the time
- georgia rose revolution learned from this
- orange revolution ukraine and tulip revolution kyrgyzstan followed
- shows that it doesn’t always work out, ukraine needed two protests
early 2000s
arab spring
- started in 2010 tunesia with street vendor setting himself on fire because he couldn’t buy food for his family anymore
- blew up everywhere in the arab world
- shows how influential social movements can be
- doesn’t mean that you successfully consolidate a democracy, getting rid of an authoritarian ruler is easier
what do social movements show regarding democracy and autocracy
- in autocracy citizens protest to get a democratic transition
- in democracy citizens protest to improve democracy
- even in authoritarian regimes that are very controlled and surpressed you still see uprisings, they’re just not always successful
what is civil society
- citizens organising in voluntary organisations, which are autonomous
- wide range of voluntary organisations, only some have a political agenda
- among those with a political agenda there are differences in types and moments of influence
civil society organisations with a political agenda
- interest groups
- social movements
- political parties
all are sub-sets of civil society organisations
all have a political agenda
interest groups
- represent specific interests of groups of citizens in society
- usually quite organised and don’t want to overthrow the system they’re trying to represent the interest of the people they represent
- seek to influence, not form, government
- examples are business associations, trade unions, patient bodies, student associations, consumer associations, churches, etc.
social movements
- bring together a range of civil society organisations
- aim to bring about social and/or political change
- often broader agenda than interest groups
- more temporary, focus on a specific event
- think of extinction rebellion, womens marches
political parties
- broad agenda covering many issues
- connections to many civil society organisations
- seek to become part of government
determinants of power for civil society organisations
- resources
- organisation
- leadership
- insider vs outsider: insider for effective lobbying, outsider putting issues on the agenda
- mainstream vs radical agenda
- involvement of citizens
- connection to international movements: can help in terms of funding and strategy, can undermine legitimacy in authoritarian regimes when they label organisations as foreign agents
how political context affects success of civil society organisations
- important political event: specific moment to point out injustice and mobilise people
- changing. public opinion: need level of dissatisfaction to a level that it can spark
- emergence of unlikely coalitions: example egypt military on citizens side, australia farmers and green organisations work together to prevent gas drilling, need broad coalitions to bring about change
how do CSOs affect democratic transition
- put pressure on governments by creating protests, if you have wide support actors within the coalition may choose your side
- organise support before protest
how can CSOs affect democratic consolidation
CSOs as watchdogs/accountability check on power:
- monitoring government and holding government accountable for its actions
CSOs as effective interest representation:
- connecting citizens and government by representing and defending citizens interests
CSOs as schools of democracy:
- promoting democratic values among citizens
- teaching citizens democratic skills (capacity to organise themselves) in order to achieve particular goals or express particular demands
- promoting citizens capacity to organise
CSOs as bridging organisations
- bringing together citizens from diverse backgrounds
- create connections between citizens that cross political and societal divides
- increasing tolerance and decreasing polarisation
more examples of democratic skills are talking to media, organise protests
can civil society undermine democracy
- can push for limiting political rights and civil liberties
- can support/sustain authoritarian government
- can distort representation (input) and policy implementation (output)
- can promote political and economic inequality
- can promote democratic erosion
think of KKK, anti-system parties
civic space
- civic space represents the circumstances in which civic engagement takes place
- the features of civic space determine the size, shape, and way of operating of civil society in a certain context
civic space features
- freedom of association
- freedom of expression
- freedom of peaceful assembly
if any of these freedoms are not present, civic space will be restricted
