PIA 2528Governance, Local Government

and Civil Society

Civil Society: A Conceptual Framework

See Below- The Model

The Model: Civil Society

Local Governance and Civil Society

Decentralization Diagram

Target Group

Grassroots Organizations

Civic Education

Land Rural Industries

Governance / Democracy

Communica-tion and Support

NGOs Women’s Focused Groups

Decentralization

Quote of the Week

George Orwell, Burmese Days

"Why is it you are always abusing the pukka sahibs as you call them. They are the salt of the earth. Consider the great administrators who have made British India what it is.”

The Issue: History, Empire and Civil Society

Colonial Burma and Civil Society in Myanmar

Authoritarian Legacies

Save the Victims of the Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar (2008)

1923 Burma Provincial Police Training School, Mandalay (Eric Blair standing third from the left)

Review- Discussion of Themes

Democratic Governance and Institutional State

a. Rule of Lawb. Transparencyc. Securityd. Competitive Elections and Political Partiese. Devolved Local Governmentf. Institutional Processesg. Interest articulation and aggregation

(Competition h. Civil Society- Mediation and Social Capital

Social Mediation

Hamilton, Madison and Jay

Madison, Hamilton and Jay and Civil Society Federalist Papers

Fear of Populism Minority rights Shifting majorities The problem with majorities Tyranny Factions

Tyranny

Polyarchy: The Conceptual Framework

Competitive Pluralism

Diverse interest associations of society compete with each other over policy issues

Basis of Economic and Political Competition

Social vs. Economic Liberalism

Social vs. Economic Liberalism?

Polyarchy: Six Principles-Summary

Interest Group Liberalism Problem of zero-sum game Civil Society as organizational not

individual or the mass. The need for apathy Institutional structures: Checks and

balances Constitutional vs. social stability

Civil Society: The Base Point Civil Society- Networks of

organizations, groups and individuals pursuing socio-economic interests

Base point- Governance vs. interests (negative and positive)

Relationship to Private sector

A Positive Image

Review: Civil SocietyThe Nature of the Beast:

Non-Profits Not for Profits Private Voluntary

Organizations Community Based Organizations Civics

Nature of the Beast-Continued

FoundationsAssociationsInterest GroupsQuangos

Philanthropy?

Nature of the Beast The University of Pittsburgh is a

Non-Profit

They are not always small

Five Caveats: Civil Society Groups Usually excludes “for profits”-

issue of contractors Both International and Local Internationals are not universally

loved Very often internationals are

religious or charity based Focus has been primarily on relief

rather than development or civil society goals

Contractors

Types of “Development” NGOs

1. Philanthropy2. Humanitarian Assistance

War, Drought, Agricultural Failure (WWI)

Relief and Welfare Societies- Disaster-

3. Populist based development agencies (national)

“Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe”

Types of “Development” NGOs

4. Grassroots associations (local or village based): Focus on Rural Development

5. Advocacy groups: Democracy and Governance

6. Public Service Contractors and Grantees

ARD-Associates in Rural Development and MSI- Management Systems International

International NGOs- Weaknesses

1. Lack of local legitimacy2. Donor driven3. Inefficiency4. Amateurism- leadership and

continuity problems5. Staffing problems

Amateurism?

International NGOs- Weaknesses

6. Self-serving- own objectives: Faith Based

7. Fixation on projects- Problems of replication

8. Lack of perceived accountability

9. Learning problems/lack of institutional memory

German Missionaries in Southwest Africa, 1910 (now Namibia)

Thousand Points of LightGeorge Bush, appearing with victim’s rights advocate Doris Tate at a ceremony in which Tate was named as one of the thousand points of light.

International NGOs- Weaknesses

10. Tensions with government institutions- Politically threatening11. Ties with existing local elites12. Inability of humanitarian organizations to transfer to new development orientation

Politically Threatening NGOs Kenya, 2008- 2009

Foreign Aid

Break

Ten Minutes

Public Private Partnerships

The Twenty-First Century Paradigm

Types of Democracy and Civil Society Representation

Cooperative Movements (or Corporatism) Diverse interest associations

cooperate with each other and with organs of the state to make policy

Scandinavian Social Corporatism

Public-Private Partnership?

Nyhavn Copenhagen Denmark

Public-Private Partnerships

U.S. Parallel: Western Pennsylvania

Understanding the Public Sector of Allegheny County

Allegheny County is made up of 130 townships and boroughs. Each of these has its own public manager and council. The city of Pittsburgh is part of this mix of local government. Several Thousand non-profits

Operating Budget for the County for 2003 is $654 million. This budget provides for such services as:

Children and Youth ServicesJail/County PolicePort AuthorityDistrict attorneycoroner

Demographics of Allegheny County

Total population 1,281,666 84% White 12% African American 1.7% Asian 1% Hispanic 1/10 of 1% Native American

18% 65+ 6% under 5 years old

Post-Industrial Patterns

Public-Private Partnerships

Non-Profits Number in W. PA in tens of thousands and

deliver up to two-thirds of the social services of the County in several different sectors

Financial Links: Public Private

Public Private Partnerships:The International Context

Defined: Partnerships (formal or informal) between: Non-Governmental Organizations

(NGOs), Community Based Organizations

(CBOs), Governments, Donors (International and Private), Private- Business Sector.

Foreign Aid Links

Public Private Partnerships Origins- Use in International

Development 

a. International Donors- Way of Dealing with Umbrella Grants and implementation of development policies

 b. Accepting donor money means accepting donor principles

Public Private Partnerships

c. Comes out of Structural Adjustment and Policy Reform (re. LDCs)

 d. Seen by some as an alternative to

Contracting Out- Others as part of it e. Critics see it as detrimental to a

market approach to economic change

The Latest Phase?

Public Private Partnerships: Characteristics

a. Targeted at the expansion of Social Capital and Synergy in the promotion of Economic and Social Development

  b. Seeks a holistic or Integrated Approach to Economic and Social Development

  c. Involves informal processes, cultural sensitivities as well as legal norms and contracting principles.

USAID Cooperative Agreement AEG-A-00-05-00007-00- Political Parties Project

Public Private Partnerships (PPPs)

Supporting Factors in the International Context:

  1. Democratic Governance- private sector and NGOs seen as legitimate actors; transparency, accountability and responsiveness

 2. Rational Government- Merit Principles, anti-corruption environment, acceptance of non-state actors as service deliverers. Contracting Out

Post-Structural Adjustment

Human Development and Governance are seen as the key to economic development

Millennium Development Goals

Public Private Partnerships- Factors

Factors that Support PPPs  

3. Decentralization- Subsidiarity: Governance devolved to the lowest levels capable of implementation and contracting out

 4. Legal Frameworks- Acceptance of Contractual Agreement as the basic organizational relationship

Contracts

Public Private Partnerships-Factors5. Institutional Norms, Organizational Capacity and regularized principles of inter-organizational interaction. Requires high levels of capacity building

 6. Requires Social and Economic Stability

 7. Organizational flexibility across all sectors

Public Private Partnerships- Factors

8. Social and Institutional Pluralism- win-win rather than zero sum game across social, ethnic, religious and racial groups

 9. Social Networks exist at Grass roots, and intermediate as well as higher levels of government-See diagram

Flat Pyramid- Early NASA

Reference:

Jennifer M. Brinkerhoff,Partnership for International Development: Rhetoric or Results

Boulder, Co.: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2002

Books: Five minute Reactions

The Painted Veil:

Somerset Maugham

Weep Not Child

Ngugi wa Thiongo

The Master and MargaretaMikhail Bulgakov

Discussion

Questions, Comments?

Discussion Themes

Governance

Local Governance

Civil Society

Area Focus