CITIZENS, SOCIETY, & THE STATE

Presentation Outline 1)Civil Society 2)Interest Groups 3)Political Socialization 4)Cleavages

1) Civil Society Civil society is defined as citizens who organize themselves outside of the control of the government For civil society to exist citizens must be able to voluntarily organize themselves “The spirit of democracy cannot be imposed from without. It has to come from within." Mohandas K. Gandhi

Examples of civil society Parent-Teacher School Association in India Greenpeace Japan protesting nuclear energy Students protesting tuition fee increases in Britain Protests in Egypt (2011) which toppled the Mubarak regime

Emerging civil society in the newly established state of South Sudan

2010 Freedom House Scores What correlations do you see here between civil society and regime types?

2) Interest groups An interest group is defined as a group of citizens with a common interest (labor, business, the environment, etc.) These groups are generally organized and influence the government’s policymaking process

Examples of Interest Groups Interest: The Environment Interest: British business interests in Japan Interest: Chicago public school teachers Interest: Ontario Dairy Farmers Interest: right to own guns Interest: Catholic Issues

Interest groups articulate their interests to the government (interest articulation) by lobbying, protesting, writing petitions, and funding political candidates and parties All interest groups hope that their platform (ideas, positions) will be put into actual government policy or law (interest aggregation)

Types of interest group systems Pluralist: interest groups compete to influence government policy- this is the most democratic type of system Corporatist: a limited number of interest groups (usually two or three) work with the government to make policy State controlled: interest groups do NOT operate freely and are largely organs of the Party in power-common in authoritarian regimes

Pluralism The UK Government Aggregates pluralist interests into policy

Articulates interest and influences policy Aggregates interests into government policy Corporatism in Mexico under PRI rule, How does corporatism limit the representative and democratic process? Business/Industry Labor Government

Bottom Right: Communist Youth League Right: All-China Federation of Trade Unions Left: All-China Women’s Federation State-controlled interest groups

3) Political socialization Political socialization is defined as the way citizens obtain their views and beliefs about government Political socialization asks: how did you come to believe what you believe (ideology). After all no one is born with an ideology! How does this definition contrast with political culture?

Examples of agents of political socialization Social Media Mainstream mediaThe Family Church or other religious institutions School Political party

In democratic regimes the family and the media tend to be the major agents of political socialization In authoritarian and totalitarian regimes the state is actively involved as an agent of political socialization through schools and organizations

Political Socialization in North Korea

4) Cleavages A cleavage is defined as a division in society (class, gender, race, religion, etc.) There are two types of cleavages 1)Coinciding cleavages divide citizens in a state on several issues and create instability 2)Cross-cutting cleavages create unity amongst citizens who are divided on other issues but united on one and create stability

Coinciding cleavage Groups in Society Cleavage (class) Cleavage (religion) Cleavage (ethnicity/race) Cleavage (region) Anglo-Dutch Middle class, upper class Christian but mostly secular White, ruling elite Live in urban areas, well developed Blackspoor Mix of Christian and traditional beliefs Black, few civil rights Live mostly in rural townships, poor, underdeveloped Asians (Indians, Chinese..) Working class, middle class Various religious beliefs but mostly secular Asian, has some civil rights but not in elite Live in urban areas, well developed Coinciding Cleavages in Apartheid South Africa (Before 1991)

Coinciding cleavages often lead to unrest, violence, and separatism Kurdish separatists in Turkey

Cross-cutting cleavage Groups in Society Cleavage (language) Cleavage (ethnicity) Cleavage (religion) Cleavage (region) Persians Speak official language Farsi Persian, majority group Shi’a Islam Live in both rural and urban areas Azeris Speak Farsi and Azeri languages Azeri minority Shi’a Islam Live in both rural and urban areas ArabsSpeak mostly Arabic Arab minority Shi’a IslamLive mostly in poor rural areas in the Southwest Cross-cutting cleavage in Iran: Shi’a Islam