Civil Society and Governance 18 Feb 2005

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Civil Society and Governance 18 Feb 2005

• Dr. Chan Cho Wai, Joseph
• Centre for Civil Society and Governance
• Department of Politics and Public Administration
• The University of Hong Kong

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Recognition of civil society

• Civil society is one of the most important
  concepts in the social sciences today and a key
  policy agenda among policymakers and
  practitioners.
• Not just a watchdog of government and business,
  but a social partner in governance.

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Recognition of civil society

• Kofi Annan, UN Secretary-General, says,
• The United Nations once dealt only with
  Governments. By now we know that peace and
  prosperity cannot be achieved without
  partnerships involving Governments, international
  organizations, the business community and civil
  society. In todays world, we depend on each
  other.
• http//www.un.org/issues/civilsociety/ (17 Feb
  2005)

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Recognition of civil society

• The World Bank recognizes the important role
  that nongovernmental organizations play in
  meeting the challenges of development and
  welcomes the opportunity to work with civil
  society.
• http//lnweb18.worldbank.org/ESSD/sdvext.nsf/64ByD
  ocName/UsefulLinks (17 Feb 2005)

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Recognition of civil society

• In the 2000 Policy Address, the Chief Executive
  pledged to work with voluntary associations in
  Hong Kong to develop a vibrant third sector,
  which can often find solutions to social
  problems that appear intractable to both the
  market and the Government.

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History and conceptions of CS

• Eastern Europe
• -The liberal conception independent of the state
  and resisting control of the state
• North America
• -The republican conception civic engagement and
  civil associations, a reaction to civic decay and
  decline of community
• Western European
• -The third sector, a reaction to the decline of
  the welfare state and the limits of the market.

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What is civil society?

• It refers to the sphere of society that lies
  between the government and the marketplace.
• Constituents
• 1. Civil Society Organizations
• 2. Informal Ties, Networks, and Groups
• 3. Social Movements

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Constituents of civil society

• 1. Civil Society Organizations
• 1.1 Work-related organizations
• trade unions
• employers federations
• labour unions
• professional associations

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Constituents of civil society

• 1. Civil Society Organizations
• 1.2 Non-governmental organizations which bring
  people together in a common cause
• environmental organizations
• human rights organizations
• consumer associations
• Health and social services agencies
• educational and training organizations, etc.

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Constituents of civil society

• 1. Civil Society Organizations
• 1.3 Community-based organizations, i.e.
  organizations set up within society at grassroots
  level which pursue member-oriented objectives)
• youth organizations
• clan associations
• Mutual aid associations

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Constituents of civil society

• 1. Civil Society Organizations
• 1.4 Religious communities

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Features of civil society organizations

• Non-governmentaldo not exercise governmental
  authority
• Non-profitprofits do not go to individuals
• Voluntaryvoluntary participation
• Self-governinginternal governance and autonomy
• Unclear lines of ownership and accountabilityneit
  her based on elections or shareholders
  ownership. They server many masters.

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Civil society in Hong Kong

• According to a Third Sector Study (2004)
  commissioned by the Central Policy Unit, HKSAR
• Size 16,646 known CSOs, 6810 of which are
  Owners Corporations
• The sector generates annual expenditure of about
  23 billion (rough estimates), i.e. 1.8 of GDP
  (US 6.4, Japan 3.3 as in 1990)
• Employ about 258,300 full-time worker, 7.6 of
  the total work force (US 6.9, Japan 2.5)

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Civil society in Hong Kong

• Total 9361
• District and community-based 3285
• Arts and culture 1769
• Industry, trade unions 1312
• Sports 408
• Politics 11
• Philanthropic intermediaries 785
• Education and research 721

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Civil society in Hong Kong

• Religion 324
• Welfare 256
• International 137
• Health 120
• Civic and advocacy 122
• Environment 62
• Law and legal services 49

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Civil society and governance

• Trends of governance Emphasis on public
  participation/civil society
• Collaborative governance (UK)
• Community governance (UK, AU, NZ, CA)
• Sustainable governance (EU)
• Partnership (UK..)
• State-society synergy (World Bank)
• Deliberative democracy (US, UK)

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Why shared governance?

• Governments perspectives
• Rolling back the state neo-conservatism
• Complexity of cross-cutting social issues
• Environmental protection, social exclusion,
  public health, area regeneration, culture and
  arts development
• Declining public confidence in representative
  democracy and political parties
• Growth of civil society

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Why shared governance?

• The role of the state shifts from that of
• governing through direct forms of control
  (hierarchical governance)government
• to
• governing via a multiplicity of
  stakeholdersgovernance that cuts across the
  public, private, and voluntary sectors

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Why shared governance?

• Two roles of government
• government as provider of funding and specific
  services
• focuses on efficiency, value for money, quality,
  service and effective feedback
• government as facilitator of collaboration
• focuses on facilitation, networking, dialogue and
  participation

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Why shared governance?

• Civil societys contributions to governance
• Government and business watch,
• Articulate informed public opinions and
  representation of interests/values,
• Promote public engagement and volunteering,
• Facilitate public policy-making and
  implementation,
• Provide services, philanthropy, and mutual-help,
• Develop social capital and social cohesion.

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Hindrance to shared governance

• Weakness of civil societies CSOs too diverse in
  values, missions, strategies, structures and too
  many in numbers, leading to the following
  problems
• No recognized representation of civil society
• Overlapping use of resources
• Funding difficulties
• Difficult to have long-term collective
  action/collaboration
• Movements unpredictable

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Hindrance to shared governance

• Potential pitfalls
• Active participation would lead to higher
  expectation of government overloading of
  government
• Weak government dominated by a strong civil
  society
• Partisanship promoting group interests at the
  expense of fairness and the common good
• Separation from citizens NGOs not equal to civil
  society
• Promotion of uncivil groups, not conducive to
  tolerance and social cohesion

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Why shared governance in HK?

• Hong Kong faces similar challenges
• Deficit in finance
• Deficit in democracy
• Governability crisis
• Low trust in politicians and political
  institutions
• A highly vocal civil society

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The case of West Kowloon Cultural District

• Three principles of governance as stated by the
  Chief Secretary
• People-oriented ??????
• Partnership (with property developers and the
  cultural sector) ????????
• Community-driven ??????

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What has been done?

• Government claimed to have done
• Extensive and open consultation with LegCo and
  different sectors
• Careful research/consultancy studies
• Transparent competition and open tendering
• See CSs speech in the LegCo on 26 Nov. 2003

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Principles of collaboration

• Inclusion
• Shared goals
• Shared ownership
• Open, clear, accessible communication
• Mutual learning
• Mutual respect and trust

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What has gone wrong?

• Was there genuine sharing of information and
  mutual learning?
• Stakeholder workshops or formal public hearing or
  consultation sessions?
• Did the making of crucial moves (single
  development package, May 2003) involve the
  stakeholders? Was there a shared ownership?

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Challenges to govtCS partnership

• Is the government willing to share power with
  others?
• Can CS better organize and represent themselves?
• Is CS willing to take the risk of being opted and
  used?
• Is CS willing to make compromises?
• Is there mutual trust?

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Web Resources on Civil Society

• Web Resources on Civil Society, Union on
  International Associations
• http//www.uia.org/civilsoc/links.php
• Nonprofit organizations and NGOs
• http//faculty.washington.edu/krumme/readings/nonp
  rofits.htmlsupport