scholarly journals Formation of National Positions on EU Legislative Proposals in Slovenia: What Role for Civil Society Organizations?

2020 ◽  
pp. 88-104
Author(s):  
Damjan Lajh ◽  
Meta Novak
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Policy Analysis ◽  
Current System ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Whole Process ◽  
Legislative Proposals ◽  
National Perspective ◽  
The Eu

This article considers the EU policymaking process from the national perspective, emphasizing the involvement of civil society organizations (CSOs) in the process of formulating national positions prior to negotiations in the Council of the EU. Its scope is limited to the stagist model of policy analysis, focusing on the policy formulation stage and 20 of the most salient EU legislative proposals on the EU agenda between 2008 and 2010. It is argued that Slovenia seems to neglect the expertise and information held by CSOs during the process of forming national positions. The current system for coordinating EU affairs anticipates only a narrow role for CSOs. The national position is typically formed at a lower bureaucratic level and based on the European Commission’s proposal. While national officials recognize the benefits of including CSOs in the whole process, they are afraid of greater work, more bureaucratic processes, and corruption

Mapping the substance of the EU’s civil society support in Central Asia: From neo-liberal to state-led civil society

2016 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 207-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vera Axyonova ◽  
Fabienne Bossuyt
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Program Implementation ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Internal Governance ◽  
Grass Root ◽  
Implementation Level ◽  
Soviet Central Asia ◽  
The Eu

Over the years, civil society empowerment has become an integral part of the European Union’s (EU) external and internal governance as a way to advance democracy and enhance citizen participation. While there has been increasing scholarly attention to the instruments and impact of the EU’s civil society support, so far there has been little research on the question what kind of civil society the EU actually promotes. This article intends to fill this gap by examining the substance of the EU’s civil society support in post- Soviet Central Asia, a region where various forms of civil society organizations (CSOs) exist. The findings reveal a differentiation between civil society types promoted in EU strategic documents and those that are supported in practice. While at the strategic planning level the EU seeks to strengthen civil society broadly construed, at the program implementation level the (neo-) liberal CSOs are the main beneficiaries. At the same time, the EU customizes its civil society assistance depending on the realities on the ground and at times finds itself empowering state-led civil society, while communal groups rarely benefit from the EU assistance schemes. This has severe implications for the advancement of citizen participation, considering that the actual grass-root initiatives are largely excluded from the EU assistance.

Between a rock and a hard place

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 350-375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shamama Afreen ◽  
Sushil Kumar
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Evolutionary Process ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
Development Project ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Port Development ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Stakeholder Interactions

Purpose Development project implementation involving ecological and social externalities is an iterative process due to dynamic challenges emerging from the need to reconcile multiple, and often conflicting, interests of stakeholders. Stakeholder interactions result in learnings for project developers as well as policy makers. This paper aims to track corporate-civil society organizations-state interactions and learnings in case of a port development project in an eco-sensitive and socially challenging region of India. Design/methodology/approach The authors try to unpack the interactions among various stakeholders in the case of development of Dhamra Port being developed by the Dhamra Port Company Ltd, in the state of Orissa, India. Findings The authors find that sustainable development policy formulation and implementation is an evolutionary process involving plugging of governance gaps at each successive stage with civil society actors playing an active role. Research limitations/implications The study is based on single case of a major port development in India. Practical implications The paper highlights that development in emerging economies through large projects is unavoidable. The development-sustainability dilemma cannot be overlooked any further; rather, it needs to be resolved with complete participation of all involved stakeholders. Originality/value The paper provides account of long and complex interactions among various players involved in developmental project in an emerging economy. The learnings from the paper will be relevant for policymakers, corporate executives and civil society activists.

Policy analysis in civil society organisations

2018 ◽  
pp. 199-212
Author(s):  
Güneş Ertan
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Policy Analysis ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Civil Society Organisations ◽  
Current State ◽  
Combining Data ◽  
Decision Making Processes

This chapter is mainly concerned with providing a concise synopsis of the state of civil society in Turkey and an overview of the decision-making processes at civil society organizations (CSOs) by combining data from various empirical studies. The chapter begins with a discussion of the roots of weak civil society in Turkey followed by an illustration of the current state of civil society as a space. The chapter will then examine policy analysis practices in CSOs with a focus on prevalent decision making structures and the role of external funds in addition to agenda setting and evaluation processes. The chapter concludes by arguing that CSOs in Turkey are still yet to become effective implementers of policy analysis tools.

Civil society participation in regional social policy: The case of HIV/AIDS in the Southern African Development Community (SADC)

2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andréas Godsäter ◽  
Fredrik Söderbaum
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
Southern African Development Community ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Main Role ◽  
African Development ◽  
Participatory Processes ◽  
Hiv Aids

This article expands our knowledge about the role of civil society in the formulation and implementation of social policy at the regional level, and it focuses on the issue of HIV/AIDS in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). The analysis critically examines the conventional view that the involvement of civil society organizations in regional social policy contributes to participatory processes and reduces the democratic deficit of regional intergovernmental organizations. There are three key questions. Firstly, to what extent and how do civil society actors participate in SADC policy making and decision making in the field of HIV/AIDS? Secondly, what functions do civil society actors perform in regional policy design and implementation? Thirdly, what patterns of inclusion and exclusion exist? The study is based upon in-depth fieldwork and numerous semi-structured interviews with a range of policy makers, donors and civil society representatives. From these, it is concluded that SADC member states, and to some extent also the SADC Secretariat, limit and even undermine civil society involvement in decision making and policy formulation. By implication, civil society’s main role lies in service delivery and legitimating state-steered regional social policy at the expense of deeper, more genuinely participatory processes.

scholarly journals In the Shadow of Public Opinion: The European Parliament, Civil Society Organizations, and the Politicization of Trilogues

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 316-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin Greenwood ◽  
Christilla Roederer-Rynning
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Legislative Process ◽  
Ideal Types ◽  
Informal Institution ◽  
Preliminary Examination ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Law Making ◽  
The Eu

This article examines the relations between the European Parliament (EP) and civil society organizations (CSOs) in the EU’s legislative process. It focuses specifically on legislative trilogues, an informal institution bringing together the representatives of the EP, Council, and Commission in a secluded setting to conclude legislative agreements. Trilogues have become the modus operandi and an absolutely pivotal part of the EU law-making process: they are where the deals are made. While secluded decision-making offers plenty of opportunities for EU institutions to depoliticize law-making, we argue that trilogues have become politicized, partly from the relationship between the EP and CSOs. We flesh out this argument on the basis of insights from the politicization and the historical institutionalist literatures, advance two ideal types of trilogue politics, and explore these types on the basis of a preliminary examination of a comprehensive interview material.

scholarly journals Can EU Civil Society Elites Burst the Brussels Bubble? Civil Society Leaders’ Career Trajectories

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 86-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jayeon Lindellee ◽  
Roberto Scaramuzzino
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Environmental Policy ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Elites ◽  
Leadership Positions ◽  
Career Trajectories ◽  
Revolving Doors ◽  
The Eu

The Brussels-based civil society organizations (CSOs) have been conceived by the EU to act as a bridge between the bureaucratic elites and the citizens of Europe. The institutionalized presence of the major EU-based CSOs has, however, called their legitimacy into question, as exemplified by notions such as ‘revolving doors’ implying homogeneous social, educational, and professional backgrounds shared by both EU officials and CSO leaders. This article therefore asks the following questions: To what extent do the leaders of EU-based CSOs merely reproduce the types of capital that mirror those of the political elites in the so-called ‘Brussels bubble’? To what extent do the CSO leaders bring in other sets of capital and forms of recognition that are independent of the Brussels game? How can we explain differences in the salience of EU capital found across policy areas, types of leadership positions, and types of organizations? Empirically, this article qualitatively analyzes the career trajectories of 17 leaders of EU-based peak CSOs that are active in social and environmental policy areas. Despite the highly integrated and institutionalized characteristics shared by all organizations, we find diversity in the composition of the leaders in terms of the extent to which their career trajectories are embedded in the EU arena.

scholarly journals The Advocacy of Feelings: Emotions in EU-Based Civil Society Organizations’ Strategies

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 103-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosa Sanchez Salgado
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Press Releases ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
Advocacy Strategies ◽  
Rhetorical Appeals ◽  
Fear Mongering ◽  
The Eu

European Union (EU)-based Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) are usually pictured as well-established professionalized actors basing their advocacy strategies on the provision of expertise. Does the focus on expertise imply the removal of emotions and feelings from political communication? Following the emotion turn in social movement and collective action studies, this article investigates how and why EU-based CSOs use emotions in their advocacy strategies. The article shows first how CSOs use rhetorical appeals to emotions and rhetorical appeals to reason in their communication. Secondly, the focus is directed to emotion-inspired advocacy strategies, namely blaming and shaming, fear-mongering and boosting. The choice of rhetorical appeals and strategies is mainly explained by three different inter-related factors: the logics of influence, the logics of membership and media logics. Empirical data is drawn from a content analysis of press releases and policy documents of environmental (climate change) and human rights (refugee crisis) CSOs active at the EU level and from semi-structured interviews with key CSO representatives.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document