CITIZENS, SOCIETY, & THE STATE
Presentation Outline
1) Civil Society2) Interest Groups3) Political Socialization4) 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 GovernmentAggregates pluralist interests into policy
Articulates interest and influences policy
Articulates interest and influences policy
Aggregates interests into government policy
Corporatism in Mexico under PRI rule, 1934-2000
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 media The 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 cleavages1) Coinciding cleavages divide citizens in a state
on several issues and create instability2) 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
Christianbut mostly secular
White, ruling elite Live in urban areas, well developed
Blacks poor 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
Arabs Speak mostly Arabic
Arab minority
Shi’a Islam Live mostly in poor rural areas in the Southwest
Cross-cutting cleavage in Iran: Shi’a Islam