Civil society (CS) strengthening is central to peacebuilding policies for divided, post-war societies. However, it has been criticized for creating internationalized organizations without local backing, unable to represent citizens' interests. Based on in-depth empirical research in Bosnia-Herzegovina, this article focuses on the legitimacy of CS organizations (CSOs). It explores why legitimacy...

Research findings: ‘Civil’ organisations vary in their ties to ‘non-civil’ organisations with fundamental consequences: organisations with ties to the principle actors of representative democracy are the most likely to participate in formal or quasi-formal processes of public policy. The findings suggest that the dominant perspective on civil society and participation in international developme...

Civil society is a complex socio-cultural phenomenon that formed in developed society. Determining the existence of this democratization and liberalization The modern world exacerbates problems implementing principles "civil society" conditions an open information space. revolution end 20th century newest aspects sharpened actualized issue attitudes civil

Since Tocqueville (1835), civil society has been recognized as a cornerstone of liberal democracy. But populists claim to be the only legitimate representatives people, leaving no space for society. Are populism and enemies? To answer this question, we look at voters’ choices in Europe. We find that individuals belonging associations are less likely by 1.6–2.8 percentage points vote populist pa...

South Sudan is one of the countries that has been hit by internal conflict since its independence in 2011. This article basically describes involvement civil society peace negotiations Sudan. Using literature study method and through concepts peace, this reviews analyzes extent to which local involved negotiation process a finding participation efforts quite high, but not significant. an implic...

The term ‘global civil society’ has taken on increasing significance within scholarly debate over the past decade. This paper seeks to understand transnational political agency via the study of a particular transnational actor, Oxfam. It argues that the various schools of thought surrounding the global civil society concept, in particular the prevailing liberalcosmopolitan approach, are unable ...

The ongoing review of decentralisation in South Africa will defi nitely affect political parties’ legitimisation mechanisms at the local level. For this reason, one may expect the same actors, together with civil society organisations (CSOs), to be actively involved in the policy process of review. Their apparent low involvement in this process is taken as this policy brief’s starting point, wh...

We draw on the experience of a Learning Network for Health and Human Rights (LN) involving collaboration between academic institutions and civil society organizations in the Western Cape, South Africa, aimed at identifying and disseminating best practice related to the right to health. The LN's work in materials development, participatory research, training and capacity-building for action, and...