Democratic renewal in Civil Society Organisations

民间社会组织的民主复兴

基本信息

批准号：
ES/N009096/1
负责人：
Daniel King
金额：
$ 2.76万
依托单位：
Nottingham Trent University
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Research Grant
财政年份：
2015
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2015 至无数据
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ES%2FN009096%2F1
关键词：
Democratic renewal Civil Society Organisations

项目摘要

It is often argued Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) are central to a vibrant, democratic society. Charities, voluntary groups, community associations, and informal networks of like-minded individuals, are praised for being more responsive and in-touch than political parties and governmental organisations and able to articulate the needs of local communities, particularly those who lack influence and cannot speak for themselves. CSOs are driven by values to produce social change within their community. Therefore, they can be innovative in designing and delivering services that people actually need and, through active participation, CSOs can foster 'social capital': developing the networks, norms and trust, necessary for cooperation and social engagement. This not only increases community cohesion but harnesses local community resources, grassroots energy, enthusiasm and ideas to build a vibrant civil society. Together, these features mean that CSOs have the potential to facilitate civic democratic renewal and support citizens' services that are actively run by and for local communities, rather than being dictated to by central government or private enterprises driven by profit and market forces.Over the past three decades successive governments have tried to capitalise on the responsive and democratic elements of CSOs to provide services previously delivered by the state. For instance, a written aim of the current government is to "support the creation and expansion of mutuals, co-operatives, charities and social enterprises, and enable these groups to have much greater involvement in the running of public services" (Cabinet Office, 2014). Consequently, in increasing numbers, schools, libraries, health and social care services, and many previously delivered public services are being run by CSOs or private organisations. To date, over 100 public services have been "spun out" in "Public service mutuals" and the government's stated aim is for 1 in 5 public sector workers to run their own mutuals (Mutuals Taskforce Report, 2015). As CSOs are called upon to deliver public services, concerns have been raised over the impact this might have on the less measureable, democratic functions of a healthy civil society. As service providers, competing with private businesses, they are subject to regulation by both state and market forces, limiting members abilities to promote and respond to community and membership needs. The influential Baring's Foundation Report has recently argued CSOs are losing their democratic heritage (2015), highlighting the 2014 Lobbying Act which places new restrictions on CSOs campaigning and commissioning that does not support independence and diversity of the sector. CSO, they argue, have in effect become victims of a 'gagging clause' and can now be viewed as the contractual arm of the state, providing services rather than advocacy. There are also growing concerns this is accentuating the undemocratic of CSOs, centralising power and potentially corrupting them and their original independence and intentions.This seminar series explores these issues and asks: what are the features that promote and undermine the role CSOs play within democratic civic renewal? With speakers from leading CSOs such as Greenpeace, UNESCO and Co-operatives UK, inter-disciplinary academics including from geography, business, economics, sociology, peace studies, philosophy and political theory and policymakers the seminar series investigates these issues from multiple perspectives. It will also build upon existing examples from the experiments that are occurring throughout the UK and Europe where new forms of CSOs are currently being developed.The six seminars will examine the meaning, conditions, possibilities and promises of democracy within civil society. By bringing together an inter-disciplinary network of academics, policymakers and practitioners it will develop a long-term shared interest in civil society and democracy.

人们经常认为，民间社会组织（CSO）是充满活力的民主社会的核心。慈善机构，志愿团体，社区协会和志趣相投的人的非正式网络因比政党和政府组织的反应迅速和触摸而受到称赞，并能够表达出当地社区的需求，尤其是那些缺乏影响力并且无法自言自语的人的需求。公民社会组织由价值观驱动，以在其社区内产生社会变革。因此，它们可以在设计和提供人们真正需要的服务方面具有创新性，并且通过积极参与，CSO可以促进“社会资本”：发展网络，规范和信任，是合作和社会参与所必需的。这不仅增加了社区的凝聚力，还可以利用当地的社区资源，基层能量，热情和思想来建立充满活力的公民社会。这些特征共同意味着公民社会组织有可能促进民主民主的更新并支持由当地社区和当地社区积极运营的公民服务，而不是由中央政府或由利润和市场力量驱动的中央政府或私人企业所指责。例如，现任政府的书面目的是“支持共同，合作社，慈善机构和社会企业的创建和扩展，并使这些团体能够更加参与公共服务的运营”（内阁办公室，2014年）。因此，在越来越多的人，学校，图书馆，卫生和社会护理服务以及许多以前提供的公共服务的人都由CSO或私人组织运营。迄今为止，“公共服务互助”中已“脱离”了100多个公共服务，政府表示的目标是使五分之一的公共部门工人共同运行自己的共同体（Mutuals Taskforce Report，2015年）。由于要求公民社会组织提供公共服务，因此人们对这可能对健康公民社会的不可衡量的民主职能产生的影响引起了人们的关注。作为服务提供商，与私人企业竞争，他们受国家和市场力量的监管，限制了会员的能力来促进和响应社区和会员的需求。有影响力的巴林基金会报告最近认为，公民社会组织正在失去民主遗产（2015年），强调了2014年的游说法案，该法案对不支持该部门的独立性和多样性的CSO竞选和调试施加了新的限制。他们认为，CSO实际上已成为“堵嘴条款”的受害者，现在可以将其视为国家的合同部门，提供服务而不是倡导。这也越来越担心，这突显了公民社会组织的不民主，集中权力，并有可能破坏他们以及他们的原始独立性和意图。本研讨会系列探讨了这些问题，并问：促进和破坏民主公民恢复中CSO在民主公民续展中扮演角色的功能？凭借来自绿色和平组织，联合国教科文组织和合作社英国等领先的CSO的演讲者，包括地理，商业，经济学，社会学，和平研究，哲学与政治理论和政策制定者，研讨会系列的跨学科学者从多个角度研究了这些问题。它还将基于目前正在开发新形式的CSO的实验中的现有实验的实例。六个研讨会将研究民间社会中民主的意义，条件，条件，可能性和承诺。通过将学者，决策者和从业者组合在一起，它将对民间社会和民主产生长期的共同兴趣。