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INTRODUCTION
CIVIL SOCIETY
Civil society refers to the multiplicity of voluntary collective action and social organization by
citizen, typically motivated by shared interests, goals, identities, culture, beliefs, values or such.
It can be seen as an opposing force to the state and to the market, and as such has been refered to
– using economic terminology – as the Third Sector of society.
Civil society is formed by informal and spontaneous networks as well as formal organizations
such as:
• Civil society organizations (CSOs), also referred to as non-governmental organizations
(NGOs),
• Registered associations and charities,
• Clubs for sports or other leasure time activities,
• Self-help groups,
• Community groups (in certain neighborhoods, villages or such),
• Campaigns and protest actions,
• Citizen lobbies and advocacy groups,
• Social movements,
• Religious groups.
Whether or not trade unions and political parties should be included in the definition of civil
society is a debatable issue and varies depending on the society and source in question. Political
parties are essentially part of the political system of a state, and in countries like Finland also
trade unions have such an established position that it differs dramatically from other civil society
organizations. For the purposes of this learning module, civil society is defined more narrowly so
that it does not include political parties or trade unions, but refers to the “grassroot” activities and
organizations of citizens.
Even though the actual engagement of the civil society in common social and political issues, in
public discussion and decision-making processes varies from country to country, the importance
of a vibrant civil society to a democracy is widely recognized.
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MAPPING CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATION IN UGANDA
Our selection of civil society organization to examine for the CSI project closely follows the
DENIVA and NAG definitions. This is presented in the table below
FIGURE: Organizations that are part of civil society
Included organizations Excluded organizations
NGOs (non-governmental organization) Private sector for profit organization.
Faith-based/religious organization For profit media organization
Community-based organization (CBOs) Schools and universities
Community groups Political parties
Trade unions / federations Independent constitutional commissions
Professional associations Any type of Government body
Parent-teacher associations and other user Bilateral and multi-lateral donor agencies
committees (e.g. water point committees). Resistance and (later) local councils
Associations of NGOs and or CBOs.
Business associations/federations.
Independent academic institutes.
Sports associations
Not-for-profit media organization
PARTICIPATION IN CIVIL SOCIETY
Around the world, a growing crisis of legitimacy characterises the relationship between citizens
and the institutions that affect their lives. In both North and South,
citizens speak of mounting disillusionment with government, based on concerns about
corruption, lack of responsiveness to the needs of the poor and the absence
of a sense of connection with elected representatives and bureaucrats (Commonwealth
Foundation 1999).
As traditional forms of political representation are being re-examined, direct democratic
mechanisms are increasingly being drawn upon to enable citizens to play a
more active part in decisions which affect their lives. In this context, the questions of how
citizens – especially the poor – express voice and how institutional responsiveness
and accountability can be ensured have become paramount.
In this article, we explore some of these challenges. Repositioning participation to embrace
concerns with inclusive citizenship and rights, we examine a range of
contemporary participatory mechanisms and strategies that seek to bridge the gap between
citizens and the state.
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In the past, there has been a tendency to respond to the gap that exists between citizens and state
institutions in one of two ways. On the one hand, attention has been
made to strengthening the processes of participation – that is the ways in which poor people
exercise voice through new forms of inclusion, consultation and/or
mobilisation designed to inform and to influence larger institutions and policies. On the other
hand, growing attention has been paid to how to strengthen the
accountability and responsiveness of these institutions and policies through changes in
institutional design and a focus on the enabling structures for good governance.
Each perspective has often perceived the other as inadequate, with one warning that consultation
without attention to power and politics will lead to ‘voice without
influence’ and the other arguing that reform of political institutions without attention to inclusion
and consultation will only reinforce the status quo.
PARTICIPATION IN POLETICAL PARTIES
Political parties in Pakistan need to be representative of all segments of society while
formulating their manifestos, and also need rigorous internal monitoring mechanisms to evaluate
progress on the promises contained within their documents. Parties also need to empower the
youth by improving how they train and involve young Pakistanis in the political process beyond
using them for mobilisation during election cycles. This was the view of participants at a
roundtable discussion organised by the Jinnah Institute in Islamabad.
Raza Rumi, director of policy and programs at the Jinnah Institute, opened the discussion by
highlighting the importance of reviewing how parties develop their manifestos and then assess
their performance based on them. Mr. Rumi also spoke about the importance of youth political
activity, and how despite the shifting society and demographics, Pakistan’s political parties have
held on to their outdated party organisation and politics. “The country has moved on and the
political parties should focus on reform and develop internal capacity for policy analysis”, said
Mr Rumi.
Participants included members of political parties, social scientists and policy researches, civil
society activists and concerned citizens. The Pakistan Peoples Party, the Muttahida Qaumi
Movement, Jamaat-e-Islami, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, and the Pakistan Tehrik-e-
Insaf were represented at the roundtable. Senator Tahir Mashhadi of the MQM said his party was
rooted in the youth, and was originally a student organisation. Most of itslegislators at the federal
levels were members of its students organisation in the past. Discussing the issue of manifesto
development, Senator Mashhadi said that the MQM was committed to a democratic, secular, and
successful Pakistan. “We are committed to achieving Jinnah’s Pakistan,” he said.
Kashif Chaudhry of the Jamaat-e-Islami, Asim Niazi of the PMLN and Farad Jarral of the
People’s Youth Organisation highlighted the processes their respective parties use for manifesto
development as well as youth participation. This was followed by a lively discussion focusing on
the issues with manifestos as well as parties’ attitudes towards youth participation. Civil society
activists and researchers asked party representatives about the issues they face on these issues.
Party representatives admitted that there is a disconnect between a party’s central leadership and
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youth members and activists, which means there is no long-term incentive for young Pakistanis
to remain productively involved in politics.
The participants concluded that there was a need for political parties to evaluate themselves
critically on their performance and also involve independent experts in this process. Participants
also agreed that parties need to develop future leaders by providing substantial opportunities to
young people to participate in politics.
MEDIA
Many civil society organizations and networks are motivated by a common goal: they seek some
transformations in society. This is true especially of advocacy groups and social movements
which by definition focus on advocating social (and/or cultural/political) changes. Activists of
these groups and movements need the mainstream media (mass media) for
• politicising new themes and bringing them on political agenda,
• provoking public debate,
• struggling for defining certain issues and states of affairs as social problems and
demanding social and political changes to solve those problems,
• analysing causes of and suggesting solutions to social problems,
• challenging and pressuring adversaries and political decision-makers,
• influencing the public opinion, seeking for support and sympathy for the cause,
• recruiting members and participants in action,
• challenging the prevailing cultural codes and discourses and bringing out new or
alternative ones,
• promoting alternative values, ways of life, consumer habits and so on,
• constructing and maintaining the collective identity of the group/movement in question.
Especially in modern urbanized societies, where communication and public debate on social and
political issues takes place almost inclusively in the media, the public image of an advocacy
group or a social movement and their cause becomes vital for their success and outcomes. To
succeed in accomplishing a social change, activists needs to be seen and heard and to have their
message and cause taken seriously.
PARTICIPATORY MEDIA
Participatory media is a diverse field which includes a multiplicity of publication, practices and
projects. What is common to different forms of participatory media is that they aim at involving
and empowering ordinary citizen or certain communities, are non-profit and somehow “non-
mainstream”, i. e. alternative to the mainstream media in terms of contents and practices.
Participatory media are done at least partly by non-professionals and thus they bring out voices
and views which are not present in the mainstream media.
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Various concepts are used to refer to participatory media or some specific forms of participatory
media, e.g.:
• Citizen media
• Third sector media
• Community media
• Alternative media
• Radical media
• Grassroots media
Some of these concepts put more emphasis on the alternative nature of the content (e.g.
alternative media and radical media) where as others put more emphasis on the group of people
the media is supposed to serve (e.g. community media, minority media).
In spite of the shared aspiration to citizen/community engagement, different participatory media
have different characters for example in terms of
• Duration: Long-term operations and processes or short-term projects?
• Origin and ownership: Initiated and coordinated by outsiders (project workers,
community workers, professional journalists, media students or such) or initiated and run
by the community/citizen group itself?
• Community served: Local (geographip) community, community of interests, ideological
community, ethnic/cultural community, religious community or something else?
• Level of professionalism: involvement and role of media professionals.
• Level of community participation: involvement and role of non-professional
community members and media activists.
• Forms of funding: Project funding, public or donor funding, membership/subsription
fees, advertizing revenue?
• Format and content: Political, religious, alternative and underground, indigenous,
informative and educational, entertaining and cultural..?.
CONCLUSIONS
Environmental sustainability is a widely promoted value in civil society, thanks to
the activities of a number of environmental organisations that have been successful in eliciting
public support and in influencing the public agenda on environmental issues. Thanks to their
capacity to conduct independent research and ‘package’ their research-based evidence for the
wider public, environmental organisations have been able to attract the attention of the media
and, currently, are the CSOs that, along with the trade unions, receive the most significant media
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coverage and contribute most to policy-making in the post-communist countries
analysed in this paper.
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