Nonprofits themselves, in turn, give group members the opportunity to exercise three fundamental civic principles : participatory engagement, constitutional authority, and moral responsibility.
Matrices such as the one included in this article are helpful tools for considering terms such as civil society that contain multiple facets of meaning, characteristics, and relationships. This particular matrix illustrates the unique and specific meaning contained within each characteristic—and the interrelationships that exist between characteristics—of this complex concept. These systems and principles produce a matrix of nine civil society characteristics that can be used to evaluate and guide the work of various agencies, groups, and organizations.
A careful assessment of these characteristics can be useful to nonprofit organizations in identifying the presence of civil society and gauging its strength within a particular social context, and helpful in matching organizational goals to specific civic actions that will encourage positive social change. Widespread and legitimate citizen involvement in this civic context remains a foundation for nurturing and sustaining healthy and productive societies, especially in urban settings.
It requires a mutually supportive, symbiotic relationship between the natural economy of ecosystems and human social economies, with a particular concern for the poor. The formation of civil society usually partners with an identifiable system of political governance, characterized by open, public decision-making for all community members through governmental structures that 1 permit legitimate access to and use of civic space and resources, and 2 maintain fairness within the existing political and judicial systems by promoting and protecting the welfare of the people, with particular concern for the disenfranchised.
The literature suggests that the three principles—participatory engagement, constitutional authority, and moral responsibility—are found in all civil societies regardless of cultural context. Participatory engagement indicates that members of the society 1 enjoy access to and governance of resources used for the common good, 2 are free to be involved in civic action and social change, and 3 are free to participate in group affiliations that provide a sense of belonging on a community level.
Constitutional authority protects the rights and privileges of citizens in a civil society. Under the rule of law, citizens and social groups are constitutionally legitimized and empowered to hold economic and political actors accountable for their work as community servants and trustees.
Local and national decision-makers, motivated by the common good rather than self-interest, are expected to design and implement public policies that strengthen the vitality and welfare of the community.
Within this social context, all community members have moral responsibility to use their civil liberties in ways that do not violate the human rights of others. The practice of equity, justice, and reciprocity produces social order and stability. These three systems and three principles combine to articulate nine measurable characteristics of civil society. Civil society is advanced when citizens share a social right of access to the commonwealth of resources produced, used, and exchanged through natural and social economies in a community and through a society.
Access, in this context, includes the abilities both to contribute to the resources and to benefit from them. As citizens participate in the open exchange of commonwealth resources, they can form and strengthen social connections and networks with others.
Civil society is advanced when citizens can exercise their civic duty of self-governance by participating in political structures that exhibit decentralized power and authority. Civil society is advanced when citizens can openly and voluntarily participate in diverse social affiliations, groups, networks, and structures for self-governance and social transformation. Community-based civic engagement in systems of social exchange exists when diverse social groups and gatherings are present and permeable.
The Department of State and USAID will continue to strengthen civil society by providing training and offering tools for success while also working with partners in the philanthropic community to encourage domestic philanthropy and volunteerism abroad. External factors, including competing U. In , an increasing number of governments inhibited the free operation of civil society and cut off CSOs ability to receive funding from legitimate sources, including foreign funding.
In some cases, these restrictions arose out of the implementation of laws, regulations, and administrative measures that were being inappropriately applied; in other cases, the laws, regulations, and administrative measures by authoritarian governments were themselves problematic. This closing space for civil society is increasingly becoming a global development challenge. Although efforts to assist CSO are extremely important, successes have been rare and fragile.
Libya's fledgling government consulted closely with civil society during the creation of its draft NGO law, but increasing recent governance and security challenges, particularly threats to civil society actors as well as administrative measures, have overshadowed the legislation process. One area of success — in terms of promoting consultative lawmaking - has been the recent passage in Burma of the Association Registration Law ARL , which lays out regulations for the formation and registration of local and international NGOs.
Through a combination of diplomatic engagement and foreign assistance, the U. In September, President Obama deepened U. OGP has grown from eight participating countries in to 65 countries today and over 2, commitments that affect over 1. The Department will utilize the full range of tools available to encourage participating countries to fully engage civil society in developing national action plans that meaningfully advance transparent, accountable government.
We will also support the implementation of a one-year pilot Rapid Response mechanism that addresses when participating countries fail to uphold the values and principles of inclusive, transparent, and accountable government.
The Department is committed to providing core funding for the Community of Democracies CD to strengthen the architecture for global diplomatic action when governments are considering new laws, regulations, or administrative measures that restrict civil society in a manner inconsistent with their international obligations and commitments.
This funding will also help CD facilitate expert consultations and dialogue with civil society representatives from repressive environments. We are also supporting an effort that enables CD governments and organizations to pool resources and co-finance projects that strengthen civil society and democracy worldwide—the CD-UNITED. Looking forward, additional U. Through these awards, individuals across the region volunteered in their communities, identified issues of public concern and presented these to public officials.
Protect Core U. Statement : Protect Core U. Description: For more than years, the State Department has focused its diplomatic engagement on other governments — and done so successfully. Learn More. And history shows us that countries whose policies respect and reflect these rights are far more likely to be more peaceful and more prosperous, far more effective at tapping the talents of their people, far more capable of being innovative and moving rapidly and innovatively in the marketplace, and they are better long-term partners.
Those rights also include dignity, tolerance, and equality among all people, including ethnic and racial minorities; religious minorities; women; youth; indigenous persons; displaced persons; stateless persons; persons with disabilities; and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. We are working with international partners to reverse the troubling trend of increasing restrictions on the freedoms of association and assembly, especially restrictions on civil society organizations, and to combat violence against religious minorities.
We are broadening and diversifying multi-stakeholder initiatives that provide support for civil society organizations and human rights defenders, especially those under threat. We will continue our focus on advancing the ability of people worldwide to exercise freely their universal human rights through new technologies, safely, and without fear of retribution. We will also continue to work with civil society and business partners to promote responsible business conduct in ways that reinforce our human rights objectives.
Smith Report and beyond: Maintaining the bipartisan narrative on US global development Thursday, July 25, Related Books. Related Topics Global Development. More on Global Development. Report The potential of industries without smokestacks to address unemployment: An Ethiopia case study Tsegay Gebrekidan Tekleselassie.
The era of social media, big data, analytics and artificial intelligence is likely to give a further spur to groups and organizations that campaign on issues like civil liberties, better education systems, and combat climate change or raise money to fight diseases. The ability to raise concerns, influence government policy and create meaningful dialogue between policy-makers and the public will not be relinquished lightly.
Thanks to technology, more of us than ever before are able to inform our governments about what we think is wrong with the world - and what is right. Adam Jezard , , Formative Content. The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum. Funders must see communities as partners rather than 'problems to solve'.
A funder and a foundation discuss how we can rewrite the rules of philanthropy. I accept. NGOs, labour unions, charities and foundations Adam Jezard , Formative Content. Take action on UpLink. Forum in focus. Two decades of impact: How social entrepreneurs have improved million lives.
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