Atlas: Advancing Democratic Empowerment and Governance in Transnational Civil Society: Toward Meaningful North-South Research Collaborations by James Riker

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ISTR Sixth International Conference
Toronto, Canada / July 11-14, 2004
Contesting Citizenship and Civil Society in a Divided World

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Advancing Democratic Empowerment and Governance in Transnational Civil Society: Toward Meaningful North-South Research Collaborations
by
James Riker
Democracy Collaborative, University of Maryland-College Park

With the growing importance of civil society actors engaged in advocacy beyond the state, there is a critical need for systematic theorization of transnational civil society that synthesizes the ongoing scholarly research and goes beyond to take fuller account of the theoretical perspectives and practical experiences of researchers and practitioners around the world. This comparative study will provide a synthesis of successful initiatives for advancing democratic empowerment and governance in transnational civil society in both the North and South. This study explores possible models for fostering mutually supportive and meaningful North-South research collaborations that advance theory and inform practice about democratic empowerment and governance in transnational civil society.

Both practitioners and scholars working on transnational civil society face the fundamental challenge of how to advance democratic empowerment and innovative forms of democratic governance that lead to durable mid- and macro-level social change. This study will address what are the prerequisites and possibilities for advancing democratic empowerment, representation and governance that leads to systemic change? Drawing empirically on case studies in both the South and North, the paper will highlight innovative examples of democratic experiments underway. Efforts to understand the practical ideas of exercising power and creating different democratic governance arrangements are urgently needed.

Transnational advocacy and social mobilization has contributed to, in certain contexts, democratizing the practices of states and international institutions. Asymmetries in power relations require the development of effective democratic mechanisms for representation, deliberation and decision-making among transnational actors, states, and international institutions. Efforts to understand the practical ideas of exercising power and creating different and democratic governance arrangements are urgently needed.

A critical area for research is to assess the impact that transnational civil society groups have on fostering democratic political and social change. How do we understand and analyze the forms of power and influence that these groups have in different contexts? For example, differences in domestic structures help account for variations in the policy impact of transnational actors. In the process of gauging the impact of transnational non-state actors in influencing political and social change, it is important to review and strengthen various methodological approaches for the analysis of transnational phenomena.

Several key research questions emerge: How to gauge and measure the influence of transnational civil society organizations in influencing norms, expectations, and policies? How does the political environment shape the possibilities for transnational civil society advocacy? For instance, as states or international institutions seek either to mobilize or to demobilize transnational civil society actors, what are the implications for democracy, participation, and collective action? Are the efforts of transnational civil society actors promoting democratization or not? How, and to what extent, are transnational social movements fostering durable systemic change in power structures at the transnational and national levels?

Finally, further research is needed to address the institutional and policy issues that affect the possibilities for advancing democratic empowerment and governance within transnational civil society. What mechanisms and infrastructure can strengthen transnational civil society as a whole? What are the lessons for building effective coalitions, campaigns, and social movements? What are the institutional possibilities for fostering effective relations (i.e., collaboration) among governments, businesses, and transnational civil society actors?

In addition, there is a critical need to stimulate dialogue among practitioners and scholars in order to reflect upon critically and synthesize these democratic experiments. How can reflective practitioners and engaged scholars work together to advance analysis, critical reflection, and understanding about the power relations and structural issues that affect the prospects for strengthening democratic theory, practice, and action? There is an important role to be played by those who act as interpreters, connectors, and movement-builders (both practitioner and scholars) to make this knowledge and experience useable and relevant for strengthening collective practice and the movements that deepen the bases of democracy. What are the possibilities for developing an ongoing learning network of activists and scholars focused on advancing democratic empowerment and innovative forms of governance that lead to significant social change?

This study will provide vital knowledge, understanding and exchange about how to advance democratic empowerment and innovative forms of democratic governance that lead to durable mid- and macro-level social change; provide recognition of innovative democratic experiments underway in the South and North and build effective alliances for strengthening and sustaining these initiatives; and offer valuable insights and perspectives from other political contexts about the challenges and dynamics of how to deepen democracy that leads to social and systemic change at multiple levels of governance.

Date received: October 10, 2003