Civil Society: Theory and Reality

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Civil Society Theory and Reality

• Syllabus
• Prepared by Ashot Aleksanyan
• Associate Professor of Political Sciences
• Faculty of International Relations
• Yerevan State University
• E-mail ashalex_at_ysu.am

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Total of 48 academic hours, including 30 hours of
lectures and 18 hours of seminars

• The course entails comparative analyses of core
  issues of civil society having theoretical and
  practical significance. The course touches upon
  regularities of establishment of civil societies,
  as well as common features and peculiarities of
  structural-practical character of institutional,
  civilization, cultural and value systems of civil
  society in the US, Western Europe, East Europe
  and fSU. The course includes the following
  topics classical and contemporary theories of
  civil society, interrelations between the state
  and civil society, typology of NGO-s and trade
  unions, procedures for protection of political
  rights and freedoms, democratization processes
  and mass media, national and international
  factors of establishment of civil society.
  Special attention is paid to ways of
  establishment of the civil society in Armenia,
  with comparison with civilarchic social-political
  processes in other countries in the Region.

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Thematic Plan Total of 48 academic hours,
including 30 hours of lectures and 18 hours of
seminars

• General Overview of Civil Society
• Core Issues of Civil Society in History of
  Political Thought
• The Structure and Functions of Civil Society
• Interrelations between the State and Civil
  Society
• Man and Civil Society
• Public unions and Civil Society
• Mass Media and Civil Society
• Pre-conditions for Development of the Civil
  Society in Armenia

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Evaluation of the students work

• The final mark consists of the marks of the
  following activities
• - Seminars (25)
• - Essays (20)
• - Tests (25)
• - Oral examination (30)

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Optional activities

• Visit
• - to the Institute for Democracy and Human
  Rights NGO
• - to the National Youth Council of Armenia
  (NYCA) NGO

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Topic 1.General Overview of Civil Society (2
hours of lectures)

• The essence of civil society. Civil society as a
  phenomenon of civilization and a civiarchic
  phenomenon. Contemporary issues and category
  apparatus of the General Theory of Civil Society.
  Theoretical and practical priorities of systemic
  and institutional studies of civil society in the
  Humanities. Peculiarities of politological
  studies of Civil Society.

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Topic 2. Issues of Civil Society in History of
Political Thought(6 hours of lectures, 2 hours
of seminars)

• Ideological sources of civil society (Plato,
  Aristotle, Cicero). Further development of these
  ideas (Th. Hobbes, J. Locke, J.-J. Rousseau, B.
  Spinosa, I. Kant, G. V. F. Hegel, V. von
  Humboldt, A. de Tocqueville, J. S. Mill, K. Marx,
  A. Gramsci, S. Kotliarevsky, B. Chicherin, P.
  Novgorodtsev, S. Frank and others). Theoretical
  issues of civil society in modern times (K.
  Schmitt, N. Luman, H. Arendt, J. Habermas, R.
  Darendorf, R. Aron, J. L. Cohen, A. Arato, E.
  Shatsky, F. Shmitter, I. Shapiro, Yu. Reznik, I.
  Kravchenko, A. Kochetkov, V. Khoros and others).
  
• Questions for Seminar
• What are ideological sources of civil society?
• What are the differences between the Hegelian and
  Post-Hegelian conceptions of civil society?
• What are the contemporary conceptions of civil
  society?

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Topic 3. The Structure and Functions of Civil
Society(2 hours of lectures, 2 hours of seminars)

• The Concept of Civil Society. The concepts of
  Civil society institute, Subject of Civil
  society and function of civil society. The
  structure of civil society classification of
  components and functions. Methods of realization
  of civil societys functions. The concept of
  Civil Society Form. Self-governance,
  democratic centralization and decentralization.
• Questions for Seminar
• What are the peculiarities of subjects and
  functions of civil society?
• How is the complementing and contradiction of
  civil society and democratic institutions
  possible?

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Topic 4. Interrelation between the State and
Civil Society (4 hours of lectures, 2 hours of
seminars)

• The role of state governmental bodies in the
  process of establishing and development of
  institutions of civil society. Expansion of
  states political, legal and social functions and
  public unions. State service and civil service.
  Mechanisms of government and self-government,
  centralization and decentralization in systems of
  state and civil society. Contemporary models of
  interrelations between the state and civil
  society.
• Questions for Seminar
• How and why do contradictions between the state
  and civil society arise?
• How are partner and mediator organizations
  formed?

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Topic 5. Man and Civil Society (4 hours of
lectures, 4 hours of seminars)

• Human rights, freedoms and responsibilities in
  the system of a developing civil society. Civil
  societys role in the process of realization of
  human rights and freedoms. Political rights and
  freedoms. International and regional procedures
  of their protection governmental and
  non-governmental organizations. Civil
  disobedience and civil society. Civilizational
  approach to human conception and humanization of
  public relations. Elements of civic culture,
  civil identity and civil religion. Political
  globalization and institutes of national civil
  society.
• Questions for Seminar
• How does self-governance contribute to protection
  of civic culture, human rights and freedoms?
• What is the sphere of human dimension and how
  is it guaranteed?
• What are the peculiarities of realization of
  political rights and freedoms?

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Topic 6. Public Unions and Civil Society (4
hours of lectures, 2 hours of seminars)

• The role of national and International public
  organizations, political parties and trade unions
  in establishment and development of civil
  society. Public unions as subjects of domestic
  and international politics. Their role in the
  system of protection of human rights and
  freedoms. International experience and modern
  perspectives of development of cooperation of
  public unions.
• Questions for Seminar
• Which are structural-functional peculiarities of
  public unions in developing civil society?
• Which public unions and for what reason can be
  considered as institutes and subjects of civil
  society?
• How do national and international public unions
  cooperate and contradict?

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Topic 7. Mass Media and Civil Society (2 hours
of Lectures, 2 hours of seminars)

• The role of television, radio, print media,
  online, mass and non-mass media means in
  processes of preparation, adoption, realization
  and supervision of political decisions.
  Manifestations of public opinion, pluralism and
  civil publicity. Media as information power
  (Infocracy) and civil power (civilarchy). Civil
  Society as a society of information and
  knowledge. Anthropocentristic (anthropogen),
  technocentristic (technogen) and civilcentristic
  (civilogen) issues of institutional system of
  civil society functioning. Modern standards of
  informative-communicational technologies and
  availability of information.
• Questions for Seminar
• What is role of mass media means in the system of
  civil society?
• How can private and public mass and non-mass
  media influence on formation of civil positions?
  
• What are the technocentristic, anthropocentristic
  and functionalistic peculiarities of public
  opinion, civil publicity and oversight?

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Topic 8. Pre-conditions for Development of Civil
Society in Armenia(6 hours of lectures, 4 hours
of seminars)

• Peculiarities of social, economic, political and
  cultural pre-conditions for establishment of
  civil society. Practical opportunities and
  institutional potential of transforming civil
  society legal and political mechanisms. The
  need for expanding social and legal functions of
  the State and procedures for protection of human
  rights. Reforms of public service system and
  perspectives of development of civilarchic state
  service systems. Civic culture and ways of
  integration and globalization of public unions in
  Armenia. The modern Armenian model of civil
  society.
• Questions for Seminar
• What are the peculiarities of social, economic,
  political and cultural pre-conditions for
  establishment of civil society in Armenia?
• What are the peculiarities of states active
  involvement in Armenia?
• What are the main tendencies of development of
  Armenian trade unions, NGO-s and private mass
  media?

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L i t e r a t u r e

• Arato, Andrew 1990 Revolution, Civil society and
  Demokratie, in Transit. Europäische Revue, Heft
  1 110-126.
• Baker, Gideon 1999 The Taming of the Idea of
  Civil Society, in Democratization, ? 3 1-29.
• Bobbio, Norberto 1987 The Future of Democracy.
  Minneapolis University of Minnesota Press.
• Bobbio, Norberto 1988 Gramsci and the Concept of
  Civil Society, in Keane, John (ed.) Civil
  Society and State new European Perspectives.
  London, N.Y. 73-99.
• Cohen, Jean L. 1982 Class and Civil Society The
  Limits of Marxian Critical Theory. Amherst
  University of Massachusetts Press.
• Edwards, Michael 1999 Legitimacy and Values in
  NGOs and Voluntary Organizations, in Lewis,
  David (ed.) International Perspectives on
  Voluntary Action Reshaping the Third Sector.
  London 258-267.
• Foley, Michael W./Edwards, Bob 1996 The Paradox
  of Civil Society, in Journal of Democracy, Vol.
  7, ? 3 38-52.
• Fine, Robert 1997 Civil Society Theory,
  Enlightenment and Critique, in Democratization,
  ? 1 7-28.
• Furtak, Florian T. 2001 Nichtregirungsorganisatio
  nen (NGOs) im politischen System der Europäischen
  Union. München.
• Hall, John A. (ed.) 1995 Civil Society Theory.
  History. Comparison. Cambridge.

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L i t e r a t u r e

• Joannidou, Anastasia 1997 The Politics of the
  Division of Labour Schmitt and Hegel on Civil
  Society, in Democratization, ? 1 49-62.
• Keane, John 1988 Despotism and Democracy, in
  Keane, John (ed.) Civil Society and State new
  European Perspectives. London, N.Y. 35-71.
• Keane, John 1988 Democracy and Civil Society.
  London, N.Y.
• Kopecky, Peter/Mudde, Cas 2003 Rethinking Civil
  Society, in Democratization, ? 3 1-14.
• Lemke, Christiane 1999 Neue soziale Bewegungen,
  in Ellwien, Thomas/Holtmann, Everhard (Hrsg.)
  50 Jahre Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Politische
  Vierteljahresschrift, Sonerheft 30.
  Opladen/Wiesbaden 440-453.
• Lewis, David 2001 Management of Non-Governmental
  Organizations. London.
• Lijphart, Arend 2002 Negotiation democracy
  versus consensus democracy Parallel conclusions
  and recommendations, in European Journal of
  Political Reserch 41 107-113.
• Lindenberg, Marc/Dobel, Patrick 1999 The
  Challenges of Globalization for Northern
  International Relief and Development NGOs, in
  Nonprofit and Voluntary Management Quarterly.
  Vol. 28(4), Supplement 2-24.
• Lipset, Seymour Martin 2000 Conditions for
  Democracy, in Klingemann, Hans-Dieter/
  Neidhardt, Friedhelm (Hrsg.) Zur Zukunft der
  Demokratie Herausforderungen im Zeitalter der
  Globalisierung. Berlin 393-410.

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L i t e r a t u r e

• Lively, Jack/Reeve, Andrew 1997 The Emergence of
  the Idea of Civil Society The Artificial
  Political Order and Natural Social Orders, in
  Democratization, ? 1 63-75.
• Riddel, Rogar 1998 The Evaluation and
  Effectiveness in NGOs, in Lewis, David (ed.)
  International Perspectives on Voluntary Action
  Reshaping the Third Sector. London.
• Shaw, Martin 1994 Global Society and
  International Relations. Campridge Polity.
• Turner, Charles 1997 Civil Society or
  Constitutional Patriotism?, in Democratization,
  ? 1 115-131.
• Varty, John 1997 Civic or Commercial? Adam
  Ferguson's Concept of Civil Society, in
  Democratization, ? 1 29-48.
• Walzer, Michael (ed.) 1998 Thoward a Global
  Civil Society. Berghahn Books.
• Warkentin, Craig/Mingst, Karen 2000
  International Institutions, the State, and Global
  Civil Society in the Age of the World Wide Web,
  in Global Governance, Jg. 6 237-257.
• Young, Dennis et al. 1999 Strategy and Structure
  in Managing Global Associations, in Voluntas.
  Vol. 10(4) 323-343.
• Zimmer, Anette 2002 NGOs als Akteure einer
  internationalen Zivilgesellschaft, in Franz,
  Christiane/Zimmer, Anette (Hrsg.)
  Zivilgesellschaft international. Alte und neue
  NGOs. Opladen.
• Zimmer, Anette/Priller, Eckhard 2001 Der Dritte
  Sektor in Deutschland Wachstum und Wandel, in
  Gegenwartskunde, Jg. 50, Heft 1 121-147.
• Zimmer, Anette 2001 NGOs Verbände im globalen
  Zeitalter, in Zimmer, Anette/ Wessels, Bernhard
  (Hrsg.) Verbände und Demokratie in Deutschland.
  Oplanden LeskeBudrich 331-357.

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L e g a l A c t s

• RA Law On Freedom of Conscience and Religious
  Organizations (adopted on 17.06.1991).
• RA Law On the Procedure of Considering
  Suggestions, applications and complaints of
  citizens (adopted on 24.11.1999).
• RA Law On Human Rights Defender (adopted on
  21.10.2003).
• RA Law On Alternative Service (adopted on
  17.12.2003).
• RA Law On Referendum (adopted on 12.09.2001).
• RA Law On Civil Service (adopted on
  04.12.2001).
• RA Law On Local Referendum (adopted on
  06.02.2002).
• RA Law On TV and Radio (adopted on 09.10.2000).
• RA Law On Freedom of Information (adopted on
  23.09.2003).
• RA Law On Mass Media (adopted on 13.12.2003).
• RA Law On Trade Unions (adopted on 05.12.2000).
  
• RA Law On Public Organizations (adopted on
  04.12.2001).
• RA Law On Political Parties (adopted on
  03.07.2002).
• RA Law On Conducting Meetings, rallies, matches
  and demonstrations (adopted on 28.04.2004).

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Web-pages

• Amnesty International http//www.amnesty.org
• Human Rights Watch http//www.hrw.org
• Human Rights Web http//www.hrweb.org
• Center for Civil Society International -
  http//www.friends-partners. org/ccsi
• Civil-Society-Network http//www.civil-society-
  network.org
• CIVICUS - http//www.civicus.org
• CIVNET http//www.civnet.com
• Freedom House - http//www.freedomhouse.org
• Future of Civil Society in Central Europe
  http//www.focs-net.org
• NGONet. Non-Governmental Organizations in Eastern
  and Central Europe - http//www.ngonet.org
• International Womens Rights Action Watch
  http//www.igc.org/iwraw/
• Inter Agency Standing Committee (IASC)
  http//www.reliefweb.int /iasc/
• UN-NGO Liasion Service (NGLS)
  http//www.unsystem.org/ngls
• UN-Departament of Public Information NGO-Section
  http//www.un. org/MoreInfo /ngolink/dpingo.htm
• NGO Committee ECOSOC http//www.un.org/esa/coord
  ination/ngo
• The Conference of Non-Governmental Organisations
  in Consultative Relationship (CONGO)
  http//www.conferenceofngos.org
• Council of Europe (COE) http//www.coe.int
• Organization for Security and Co-operation in
  Europe (OSCE) http//www.osce.org
• European Union (EU) http//www.europa.eu.int

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Web-pages

• American Journal of Political Science
  http//www.ajps.org
• American Political Science Review -
  http//www.journals.cambridge.org
  /action/displayJournal?jidPSR
• Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte -
  http//www.bpb.de/publikationen
  /BKRM30,0,0,Aus_Politik_und_Zeitgeschichte.html
• British Journal of Political Science
  http//www.cup.org/journals
• Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung -
  http//www.bpb.de
• Forschungsjournal Neue Soziale Bewegungen
  http//www.fjnsb.de
• Internatonale Politik http//www.dgap.org/IP/ipa
  ktue.htm
• Journal of Democracy http//www.journalofdemocra
  cy.org/jod.htm
• Political Studies http//www.politicalstudies.or
  g

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Thank you!

• Dr. Ashot Aleksanyan
• Associate Professor of Political Sciences
• Faculty of International Relations
• Yerevan State University
• E-mail ashalex_at_ysu.am