Civic education and civil society
Civic education and the supply and demand of democracy
Civic education programs often show mixed results, sometimes increasing democratic participation, but also sometimes decreasing democratic participation. To understand these mixed results, researchers investigated a civic education program in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where they found that civic education has different effects on democratic supply and democratic demand. Civic education decreased satisfaction with the democratic supply in their country, such as protection of rights and provision of services, which, in turn, decreased electoral democratic participation. But civic education also increased people's knowledge, interest, and desire for democracy, their democratic demand, which increased non-electoral democratic participation. The results suggest that civic education programs are promising and could be more successful if they moderate their focus on low democratic supply.
What enables civil society organizations to resist repressive laws?
In recent years, there have been laws proposed around the world to curtail the power and financing of civil society organizations (CSOs). In some cases, those laws are passed, and in others, CSOs are able to mobilize and have them changed or abandoned. To understand the characteristics of successful action against repressive laws, researchers compared the cases of two African countries, Kenya and Uganda, and two Eurasian countries, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. They identified characteristics of successful campaigns to change or prevent repressive laws: early and sustained mobilization of CSOs, coordination with international governments and NGOs, and targeted campaigns which reflect politicians' electoral incentives and the informal rules of the government. These findings highlight the importance of strategic and sustained support for CSOs to empower them to resist repression and erosion.
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