scholarly journals Finding Political Opportunities: Civil Society, Industrial Power, and the Governance of Nanotechnology in the European Union

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 33
Author(s):  
Anna Lamprou ◽  
David J. Hess
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Industrial Development ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Political Opportunity Structure ◽  
Political Opportunity ◽  
Opportunity Structure ◽  
Industrial Monitoring

The European Union encourages and institutionalizes participation by environmental, consumer, and labor organizations in the governance of nanotechnology. Interviews with leaders of the civil society organizations (CSOs) show that they identified multiple problems with nanotechnology policy but had only limited success in gaining the changes that they sought. CSO leaders explain their lack of success as due to the overwhelming power of industry and the support of the European Commission for new industrial development, including nanotechnology. We analyze the perspectives of CSO leaders about their difficulties to develop the theory of the political opportunity structure in the situation of a highly scientized policy field with strong industrial monitoring. We suggest the need to extend the theory to pay more attention to the strategies that reformers can use to maneuver in and to open a relatively closed political opportunity structure. We argue that formal stakeholder engagement is not very effective and suggest instead the importance of the following: building coalitions with government actors, threatening or mobilizing grassroots mobilization, making the issue salient to the public, and pursuing the full range of institutional repertoires. 

scholarly journals Conquering Corruption: An Evaluation of the European Union's Efforts in Ukraine

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Callie Burklew
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Social Trust ◽  
Aid Effectiveness ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Limited Data ◽  
Vital Importance ◽  
Factors Influencing

Even after the Revolution of 2014, reducing the level of corruption within Ukraine has remained a challenging goal. Ukraine’s border conflict makes adequately addressing the roots of its corruption without unduly undermining state capacity especially challenging. Despite this delicate situation, the establishment of a stable, lawful, and democratic Ukraine is of vital importance to the European Union given its geopolitical significance. Certain arguments in the literature provide a possible solution to both reducing levels of corruption by expanding civil society and thus improving levels of generalized social trust and social accountability. Accordingly, this paper explores the extent and effect of the EU’s support for civil society and anti-corruption efforts in Ukraine.  It also examines any counterproductive results from this assistance, such as fueling public cynicism and distrust. With the limited data available, the preliminary findings of this paper suggest that while the factors influencing corruption are complex and interrelated, civil society and anti-corruption efforts may increase aid effectiveness. For more conclusive findings in the future, it will be necessary for more comprehensive and consistent data collection by the European Union and civil society organizations in Ukraine.

Norwegian Asylum Policy and Response to the 2015 Refugee Crisis

2020 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 391-406
Author(s):  
Sumbul Parveen
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Political Discourse ◽  
Total Population ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Asylum Policy

In recent years, Norway has emerged as an important destination of asylum for refugees. During the refugee crisis of 2015, Norway, with a total population of slightly above 5 million, received more than 31,000 applications for asylum. This was close to the total number of asylum seekers it had received in the last three years. This article discusses Norway’s history as an asylum destination as well as policies for the protection and integration of refugees. It focuses on how the refugee crisis of 2015 unfolded in Norway. The domestic political discourse and the response of civil society organizations are analysed. The article also looks at the changes introduced in the asylum policy and the role of the European Union in determining Norway’s response to the crisis.

scholarly journals Eager to leave? Populist radical right parties’ responses to the UK’s Brexit vote

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stijn van Kessel ◽  
Nicola Chelotti ◽  
Helen Drake ◽  
Juan Roch ◽  
Patricia Rodi
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Radical Right ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Political Opportunity Structure ◽  
Political Opportunity ◽  
Domino Effect ◽  
Populist Radical Right ◽  
Radical Right Parties ◽  
The Uk

Populist radical right parties are naturally Eurosceptic. Many responded positively to the British referendum vote to leave the European Union; various observers even spoke of a potential populist radical right-instigated ‘domino effect’. We ask whether this Brexit-enthusiasm prevailed in the proximate aftermath of the UK referendum, by means of a comparative analysis of populist radical right parties’ national election campaigns in the Netherlands, France, Germany, and Italy. The analysis considers whether the UK referendum result served as an external stimulus for populist radical right parties to harden their Euroscepticism and politicise the issue of European integration. The results show that this has, generally speaking, not been the case, and that Brexit has also not stimulated or amplified calls for leaving the European Union. Relating our findings to literature on the politicisation of European integration and strategic party behaviour, we argue that populist radical right parties had few incentives to act differently given the uninviting political opportunity structure.

scholarly journals How Much Is Enough? Explaining the Continuous Transparency Conflict in TTIP

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 16-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niels Gheyle ◽  
Ferdi De Ville
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
European Commission ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Central Issue ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Transatlantic Trade ◽  
Trade And Investment

Transparency has been a central issue in the debate regarding the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), especially on the side of the European Union (EU). The lack of transparency in the negotiating process has been one of the main criticisms of civil society organizations (CSOs). The European Commission (EC) has tried to gain support for the negotiations through various ‘transparency initiatives’. Nonetheless, criticism by CSOs with regard to TTIP in general and the lack of transparency in specific remained prevalent. In this article, we explain this gap between various transparency initiatives implemented by the EC in TTIP and the expectations on the side of European CSOs. We perform a content analysis of position papers on transparency produced by CSOs, mainly in response to a European Ombudsman consultation, complemented by a number of official documents and targeted interviews. We find that the gap between the TTIP transparency initiatives and the expectations of CSOs can be explained by different views on what constitutes legitimate trade governance, and the role of transparency, participation, and accountability herein.

scholarly journals Civil Society Organizations’ Participation in the EU and Its Challenges for Democratic Representation

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 27-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolle Zeegers
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
System Level ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Central Question ◽  
Member States ◽  
Democratic Representation ◽  
The Eu

Online consultations and the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) are tools that have been put into place by the European Union (EU) in order to increase the participation of citizens and Civil Society Organizations (CSO) in its politics and policy making. The current CSO representation at the system level of the EU is claimed to be biased in favor of the interests of economic producers and CSOs coming from old member states. The central question of this article is whether these tools help make participation more representative of the diversity of societal groups within the EU. The concept of ‘actor representativeness’ as well as ‘discourse representativeness’ will be applied in order to answer this question.

scholarly journals Civil Society under the Treaty of Lisbon: Relationship between National Public Benefit Organizations and European Union Policy?

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lia C.R.M. Versteegh
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Governance Structure ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
Treaty Of Lisbon ◽  
Public Benefit ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
The Eu

The active involvement of European citizens became a new form of democracy in the Treaty of Lisbon of 2009 by the introduction of a whole new chapter dedicated to this purpose. There is an article that obligates the Commission to give serious consideration to the demands of one million citizens from a significant number of Member States. The treaty also provides for a better role of NGOs such as foundations and associations. However, there are uncertainties concerning the definition and the nature of the concept of civil society of which NGOs may be regarded as typical. The European Union gives as leading principle of civil society the concept of voluntariness. Currently, the legal typology of NGOs in the European Union is determined by national laws of the Member State. The present forms of NGOs show great differences regarding formal requirements. There is a variety of legal forms available in EU Member States for public benefit organizations as typical civil society organizations. In the concept of European Union governance there are different concepts about which role civil society could or ought to play in Europe’s governance structure. One of these concepts is that the European Union cooperates with the national civil society institutions through partnership agreements. However, the European Union provides no indication of ways to measure whether an organization can be considered as a public benefit organization. Also, the supervising competences in the EU Member States are different. As a result of these the participatory democracy in the EU does not reflect the power of Europe’s civil society.

Transformation of Japan's Civil Society Landscape

2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 413-437 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Alice Haddad
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Nonprofit Organizations ◽  
Civic Responsibility ◽  
Political Opportunity Structure ◽  
Political Opportunity ◽  
Opportunity Structure ◽  
The Us

Japan's civil society is being transformed as more people volunteer for advocacy and professional nonprofit organizations. In the US context, this trend has been accompanied by a decline in participation in traditional organizations. Does the rise in new types of nonprofit groups herald a decline of traditional volunteering in Japan? This article argues that while changes in civil rights, political opportunity structure, and technology have also taken place in Japan, they have contributed to the rise of new groups without causing traditional organizations to decline, because Japanese attitudes about civic responsibility have continued to support traditional volunteering.

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