DOCSLIB.ORG

Advocacy As Political Strategy: the Emergence of an “Education for All”

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Advocacy As Political Strategy: the Emergence of an “Education for All” Advocacy as Political Strategy: The emergence of an “Education for All” campaign at ActionAid International and the Asia South Pacific Association for Basic and Adult Education by Bronwen Alexandra Magrath A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Leadership, Higher and Adult Education University of Toronto © Copyright by Bronwen Alexandra Magrath 2013 Advocacy as Political Strategy: The Emergence of an Education for All Campaign at ActionAid International and the Asia South Pacific Association for Basic and Adult Education Bronwen Alexandra Magrath Doctor of Philosophy Department of Leadership, Higher and Adult Education University of Toronto 2013 Abstract This dissertation explores why and how political advocacy emerged as a dominant organizational strategy for NGOs in the international development education field. In order to answer this central question, I adopt a comparative case-study approach, examining the evolution of policy advocacy positions at two leading NGOs in the field: ActionAid International and the Asia South Pacific Association for Basic and Adult Education (ASPBAE). Although these organizations differ in significant ways, both place political advocacy at the centre of their mandates, and both have secured prominent positions in global educational governance. Through comparative analysis, I shed light on why these organizations have assumed leadership roles in a global advocacy movement. I focus on how the shift to policy advocacy reflects the internal environment of each organization as well as broader trends in the international development field. Ideas of structure and agency are thus central to my analysis. I test the applicability of two structural theories of social change: world polity theory and political opportunity theory; as well as two constructivist approaches: strategic issue framing and international norm dynamics. I offer some thoughts on establishing a ii more dynamic relationship between structure and agency, drawing on Fligstein and McAdam’s concept of strategic action fields. In order to test the utility of these theoretical frameworks, the study begins with a historical account of how ActionAid and ASPBAE have shifted from service- and practice- oriented organizations into political advocates. These histories are woven into a broader story of normative change in the international development field. I then examine the development of a number of key advocacy strategies at each organization, tracing how decisions are made and implemented as well as how they are influenced by the broader environment. I find that while it is essential to understand how global trends and norms enable and constrain organizational strategy, the internal decision-making processes of each organization largely shape how strategies are crafted and implemented. These findings offer insight into the pursuit of advocacy as a political strategy and the role of NGOs in global social change. iii Acknowledgments I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all of the people who have helped me through my PhD journey. My supervisor, Dr. Karen Mundy, has offered ideas, information and encouragement over the past four years. This dissertation could not have taken shape without her continued support. Thanks also to my committee members, Dr. Steven Bernstein and Dr. Judith Taylor, and external examiners, Dr. Yusuf Sayed and Dr. Ruth Hayhoe, for their insightful comments and feedback. A special thank you to all the people at ActionAid and ASPBAE who have given me their time and energy, and answered many emails, as I conducted research for this project. I was lucky to have a wonderful network of friends and family in Toronto to support me during this process. Above all, I want to thank my husband Jon for his love and encouragement and for being a fantastic sounding board for ideas, and my daughter Lily May for keeping me grounded and for giving me excuses to go to the park for a swing. This project was made possible through the generous financial support of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. iv List of Acronyms ASPBAE Asia South Pacific Association for Basic and Adult Education CEF Commonwealth Education Fund CSEF Civil Society Education Fund CSO Civil Society Organization DfID Department for International Development (UK) DVV German Adult Education Organization EFA Education for All GMR Global Monitoring Report ICAE International Council of Adult Education IET International Education Team (ActionAid) IMF International Monetary Fund INGO International Non-Governmental Organisation GCE Global Campaign for Education MDG Millennium Development Goals NGO Non-Governmental Organisation OECD Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development RBA Rights-Based Approach RWS Real World Strategies Program SAF Strategic Action Fields UIL Unesco Institute for Lifelong Learning UNESCO United Nations Education, Social and Cultural Organization USAID US Agency for International Development v Table of Contents 1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Overview ............................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Background ......................................................................................................................... 3 1.3 Case study selection and project design .............................................................................. 5 1.4 Organization of the study .................................................................................................... 8 2 The Non-Governmental Sector and Global Social Change: a literature review ................ 9 2.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 9 2.2 Civil society and global governance ................................................................................... 9 2.3 Social change processes: structural or constructed? ......................................................... 12 2.3.1 World Polity Theory ............................................................................................. 12 2.3.2 Political Opportunity Structure ............................................................................. 15 2.3.3 Strategic Issue Framing and International Norm Dynamics ................................. 18 2.3.4 Conclusion: Melding the two approaches? ........................................................... 24 3 Research Design ..................................................................................................................... 28 3.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 28 3.2 Case study methods and case selection ............................................................................. 28 3.3 Data collection .................................................................................................................. 30 3.4 Data analysis ..................................................................................................................... 33 3.5 Limitations of the study .................................................................................................... 35 3.6 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 36 4 A History of ActionAid: from British charity to transnational advocate ......................... 38 4.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 38 4.2 The origins of ActionAid and the post-war development regime ..................................... 39 4.3 1980s: the challenge of neoliberalism and ActionAid’s community education centres ... 44 4.4 1990s: “Empowerment”, “Participation” and the emergence of advocacy ...................... 48 4.5 1997- 2004: Fighting Poverty Together and the Rights Based Approach to Development ..................................................................................................................... 53 4.6 The rights-based approach as an emerging global norm .................................................. 55 4.7 Rights-based advocacy and organizational change at ActionAid ..................................... 62 4.8 ActionAid since 2004 ....................................................................................................... 67 4.9 Conclusions ....................................................................................................................... 69 5 A History of ASPBAE: from a network of educators to a transnational advocate.......... 71 5.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 71 5.2 ASPBAE origins: UNESCO and education for development .......................................... 72 5.3 Network growth and the radicalization of adult education discourse ............................... 75 5.4 Organizational Renewal, 1987-1991: Decentralization, Regionalization and Participatory Development ..............................................................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Actionaid Sierra Leone 2020 Fourth Quarter Report Reporting Period
    ActionAid Sierra Leone 2020 Fourth Quarter Report Reporting Period: October to December 2020 pg. 1 Introduction/Context: Briefly describe the context of your work for the reporting period looking at major changes in context or events which have affected your work in the reporting period only (e.g. disasters, livelihoods, security, power relations etc.); and key action (s) taken as a response. In summary provide information on the LRP’s/Unit’s priorities, population and community targeted and inputs (financial resources) by AAISL as applicable. The global pandemic stalled every aspect of individual and county development. It touched and disturbed private and public lives in diverse ways. Whilst the pandemic wrecked economic activities because of state regulations to be able to manage an alarming transmission rate, the condition kept the nation’s population at bay – either unable to get her daily bread or being put under what is referred to as a shadow pandemic. Many had said, it was never again the corona but rather the hunger, starvation, limited freedom particularly around movements internally and externally. The state was arrested, and government was under pressure by its people to reverse such a horrible situation. Following a distressing condition in the last two quarters of the year (quarters 2 and 3), this quarter showed some glimmer of hope, courage and a stronger belief of bouncing back from stress and shock albeit slowly. In this period especially in October and November, cases of corona were as low as COVID-19 Confirmed & Death Rates 2020 single digits and in many cases pegged at zero – an indication of 800 looking ahead for a Christmas 700 600 vacation with attributes of 500 fearlessness, rigid state measures 400 300 that would have contradicted an Numbers Numbers 200 enjoyable Xmas jamboree.
    [Show full text]
  • Halfmann CV 2017
    Drew Halfmann January 2017 Contact Department of Sociology University of California, Davis One Shields Avenue Davis, CA 95616 [email protected] 510.684.3850 fax: 530.752.0783 Education Ph.D. Sociology, New York University, September 2001. M.A. Sociology, New York University, January 1996. B.A. Political Science and Economics, University of Wisconsin, May 1990. Current Positions Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, UC Davis, 2011-Present. Editorial Board, American Sociological Review, 2015-Present. Council, Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements, American Sociological Association, 2013-2016. Research Affiliate, UC Davis Center for Poverty Research, 2014-Present. Regular Faculty, Center for Healthcare Policy and Research (CHPR), UC Davis, 2003- Present. Affiliated Faculty, Center for History, Society and Culture (CHSC), UC Davis, 2003-2011. Past Positions Editorial Board, Sociological Perspectives, 2012-2015. 1 Regional Leader, Scholars Strategy Network, Bay Area, 2013-2014. Visiting Lecturer. East China Normal University, Summer 2014. Visiting Lecturer. East China Normal University, Summer 2013. Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, UC-Davis, 2003 to 2011. Fellow, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Scholars in Health Policy Research Program, University of Michigan, 2001 to 2003. Book Halfmann, Drew. 2011. Doctors and Demonstrators: How Political Institutions Shape Abortion Law in the United States, Britain and Canada. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 2012 Charles Tilly Best Book Award, Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements, American Sociological Association 2013 Distinguished Scholarship Award, Pacific Sociological Association Reviewed in American Journal of Sociology, Contemporary Sociology (twice), Mobilization, Women, Politics and Policy, Law and Politics Book Review, World Medical and Health Policy, Canadian Review of Sociology, Women’s Book Review Refereed Articles and Book Chapters Halfmann, Drew.
    [Show full text]
  • What Explains the Quality of Coverage of the Civil Rights Movement*
    MAKING GOOD NEWS: WHAT EXPLAINS THE QUALITY OF COVERAGE OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT* Edwin Amenta, Thomas Alan Elliott, Nicole Shortt, Amber C. Tierney, Didem Türkoğlu and Burrel Vann Jr.† When social movement organizations receive extensive newspaper coverage, why is it sometimes substantive and sometimes not? By “substantive,” we mean coverage that reflects serious treat- ment of the movement’s issues, demands, or policy claims. Scholars agree that the news media are key to movement organizations’ influence, helping them alter public discourse and effect political change, but often find that protests are covered nonsubstantively. Employing insights from liter- atures on historical institutionalism, the social organization of the news, and the consequences of movements, we elaborate an “institutional mediation” model that identifies the interactive effects on coverage of news institutions’ operating procedures, movement organizations’ characteristics and action, and political contexts. Although movement actors suffer compound legitimacy deficits with journalists, the institutional mediation model identifies the openings news institutions provide, the movement organizational characteristics, the forms of collective action likely to induce sub- stantive news treatment, and the political contexts that will amplify or dampen these effects. We derive four interactive hypotheses from this model, addressing the effects of organizational identities, collective action, and political contexts on news outcomes. We appraise the hypotheses with comparative and qualitative comparative analyses of more than 1000 individually coded articles discussing the five most-covered organizations of the 1960s U.S. civil rights movement across four national newspapers. We find support for each hypothesis and discuss the implications for other movement organizations and the current media context.
    [Show full text]
  • Loss and Damage from Climate Change: the Cost for Poor People in Developing Countries
    Zuhra Mai by the remains of her house, one of the 1.8 million homes damaged or destroyed in Pakistan’s 2010 fl oods. PHOTO: ACTIONAID Loss and damage from climate change: the cost for poor people in developing countries Discussion Paper Loss and damage from climate change: the cost for poor people in developing countries Discussion Paper 2 Loss and damage from climate change: the cost for poor people in developing countries Contents Abbreviations 3 Introduction 4 1 Defi nitions and scale 6 2 Compensation for loss and damage 16 3 Proposals for dealing with loss and damage 21 Conclusion and recommendations 27 Notes 29 3 Loss and damage from climate change: the cost for poor people in developing countries Abbreviations ABI Association of British Insurers AOSIS Alliance of Small Island States CCFM Climate Change Funding Mechanism CCRIF Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility CERF Central Emergency Response Fund GDP Gross domestic product IOPC International Oil Pollution Compensation MCII Munich Climate Insurance Initiative NGO Non-governmental organisation NPV Net present value UN United Nations UNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change UN-OCHA United Nations Offi ce for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 4 Loss and damage from climate change: the cost for poor people in developing countries Introduction Debates on climate fi nance for developing disproportionately contributed to the impacts countries tend to be limited to low carbon of climate change being felt by developing development, mitigation and adaptation, how countries. much each will cost, and what the respective • A loss and damage debt – where climate fi nancial mechanisms should be.
    [Show full text]
  • Shifting Power to Young People in Humanitarian Action
    1 Shifting power to young people in humanitarian action Shifting power to young people – How young people can lead and drive solutions in humanitarian action Shifting Power to Young People – How young people can lead and drive solutions in humanitarian action, ActionAid & Restless Development, 2019 © ActionAid © Restless Development This report is written by Annie Hoban, Jenny Bowie, Lois Aspinall, Rachel Litster and Rachel Proefke with contributions from youth researchers Mohamed B Bah, Abu Bakarr Jalloh, Reena Shakya and Suzeena Shrestha as well as young people from across the world. Particular thanks goes to the many ActionAid and Restless Development teams that contributed, including Milima Dangol, Sallieu Timbo, Dinesh Gurung, David Habba, Zynab Kamara, Khin Win Khyi, Lafir Mohamed, Clement Chesire, Will Gray, Amani Mustafa, Mai Al-Qaisi, Abdul Alim, Tanjir Hossein, Claire Grant, Carol Angir, Rebecca Murphy, Grace Ireri, Francisco Yermo, Katherine Robinson, Kate Carroll, Paras Tamang, Anjana Luitel and Mary Ndiritu, Hammam Masri, Sesheeni Joud Selvaratnam, Chikondi Chabvuta and Sonya Ruparel. This report has been funded by Danida and published by ActionAid, who is entirely responsible for the content of the report. Year: 2019 Authors: Annie Hoban, Rachel Lister, Jenny Bowie, Lois Aspinall and Rachel Proefke Editors: Helle Q. Joensen, Ellen Emilie Madsen and Kirsten Hjørnholm Design: Leo Scherfig Publication Copyright COVER PHOTO: Dalia, a 18-year-old girl, standing in her family’ house in Gaza, where her and the rest of the family almost got killed by a fire from their candles. The electricity supply in Gaza is sporadic and often lasts between four and six hours a day.
    [Show full text]
  • Rights to End Poverty Actionaid International Strategy 2005–2010
    Rights to end poverty ActionAid International strategy 2005–2010 Page number Contents Foreword 2 Section one: Introduction 3 What’s new? 5 Poverty eradication goals 5 Strategic priorities 2005-2010 5 Section two: Power, poverty and injustice 6 Section three: Our distinctive organisation 10 Our identity 10 Distinctive approach: past, present and future 11 Core interventions 12 Section four: Our strategic priorities Women’s rights 14 The right to education 14 The right to food 15 The right to human security in conflict and 15 emergencies The right to life and dignity in the face of 16 HIV and AIDS The right to just and democratic governance 16 17 Geographical focus 18 Section five: Organisational implications 19 Organisational objectives: • strengthen our governance and deepen accountability 19 • strengthen staff capacity 20 • strengthen our structures and systems 20 • strengthen our communications and campaigns 21 • increase our supporters and mobilise supporters and partners behind our mission 21 • increase and diversify income 22 Section six: Making it happen 24 Rights to end poverty, ActionAid International strategy, 2005-2010 Page 1 of 24 Foreword This new strategy, Rights to end poverty, is our We set ambitions for making a significant impact renewed commitment to fight poverty and at the international level because we believe that injustice. progress at the local and national level cannot be achieved or sustained without changing the world It is our call for collective action to take sides with order that is dictated by powerful nations and poor and excluded people and communities and international institutions. to support their ideas, aspirations and actions.
    [Show full text]
  • Historical Institutionalism and the Welfare State
    Historical Institutionalism and the Welfare State Oxford Handbooks Online Historical Institutionalism and the Welfare State Julia Lynch and Martin Rhodes The Oxford Handbook of Historical Institutionalism Edited by Orfeo Fioretos, Tulia G. Falleti, and Adam Sheingate Print Publication Date: Mar 2016 Subject: Political Science, Comparative Politics, Political Institutions Online Publication Date: May 2016 DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199662814.013.25 Abstract and Keywords This chapter examines how historical institutionalism has influenced the analysis of welfare state and labor market policies in the rich industrial democracies. Using Lakatos’s concept of the “scientific research program” as a heuristic, the authors explore the development and expansion of historical institutionalism as a predominant approach in welfare state research. Focusing on this tradition’s strong core of actors (academic path- and boundary-setters), rules (methodology and methods), and norms (ontological and epistemological assumptions), they strive to demarcate the terrain of HI within studies of the welfare state, and to reveal the capacity of HI in this field to underpin a robust but flexible and enduring scholarly research program. Keywords: welfare state, Lakatos, research program, historical institutionalism, ideational approaches HISTORICAL institutionalism and the analysis of welfare states (including the ancillary policy domain of the labor market) overlap significantly. More than elsewhere in Political Science and public policy, much single-country, program, and comparative analysis of the welfare state since the 1980s has taken an historical approach (Amenta 2003). Relatedly, some of the major welfare state scholars have also been major historical institutionalism theorists and proponents—most prominently, but not only, Theda Skocpol, Paul Pierson, and Kathleen Thelen.
    [Show full text]
  • Sierra Leone: Imf Crisis Solution Report
    ActionAid International Sierra Leone SIERRA LEONE: IMF CRISIS SOLUTION REPORT Samuel Jamiru Braima Senior Lecturer & Head Department of Economics & Commerce Fourah Bay College,University of Sierra Leone 2011 IMF Crisis Solution SL Acknowledgements I would like to thank ActionAid International Sierra Leone (AAISL) for providing the opportunity for undertaking this research to determine the nature of responses provided by International Financial Institutions (IFIs)to the solutions of the Financial crisis, particularly the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the implications for poverty reduction efforts in Sierra Leone. I would like to extend sincere thanks to AAISL field officers and Ministry of Finance staff whose efforts have been invaluable in the collection of field data and constructive comments that have contributed immensely in the lead up to the preparation of this report. This is also to acknowledge the communities – Local Councils and ordinary residents – for their support in providing the responses required that helped determine the trend in information on poverty related spending on the part of Government and how this translates to poor people’s lives in their various communities. Many thanks also go to the study team whose efforts and dedication in overall documents review, undertaking field work and supporting the information analysis has been invaluable. This work will never be complete, if Mr.Patrick Zombo’s original insistence on how to go about the study and dedication to seeing this study done in the light of AAISL is not put down in black and white. You have just started the long race; I hope you will be able to sustain it.
    [Show full text]
  • Gender Responsive Public Services and Macro-Economic Policy in Ghana
    ActionAid Briefing Paper Gender Responsive Public Services and Macro-Economic Policy in Ghana 1 This paper was written by Dr Eric Osei-Assibey and Nancy Kachingwe, with the critical contribution of Amadeus Bringmann, Yanyuan He, Shay Howard and Natalie Jones, master’s degree students at the London School of Economics. Baishali Chatterjee coordinated the process with Margaret Brew-Ward. Valuable comments and inputs were provided at various stages by Emma Burgisser (Bretton Woods Project), Kasia Staszewska, David Archer, Soren Ambrose, Wangari Kinoti and Neelanjana Mukhia. We are grateful to Sumaila Rahman and the ActionAid Ghana team. Special thanks to members of the young urban women’s movement in Ghana who provided crucial insights from their everyday experiences. Foreword ActionAid works with 10 partners and over 7,000 young women across 13 cities in Ghana, Kenya, India and South Africa through its Young Urban Women: Life Choices and Livelihoods Programme. The programme provides a platform for collectives of young women in urban areas to share knowledge and experiences and take action to claim their rights. Across these cities, young women are organizing in multiple ways to confront the lack of quality public services and infrastructure as the main reason behind their unpaid care and domestic work burden, and as a key impediment to their bodily integrity, their ability to access decent work opportunities and simply live lives of dignity. At the root of their experiences is the reality of macro-economic policies, largely imposed by international finance institutions, that effectively erect structural barriers to social and economic rights while exploiting women’s paid and unpaid labour.
    [Show full text]
  • Practices and Lessons Regarding Effective Lobby and Advocacy 1 FGG Alliance 2011 – 2015
    Practices and Lessons Regarding Effective Lobby and Advocacy 1 FGG Alliance 2011 – 2015 Photos: ActionAid Practices and Lessons Regarding Effective Lobby and Advocacy Reflection from the Fair Green and Global (FGG) Programme Phase 1, October 2015 Report by Fons van der Velden * Context, International Cooperation Utrecht, the Netherlands * The workshop reporters Hachangu Hakalima and Fieke J ägers contributed substantially to the input of this document. Thanks are furthermore due to the workshop participants especially Lillian Matsika (co - facilitator) and Liesbeth van Brink and Kaetlyn Roberts (ActionAid, the Netherlands) Practices and Lessons Regarding Effective Lobby and Advocacy 2 FGG Alliance 2011 – 2015 KEY QUOTES ‘Strengthening the capacity of people is at the centre’. ‘Strengthening communities to advocate on their own, independent from ActionAid is core’. ‘Duty bearers must be held accountable’. Practices and Lessons Regarding Effective Lobby and Advocacy 3 FGG Alliance 2011 – 2015 FOREWORD During the period 2011-2015, AA Kenya, AA Zambia, AA Zimbabwe, AA South Africa, AA Netherlands, the AA IS, and partners through the tax and land campaigns, implemented programmes under the Fair Green and Global (FGG) Programme. This programme was multi-facetted and covered work at national, regional, Dutch and global level on land governance, women and land rights, corporate conduct, communities and extractives and tax justice. During the implementation period, we realized that it was important to share our experiences on campaigning, lobby and advocacy in order to learn about it. In April 2014 a workshop was held with al l FGG partners on advocacy for corporate accountability. This resulted in a trainin g manual.
    [Show full text]
  • Climate Migrants Pushed to the Brink South Asia Is Unprepared to Protect Climate Migrants, Even As It Battles the COVID-19 Crisis
    Climate migrants pushed to the brink South Asia is unprepared to protect climate migrants, even as it battles the COVID-19 crisis Funded by the European Union Implemented by Problem-tree analysis with villagers from Naogaon district, Bangladesh PHOTO: ACTIONAID Executive Summary The world is facing an unprecedented climate This policy brief delves into some of these aspects emergency. Climate change is impacting the world’s and presents the initial findings of research on climate poor adversely, destroying livelihoods and rendering change-induced migration internally in three countries them homeless. People are being displaced and in South Asia — Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. are being forced to move out of their homes. This is the situation when average temperatures have The study was part of the South Asia Migration and already increased by 1.1°C in 2019, compared to Climate (SAMAC) project, funded by the European Union preindustrial levels. Under a business-as-usual scenario, through the International Centre for Migration Policy temperatures are expected to continue to increase, Development (ICMPD) managed project — Improving crossing the 2°C threshold. The impacts will further Migration Management in the Silk Routes Countries — in exacerbate issues people are facing. This raises the Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, implemented by following questions: ActionAid, in collaboration with Climate Action Network South Asia (CANSA), and its partners. What happens to climate migrants then? The study finds that people’s livelihoods in South What kinds of social protection are they assured of? Asia are being devastated by intense flooding, chronic drought, sea-level rise and changing weather patterns.
    [Show full text]
  • Citizenship Beliefs and Political Participation Across Three Geopolitical Regions
    UC Irvine CSD Working Papers Title Diverse Democracies: Citizenship Beliefs and Political Participation Across Three Geopolitical Regions Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7zh4w33g Authors Bolzendahl, Catherine Coffé, Hilde Publication Date 2010-08-14 eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California CSD Center for the Study of Democracy An Organized Research Unit University of California, Irvine www.democ.uci.edu Introduction Scholars may disagree regarding the specifics of how much and in what ways citizens should be active in their democratic systems of governance, but in general, a participatory public is seen as crucial for democratic responsiveness and as an intrinsic democratic good (Arendt 1958; Lijphart 1997; Verba 1996). However this says nothing about whether or how much average citizens view participation as an important part of citizenship in particular, or what other aspects might be important in general. Even less is known about how beliefs about the meaning of citizenship are tied to actual behaviors. Discussions of democracy, citizenship, and political participation are often forwarded with little consideration of how they are viewed by citizens themselves or how such relationships might vary across different democracies. While democracy has emerged as the most popular form of government for a variety of reasons, it is important to remember that democratic forms and practices vary a great deal within and across nations. Thus, discussion in public arena among democratic nations on how to help other nations “build democracy” or “foster democratic citizenship” would benefit from knowing what citizenship actually means to the democratic public and how such meanings relate to political behavior and differ cross- nationally.
    [Show full text]