New Social Forces Flashcards
How can we define civil society to include more of African political activity? (Orvis)
-broadly as public sphere of formal or informal collective activity autnomous from the state and family
What does Schmitter outline as the conventional views of civil society?
Schmitter outlines a conventional view whereby civil soc defined as a set or system of self-organised intermediary groups that are independent to both public authorities and private units of production, are capable of deliberating about and talking collective actions in defense or promotion of their interests or passions, do not seek to replace either state agents or private producers
What does Kasfir say about civil soc?
It is striking how little of African politics the concept of civil soc captures
What are patron-client networks? and how can they fit into civil soc? (Orvis)
- patron-client networks are informal groups that pursue their collective interests vis-à-vis the state
- patron-client networks can be legitimate and crucially important elements in African civil society
“Africa rich in…” (Kasfir)
associational life but low in democracy
What does Kasfir point out about the goal of exporting democracy?
goal of exporting multi-party liberal democracy as practised in USA or Europe, but there are other ways to organise democracy, eg participatory democracy centered around popular councils
What are the two broad areas of arguing the case for democracy (Kasfir)
- Civil associations inculcate democratic habits among their members and build a democratic culture
- emphasise how interest and advocacy organisations compete with each other to influence government officials to adopt positions
What is civil society creating democracy dependent on? (Kasfir)
-How the state responds to their demands
What are issues with some African CSOs? (Kasfir)
-They are new, lack social roots, have objectives unrelated to ongoing political onflicts and are heavily financed by outisde donors
What four ideas on civil soc does Lewis outline with regards to its relevance?
- one idea on relevance is a clear yes based on the universalist view of civil society due to its democratic function
- another idea is a clear no, as concept emerged in a distinctive moment in European history and has little contextual relevance to Africa
- third is an adaptive view which suggests that the concept can be potentially relevant, it will take on local meaning and shouldn’t be applied too rigidly
- fourth is that the relevance q is the wrong question since civil society has long been implicated in Africa’s colonial histories
What external factors does Lewis highlight as damaging growth of civil soc?
- Colonial state constrained associational space eg Mozambique
- SAPs lowered state power and legitimacy and lowered citizen expectations of the state
What does Maina concede about civil soc?
-It can have value if it’s adapted
When did Civil society first emerge within policy? (Williams and Young)
-First emerged within policies of western dev agencies in late 80s and early 90s as part of the broader idea of good governance
How has aid provision for government and civil society changed? (Williams and Young)
-Donors increased aid provision from just over $2500 million in 1989 to nearly $12,500 million in 2005
What did the World Bank country directior in Ghana suggest two main benefits of civil soc are in 2000? (Williams and Young )
-generation of feedback to help the public sector improve performance
.improved accountability of government
