Suchergebnisse

Civil society is analysed from an organizational perspective. Many ideas about the quality of interaction in civil society are similar to ideas about how to create excellent organizations. Although there is no clear definition of civil society, it is first of all understood in contrast to the state. Organizational forms mentioned in connexion with civil society, such as voluntary associations, new social movements and networks, are analysed. None, however, has proved to be without restrictions inherent in all organizations. The quality of civil society cannot exceed the quality of its organizational forms. I conclude that the structures of civil society are not persistent. Civil society exists through the coincidence of several processes in the interaction between people and organizations, and the notion of civil society is not more incompatible with the state than with other organizational arrangements. On the other hand, there are no organizational forms to assure a permanent establishment of civil society.

Based on a two-year project launched by the Journal. Its goal was to engage students, faculty, and all members of the wider Osgoode and professional communities in an ongoing discussion about the nature and limits of law, seen through the lens of civil disobedient conduct in a legal polity that had developed mature democratic and civil liberty enhancing institutions. To this end, a variety of panels, seminars, and lectures were organized, beginning in the Fall of 2001. They were interpellated into the law school's curriculum. A culminating event was a conference in the Fall of 2002, to which a select number of scholars, professionals, and activists were invited. The contributions in this collection were generated from this project's activities.

Civil wars are intricate social, political and psychological phenomena. However, economics can offer analytical insights which are useful alongside the more conventional approach of case-studies. Indeed, the policy conclusions drawn from economic analysis sometimes cast doubt on conventional advice. The use of economic theory and statistical evidence help to guard against excessive generalization from individual civil wars that inevitably suffer from both a surfeit of possible explanations and advocacy. Rigorous empirical study of civil war requires a precise definition of an imprecise and poorly observed phenomenon, a process that provides considerable room for legitimate disagreement. Hence, we begin by discussing the choices made in constructing the major data sets that describe the duration and severity of civil wars. Ideological, religious or ethnic differences are conventionally regarded as the causes of civil war. Economic theory explains civil war in the framework of incentives and constraints rather than ideologies or identities. This framework enables economists to analyse the distinctive feature of civil war: the emergence and persistence of a rebel army: some conditions make rebellion both more attractive and more feasible than others. Consistent with this emphasis on incentives and constraints, statistical studies suggest that economic characteristics, notably the level, growth and structure of income, are important influences on the risk of war. In addition to the explanation of the initiation and duration of civil wars, economic methods can also generate estimates of their costs and consequences. This is an essential step towards the cost-benefit analysis of policy interventions.