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Including citizens? Participation of national members of European Civil Society Organizations

Schütze, Carolin LU (2013) WPMM41 20131
School of Social Work
Abstract
The outcome of the European Union’s (EU) growing legitimacy crisis was building a closer relationship to its citizens. Civil society and thus Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) at European level are seen as the remedy for the EU to improve their image and create more effective policy making. Ideally, national members of CSOs feed into the political discussion at the European level through active participation within their organization. One might wonder what this engagement looks like practically. This study aims to analyze how national members of European CSOs participate and are deliberated. Within the framework of a case study one European CSO was chosen. Eight national members in Germany, Sweden and Denmark were investigated through a... (More)
The outcome of the European Union’s (EU) growing legitimacy crisis was building a closer relationship to its citizens. Civil society and thus Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) at European level are seen as the remedy for the EU to improve their image and create more effective policy making. Ideally, national members of CSOs feed into the political discussion at the European level through active participation within their organization. One might wonder what this engagement looks like practically. This study aims to analyze how national members of European CSOs participate and are deliberated. Within the framework of a case study one European CSO was chosen. Eight national members in Germany, Sweden and Denmark were investigated through a qualitative approach by conducting document analysis and interviews.
The findings of the study indicate that national members engaged in formal activities are more likely to participate in informal activities, which suggests that participation is unequally weighted. Having appropriate expertise about the field of the CSOs can lead to a higher chance of participation. National members commonly displayed a high level of passion for their subject of concern, which leads to deliberation and eventually participation. Being engaged on a voluntarily basis influences the possibility to participate to a great extent because of a lack of time and money. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Schütze, Carolin LU
supervisor
organization
course
WPMM41 20131
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Civil Society Organization (CSO), national members, participation, deliberation, European Union, resources
language
English
id
3809754
date added to LUP
2013-06-14 16:01:45
date last changed
2013-06-14 16:01:45
@misc{3809754,
  abstract     = {{The outcome of the European Union’s (EU) growing legitimacy crisis was building a closer relationship to its citizens. Civil society and thus Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) at European level are seen as the remedy for the EU to improve their image and create more effective policy making. Ideally, national members of CSOs feed into the political discussion at the European level through active participation within their organization. One might wonder what this engagement looks like practically. This study aims to analyze how national members of European CSOs participate and are deliberated. Within the framework of a case study one European CSO was chosen. Eight national members in Germany, Sweden and Denmark were investigated through a qualitative approach by conducting document analysis and interviews.
The findings of the study indicate that national members engaged in formal activities are more likely to participate in informal activities, which suggests that participation is unequally weighted. Having appropriate expertise about the field of the CSOs can lead to a higher chance of participation. National members commonly displayed a high level of passion for their subject of concern, which leads to deliberation and eventually participation. Being engaged on a voluntarily basis influences the possibility to participate to a great extent because of a lack of time and money.}},
  author       = {{Schütze, Carolin}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Including citizens? Participation of national members of European Civil Society Organizations}},
  year         = {{2013}},
}