Effects of civil society
Introduction
Civil society has evolved significantly in the last two decades. Given that communist Europe lacks an independent civil society for over a hundred years, building civil society is vita in transitioning to a market economy and liberal democracy. Technology, markets, and geopolitics have created millions of opportunities, thus spurring the creation of millions of civil societies globally. The transformation of any community, specifically on the developed countries depends on the effectiveness and efficiency of the civil society. Civil society has created a significant role in global governance and has become vital in international affairs.
Moreover, organizations all over the world create exciting models for their citizens, thus generating the global governance process. Research has shown that international non-governmental organization has increased from 6000 to more than 60,000 over the last ten years. In the modern world, civil society is considered a diverse ecosystem for the individual, communities, and organizations across the globe. As a result, information technologies have led to the power and associations of actors, thus leading to an increase in online societies. Online societies allow networks to be built across social and physical boundaries. Therefore, the main aim of this paper will be to examine the effects of civil society in international development by integrating concepts of associationism, cultural hegemony, and Illiberalism. The importance of research will be to create awareness of the impacts that civil society has brought on an international level. More so, the paper will examine the impending factors that various organizations play towards the performance of civil society in every country. Understanding the associationism, cultural hegemony, and illiberalism concepts of civil society are critical to the success of development efforts in a nation.
Background of civil society
The definition of civil society at the international level was expressed as a homogenous goal between organizations and people carrying out various projects. The history and origins of civil society lie mainly in western Europe. The term is recoded back in the Greek empire to mean the political community. During this era, sophists educators started discussing the essence of political philosophy through the shared belief that virtue could be developed with time. This group of philosophers emphasized the need for understanding the principle of Aristotle’s law, thus forming the foundation for democratic theory. The Greek philosopher Aristotle developed the uses of the term civil society as koinonia politike. The term created a defined association of the Greek civic public as societal civilis referring to the citadel at the Centre o the city. For this reason, Aristotle saw politics as a way in which individuals try to achieve sustainable everyday needs. With years. After the invention of the term by Aristotle, with years, the term was used with interchange ale expression utilizing the theory of natural law. Consequently, the combination f the rule of law and natural law developed a connection between society’s structure and the political arena. Examining the origin of civil society is vital in this study to give a background review and also to develop arguments throughout the paper.
Effects of civil society in international level
Negative effects
Civil society represents the society in which it grows, thus representing some of the systemic problems and strengths in the community. It is a threat to society as it has led to conflicts among nations. For example, the civil society organization which participated in promoting hate and rumors contributed to genocide in Rwanda. Conflicts and instability impede the ability of civil society to bridge various societal groups and implement its function. The conflicts caused by civil society degrade significant resources, thus threatening likelihoods and weaken the social ecosystem. As a result, people are displaced from their homes and split from their families. When conflict occurs, the increasing importance of traditional practices is used to secure survival, thus undermining the more inclusive forms of association that are defines but tribal ethics.
Consequently, it leads to a polarized society; hence the community becomes more complicated with decreased traditional practices. Moreover, violent conflicts can limit opportunities for civil society to interact with state and foreign investors. The government that implements policy in civil society could break down as a result of conflict, thus becoming more authoritarian. In regions where conflict is highly manifested, some actors within the civil society may be influenced peacebuilding role, thus leading to more attacks and intimidation.
Positive impacts
The civil society performs various and essential functions in the conflict-affected zones and leads to peacebuilding in nations globally. Organizations in civil society have valuable information about the local contexts an the needs of the communities and their cultural norms.
Acting as a watchdog helps in campaigning against the misuse of power and protection of human rights. It also serves as a source of policy advice for peacebuilding through the negotiations held. Civil society plays a vital role in monitoring abuses of power, violation of human rights by reason, public awareness through advocacy. Through advocacy, civil society constraints the use of violence and promotes good governance, justice, and respect for human rights. More so, acting as a watch do helps the state and other private sector increase the economic stability of a nation.
The civil society also serves as the main map for promoting democratic change in a country. For instance, it can perform essential roles in helping and developing good policies that govern a country. By facilitating dialogues for peacebuilding and reconciliation, civil society can mobilize communities, thus enabling marginalized groups to access the legislative provisions. An example of how civil society played an important role is in the Guatemalan peace talks held in 1990. Keeping peace among nations increases understanding, facilitates an increase for the woman’s voice, and ensures that both parties respect peacekeeping. In instances of post-conflict peacebuilding, civil society has a high probability of promoting peacebuilding initiatives in conflicting communities through reconciliation and mine action. In conflict post-conflict situations, civil society acted as a corrective tool to political and military groups and advocated for better governance and protects the constitution.
Civil society also plays a vital role in governance and development all over the world. However, some countries have inadequate knowledge about the composition of civil society, thus having fewer opportunities for stakeholders to invest in their country. Therefore, through the non-governmental organization, civil society educates the community on the needs for good governance and liberalism. The Civicus Civil Society Index (CSI) approach was formulated to create awareness on cultures all over the world on the importance of having good governance, thus strengthening their initiatives. The CSI is for civil societies at a local level and involves disseminates findings to stakeholders such as the government, donors, and the public. The main goal of CSI was to create a sustainable civil society and strengthen the contribution of civil society to a positive social change. For this reason, the stakeholders of civil society make use of a participatory approach and other assessment ways to assess the state of civil society.
Macro concepts
Illiberalism
Studying political and economic development of civil society holds that modernization leads to pressure for liberal democratic change. Availability of new socioeconomic phenomenal leads to democratization and liberalization. For this reason, an authoritarian rule offers initial stability necessary for economic growth, but as a result of Illiberalism, it becomes arduous to implement specific policies. Illiberalism concept is connected to civil society since the issue of Illiberalism has resulted to various democracies facing challenges all over the world. In other words, Illiberalism is a is a hybrid regime that has led to change in the landscape of political landscape thus changing the formation of civil society. The civil society behavior under the authoritarianism have hegemonic forces which result to totalitarianism and discriminatory manners. The act of authoritarianism responds to the state through manipulation, oppression of the week and toleration. The main aim of civil society is to create a democratic nation whereby it monitors abuse of power, human rights violation thus creating advocacy. A sociological analysis of civil society behavior under democracy has led to showcasing how democratic regimes have been impacted by the issue of Illiberalism. For instance, one third of the population globally lives in Illiberalism conditions which have worsened for the last decade. The decreasing rated of democracy worldwide in the past few years has been as a result of Illiberalism in the civil societies. Not only does it affect the quality of democracy by also other regimes that are autocratic. As result, politician and other anti-elitists have developed illiberal acts such as xenophobia, racism against other communities. The issue of power has also contributed to Illiberalism which has led to aggression towards the marginalized groups. The concept of Illiberalism undermines the value of civil society. This is because one of the impacts of civil society is mobilizing the marginalized groups to have legislative provisions. It is deriving the marginalized communities from the administrative acquisition results in conflicts. Illiberalism and civil society are linked as the presence of conflicts in society decreases the potential of civil society to bridge various groups and perform their roles.
For example, Richard Holbrooke, an American diplomat, analyzed the problems encountered while doing elections in Bosnia to restore the civic life that affected the country. Since the election was unfair, the elected people were racists and fascists who opposed peace and reintegration. This problem can also be noted in other countries all over the world. Using Illiberalism affects the civil society as the people elected or reelected often ignore the constitutional limits, thus depriving the citizens of their rights to freedom. For instance, the phenomena of Illiberalism can be seen in countries such as Pakistan, Sierra Leone, and the Philippines, where democracy is not practiced. However, the civil society has not recognized the problem of Illiberalism as political systems have been marked by free and fair election but has led to misuse of power. As a result, most political parties have become nonliberal. Countries not grounded by constitution democracy often result in war and hyper-nationalism. Therefore, the states are dragged into a confrontation with other countries, thus leading to conflict. An example of this confrontation ranges from Napoléon II. I’S France to today’s warlike Azerbaijan. To construct a discrete legal norm, the Philippines drafted a new convention on human rights.
Cultural hegemony concept
The civil is a direct expression of the cultural hegemony as it establishes power among various groups in a political context all over the world. In Gramsci’s view, hegemony is not only about domination but the direction of the leadership of a particular country. The issue of cultural power stretches beyond the point of leadership to the cooperative economic level supplemented by ethical politics. This study links the concept of cultural hegemony to civil society to the production, circulation, and consumption of various misconceptions in modern society all over the world. For instance, to become operative, some fundamental ideas must consider the cultural norms of the community. The concept of cultural hegemony discusses how countries use the concept of cultural institutions to maintain power in organizations globally. To understand civil society linking it with the cultural authority is vital as the interaction between family and civil society has existed for decades. Civil society is a common ground where specific individuals such as politicians gain power and fulfill their desires. For this reason, the family is the origin of the state, and cooperation is the second in very civil society. For example, corporations realize the need for group membership, a sense of belonging, and actualize the issue of freedom.
For this reason, a corporation acts as a link between a state and the civil society. There is a biological connection between the country and the civil society such that one cannot exist with the other one. Since cultural hegemony comprises a group of the ruling class, which has an impact on the social level, the bourgeoise class, and its machinery use the concept of civil society to achieve their desire. To support this, Marx’s theory views civil society as historical phenomena characterized by particular cultural norms of production and capitalism, thus leading to the emergence of the bourgeoisie.
For this reason, civil society rose as a result of separating cultural norms that depended on an increase in the bourgeoisie in a market structure. It is with this reason that the equality of political powers masked the inequality that exists in the modern world. Examining American society, there is a natural connection between cultural association and the civic association. The cultural association is significantly strengthening and improved by the goals of civic associations. The public associations also give rise to various associations where cultural associations are prohibited in a given country.
Cultural hegemony is linked to civil society as it does not only aim at gaining power but also maintaining that given power. For this reason, cultural hegemony is more than a strategy towards the acquisition of power. Antonio Gramsci used the term cultural hegemony to mean superstructure as it contains cultural ideologies and false consciousness. To elaborate on this, Antonio Gramsci used the term cultural state whose tole was to increase populations to a particular aesthetic level. For instance, he stated that schools would pay a crucial role in civil society, unlike the courts, which harm civil society. This is because a school is more into education while the court makes decisions that favor a state, thus affecting the cultural norms of a community. Cultural hegemony and civil society are also interlinked as the affair of cohesion protect them. However, the idea of civil society and cultural power varies from one country to another, depending on the circumstances of the nation. For instance, the concept of modern war with political struggle results in nonexistence of the civil society and dominance of the cultural hegemony.
Surveillance
Surveillance of the civil society by authoritarianism results in the limitation of the regimes and some social-cultural explanations. Effective monitoring in a country increases the durability of peacebuilding by addressing problems that relate to peacekeeping. The inclusion of civil society while doing inspection has been limited for the last years. However, some countries have included civil society while doing the monitoring, thus leading to intrastate peace agreements. For this reason, surveillance ad civil society is connected as it raises voice towards misuse of power. The use of surveillance in civil society has led to regulations of norms and attitudes in every society. It is regulating the social norms influences what people should do and counter the behaviors of the overarching culture transmitted. A community could have all the values, but without monitoring the costs means that there is nothing that could be done. Therefore, the city encouraged compliance with laws and norms and punished those who do not adhere to the rules. This is because maintaining a hegemonic discoursed results in punishment and violence in civil society as a result of surveillance. Surveillance also results in controlled access to formal registration. Controlled access to public resources leads to rigid requirements, thus limiting investors in the state. Strict monitoring is connected to the principles of civil societies since the growth of illegal non-government and other business entities are restricted. For instance, in China, oversight led to regulation of the registration and management of social organization leading to the power of law. The controls are put in place to have a conventional idea that privatization weakens the state into neoliberalism. For this reason, the public officials and supervisory bodies tend to consult the civil society rather than participating in a meaningful dialogue with the government.
Surveillance and surveillance as the modern society require peace agreement, thus increasing the civil society’s role of monitoring and verifying thematic protocols. The surveyors of civil society often have local knowledge to access the various communities as well as expertise monitoring. Civil society also contributes to the surveilling through the stemming process of being a non-partisan. The inclusion of civil society towards the surveillance helps the civilian population, which is affected by armed conflict. Integration leads to a desire to maintain sustainable peace. The main actors involved in monitoring are the local and international organizations of human rights, civic rights, and research institutions.
Moreover, international non-governmental are also included in the surveillance process of society. Over the years, the mentioned organizations have acquired experience in gathering information about human rights, violations, and political development in every country. In the post-agreement period, the capacity of civil society during a conflict is used to effectively monitoring conflicts, thus keeping peace at both local and international levels.
Conclusion
Civil society, just like the government and businesses, plays a massive role in shaping the lives of the community. This can be seen through how people interact with the policies, rules, and market forces that allocate resources. Today’s world is turbulent and dynamic, characterized by boundless opportunities for leadership and innovation across the globe. Therefore, key actors in civil society to build resilience in every economic sector and also tackling the challenge faced by the corporation. Macro concepts such as cultural hegemony, Illiberalism, and surveillance are closely related to the negative and positive impact of civil society. The three concepts address the issue of peacebuilding, conflicts, governance, and policymaking.
For this reason, the evolving civil society is dynamic, is linked to other concepts, and more engaging than ever before. For a better society, the organization requires developing cross-sectional opportunities that can be translated into powerful outcomes for the community. Therefore, new platforms are needed with new rules, thus bringing together stakeholders to invest, thus increasing the productivity of a state. From the research, the impacts of civil society include acting as a watchdog, advocating for human rights, fighting for the marginalized groups, and creating norms that shape the market.
References
Artz, L., and Murphy, B.O.2020. Cultural hegemony in the United States (Vol. 7). Sage Publications.
Ball, K., Lyon, D. and Haggerty, K.D. eds., 2012. Routledge handbook of surveillance studies. Routledge.
Bernauer, T., and Gampfer, R., 2018. Effects of civil society involvement on the popular legitimacy of global environmental governance. Global Environmental Change, 23(2), pp.439-449.
Booth, J.A., and Richard, P.B., 2018. Civil society, political capital, and democratization in Central America. The Journal of Politics, 60(3), pp.780-800.
Foley, M.W., and Edwards, B.2016. The paradox of civil society. Journal of democracy, 7(3), pp.38-52.
Hamberger, A.2017. Policy and program evaluation, civil society, and democracy. American Journal of Evaluation, 22(2), pp.211-228.
Lears, T.J., 2015. The concept of cultural hegemony: Problems and possibilities. The American Historical Review, pp.567-593.
Marx, K., 2017. The Development of a Marxist. Historical Materialism, 25(3), pp.148-190.
Mouffe, C., 2015. Hegemony and ideology in Gramsci. In Gramsci and Marxist Theory (RLE: Gramsci) (pp. 178-214). Routledge.
Takamura, K. 2020. Apolitical and Collaborative Behavior of Civil Society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp.1-29.
Takamura, K. 2020. Global Civil Society Liberal Constraints: Power of global civil society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp.1-40
Tongeren, P., Brenk, M., Hellema, M., and Verhoeven, J. eds., 2015. People building peace II: Successful stories of civil society. London: Lynne Rienner.