Dieses Interview gibt Auskunft über die normative Ambivalenz des zivilgesellschaftli-chen Sektors. Einerseits erfüllen NGOs wichtige wirtschaftliche und politische Funktio-nen. Sie stellen Güter und Dienstleistungen bereit. Und sie engagieren sich in der öffent-lichen Interessenvertretung....

Western countries have established themselves and developed over the last two centuries in the model of the Nation-State, founded on national sovereignty. Civil societies from these countries have been educated and conditioned to respect and fully accept the principles and symbols of a sovereign...

This paper presents a framework for discussing community consultation in the context of the Inter-American Development Bank's projects and offers suggestions on the opportunities, risks, costs, methods, and techniques of community consultation. After discussing some of the links between...

The massive human and economic impact of the Asian tsunami in later 2004 is mirrored in the aftershocks felt among humanitarian organisations, development agencies, and policy makers. This paper raises a number of these troubling, fundamental issues. Firstly, the call for an Indian Ocean tsunami...

Contemporary studies surrounding the creation of civil society in Africa have revealed two important findings. First, despite the effort of civil society organizations in supporting inclusive democratic governance, promoting participation, advocating for transparency and accountability,...

In times of genetically modified food, globalized production and distribution chains, food safety is a major issue in public policy. Although industrial actors have traditionally had remarkable influence on political decision-making in this area, challenger organizations from civil society have...

Roger Scruton and others argue that market-based approaches and voluntary civic organizations can solve many environmental problems. The author argues in response that there are significant limitations to quota systems and similar market fixes, while NGOs and civil society “networks” are not...

Legal philosophers like Montesquieu, Hegel and Tocqueville have argued that lay participation in judicial decision-making would have benefits reaching far beyond the realm of the legal system narrowly understood. From an economic point of view, lay participation in judicial decision-making can...

In a rapidly changing trade environment, marked by economic slowdown and impasse in the Doha Round, the success of the WTO in promoting and legitimizing the rules-based multilateral trading system rests, to a large extent, on maintaining effective relations with civil society, including...

Over the last couple of decades, it has become a commonplace to claim that institutions matter" for economic development. Yet, institutions are not exogenous but the result of hu-man action. It is argued here that the values and norms held by substantial parts of society’s members are an...