Utilizing the CIVICUS Civil Society Index Data: Applying Different Methodologies to Third Sector Research
Tenth International Conference of the International Society for Third Sector Research (ISTR) Fondazione ForTeS - Fondazione Scuola di alta Formazione per il Terzo Settore July 10-13, 2012, Siena, Italy
Chair: Ahmet İçduygu
Discussant: Zeynep Meydanoğlu
Panel Contributors:
Damla Bayraktar
Didem Çakmaklı
Koray Kaplıca and Uğur Yıldız
K. Aydın Gündüz
Panel Title:
Utilizing the CIVICUS Civil Society Index Data:
Applying Different Methodologies to Third Sector Research
Panel Abstract
From its inception in 1993, CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation endeavors to build a major input to recording the rise of civil society around the world, and to construct a knowledge base of civil society-related issues. Accordingly, the Civil Society Index (CSI) is an action-research project that aims to assess the state of civil society in countries around the world. The status of civil society and civic engagements are of central theoretical and contemporary political concern, and there are different research and teaching paradigms, methodologies and practices to analyze this phenomenon.
Within this context, CSI constitutes valuable data for the studies of third sector research. This panel puts together different research projects that utilize the CSI data. The panel is composed of papers that follow diverse methodologies through the use of same data, which are longitudinal case study (Didem Çakmaklı), regional within case comparison (Damla Bayraktar), comparative country case study (Koray Kaplıca and Uğur Yıldız), and cross-sectional quantitative analysis (K. Aydın Gündüz).
The panel will also look at applications of CSI data and methodology by civil society organizations to create national and regional level action planning on areas such as capacity development and policy change (Zeynep Meydanoğlu). By doing so, the panel will give a perspective on the CSI study as a participatory needs assessment and action planning tool for civil society around the world. It will illustrate how the knowledge base created can act as a momentum for civil society strengthening initiatives and give a sense of the CSI implementation process where the project is initiated and implemented by, and for, civil society organizations at the country level, and actively involves, and disseminates its findings, to a broad range of stakeholders including: government, donors, academics and the public at large.
While underlying the importance of CSI for third sector research, the panel aims to show how different research methodologies and practices can be applied to answer the diverse questions regarding civil society.
Panel will be organized jointly by CSI Turkey Research and Project Team members.
Paper Title (Panel Paper)
Paving Way to the LGBTT Rights: Domestic or International Dynamics?
Author
Koray Kaplica, ; Paper Author (Non-Presenter)
Ugur Yıldız, ; Author (Non-Presenter)
Abstract
Laws affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and transgender (LGBTT) people vary greatly by country or territory—everything from legal recognition of same-sex marriage or other types of partnerships, to the death penalty as punishment for same-sex sexual activity or identity. This research attempts to understand whether national or international dynamics are effective in creating favorable environment for the LGBTT rights advocacy to flourish. To do so, the research tries to comprehend different dynamics that result in divergence in terms of the LGBTT rights advocacy among three countries, Turkey, Jordan and Morocco by using comparative case study method. These cases are proper selections to trace variegated factors in examining their environment for the LGBTT rights advocacy. Firstly, three countries have predominantly Muslim population (above ninety percent) which has relatively more conservative tendencies (World Value Survey 2005). Secondly, according to Freedom House ratings, Turkey, Jordan and Morocco are not included in the group of “free” countries. Thirdly, all countries have similarly high level of intolerance towards sexual minority groups (World Value Survey 2005). These three factors make the LGBTT rights advocacy much difficult for human rights activists. However, in Turkey, the LGBTT civil society could have survived since the beginning of the 1990s unofficially and later officially and have provided significant space for the LGBTT advocacy to be vocalized. Besides, the existence of the LGBTT civil society organizations influences other human rights organizations by presenting the LGBTT rights as fundamental human right. In this context, our objective is to find out different dynamics that explain unique position of Turkey among three countries. Our hypothesis contains two potential significant mechanisms to have impact on the flourishing of the LGBTT civil society in Turkey. Firstly, domestic dynamics include socio-political environment and the strength of civil society vis-à-vis the state. Secondly, international dynamics refer the European Union effect on Turkey specifically the impact of discursive Europeanization. Within this context, by utilizing data in Civil Society Index (CSI) country reports, we will use comparative case study methodology to test these hypotheses. From its inception in 1993, CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation endeavors to build a major input to recording the rise of civil society around the world, and to construct a knowledge base of civil society-related issues. The CIVICUS Civil Society Index (CSI) constitutes such a knowledge base that aims to assess the state of civil society in countries around the world, which would constitute a main source of assessment for this research.
Paper Title (Panel Paper)
Testing the civil society argument: Does stronger civil society lead to less corruption and a better democracy?
Author
Aydin Gunduz, ; Paper Author (Non-Presenter)
Abstract
The literature on relations between civil society and democratic political society has its roots in early liberal writings, such as of Alexis de Tocqueville. However the literature was developed in significant ways by 20th century theorists like Gabriel Almond and Sidney Verba, who identified the role of political culture in a democratic order as vital. They argued that the political element of many voluntary organizations facilitates better awareness and a more informed citizenry, who make better voting choices, participate in politics, and hold government more accountable as a result. More recently, Robert D. Putnam has argued that even non-political organizations in civil society are vital for democracy. Since Putnam’s Making Democracy Work, many researchers and scholars have argued for the positive effect of civil society and civic engagement on democracy. However, in parallel to this neo-Tocquevillian trend which gave birth to ‘the civil society argument’, a plethora of critical case studies pointed out that ‘uncivil’ social movements and ‘undemocratic’ civil society organization experiences ask for thorough analysis in order to avoid a monolithic perception of civic engagement. Given these two strands in the literature which mostly rely on case studies or small-N comparative analyses, ‘the civil society argument’ still requires a large-N test. Regarding the present gap in that field, and by utilizing data in Civil Society Index (CSI), which has been a major endeavor of the CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation since its inception in 1993, this study is an attempt to build two regression models to test the effect of civil society on democracy and corruption, in addition to other relevant developmental and institutional factors. The results of the first statistical model support the civil society argument about the positive impact of civil society on the quality of democracy. However, the second model fails to provide evidence about the positive impact of civil society on good governance. Overall findings of this study call for further efforts about data collection and firmer theoretical grounds for better formulations of the civil society argument in order to evaluate where and to what extent it is plausible. Thus, the study also has implications on how to improve the CSI data, which is a major input to recording the rise of civil society around the world, and to construct a knowledge base of civil society-related issues. As the discussions on integrating qualitative and quantitative approaches in social sciences are still continuing, the inclusion of this paper in the panel is an attempt to open new venues.
Paper Title (Panel Paper)
Tracing the boomerang pattern in Turkey
Author
Damla Bayraktar Aksel, ; Koc University (Presenter)
Abstract
Since the second half of 1990s Turkish Civil Society Organizations (CSOs hereafter) are increasingly cooperating with their international counterparts and participating in the advocacy networks. CIVICUS Turkey 2010 report suggests that the recent legal reforms have actually changed the philosophy and approach in these relations, facilitating the funding, monitoring and cooperating mechanisms of the CSOs in the international arena. These changes have improved the capabilities of the CSOs by stressing on the necessity of professionalization through project management and coalition building. Aside from the impacts on the internal mechanisms, the participation in the transnational sphere also engenders the increase in the impact of the civil society vis-à-vis the state. The “boomerang pattern”, a theory created by Keck and Sikkink (1998) defines that the advocacy networks address their claims about the rights in their campaigns to the international networks because the governments which have to be the primary “guarantors” of rights often become the primary violators. Such as in the cases of human rights or social policies, sometimes government does not respond to domestic advocacy networks’ demands or bloc them through soft or hard controls. “The boomerang pattern involves a process by which domestic NGOs or civil society associations bypass their state and directly connect with transnational allies to try to bring pressure to on their states (or on other target states) from the outside or ‘from above’” (Trägårdh, 2007). According to the boomerang pattern theory, the transnational networks influence the domestic situations and the bypassing of the state is related to the idea that the international networks stay in a substantial position for the domestic political arena. Through these networks, domestic actors can maintain resources that they could not have obtained otherwise. Focusing on the boomerang patterns this paper is aiming at tracing the international channels through which the Turkish CSOs improve their positions vis-à-vis the state. Using the CSI data, the research will conduct a regional case comparison among the seven regions designated by the project in Turkey, which are Marmara, Aegean, Black Sea, Mediterranean, Inner Anatolia, South East Anatolia, and Eastern Anatolian regions. By elaborating on the international relations of the CSOs in the different regions in Turkey, it will question which linkages provide access, leverage and information; whether regional differences matter on the quality and quantity of the linkages; and whether there is a substantive regional difference on the impacts of the boomerang pattern vis-à-vis the state.
Paper Title (Panel Paper)
From Transition to Turning Point: Tracing Civil Society Development in Turkey
Author
Didem Cakmakli, ; Koc University (Presenter)
Abstract
On 10 April 2008, the chairman of the Public Research Foundation in Turkey stated in Today’s Zaman: “The function of civil society and the role of civil society organizations have become popular and a focal point of public opinion with recent developments that have occupied Turkey's daily agenda. In our country, where issues pertinent to the future of the country may become secondary to the daily discussions, it is essential to clarify the notion of "civil society" and the relations surrounding this notion, which serves as an analytical tool to explain the operation of the political system. Such an attempt is necessary to seek long-term solutions to long-standing problems of the country without taking popular political considerations into account.” Following this statement, this paper traces the transformation that has taken place in civil society in Turkey over the last decade. It draws on a variety of recent studies conducted on the state and shape of civil society in Turkey. The CIVICUS Civil Society Index project which has published two reports (2005, 2010) enables an analysis of civil society development over time. The CIVICUS reports evaluate the structure, environment, values and impact of civil society at each point of time. Using this data, the paper will critically analyze progress as well as stalled processes in Turkish civil society. The paper will compare pressing issues in both reports to identify resilient problems that CSOs face in Turkey while tracking the achievements that open the way not only for the growth of civil society but its consolidation. While an initial look at the two reports portray a grim overall picture of civil society in Turkey, with low overall civic participation, an inhibiting environment, and low impact, a closer look at each dimension reveals significant strengths that point to both moments of transition and turning points, as indicated in the titles chosen for the 2005 and 2010 CIVICUS reports, respectively. This paper identifies both domestic and external factors which facilitate old habits and institutions particular to Turkey that continue to inhibit civil society development. The turning point will occur when Turkey can shake off some of its old habits. External factors, such as Turkey’s European Union membership bid, along with significant domestic reform processes have had an impact on the progress achieved in civil society in Turkey. With data available for a period of over a decade, the paper is aiming to come closer not only to understanding civil society in Turkey but to contributing to better policymaking targeting its consolidation.