Intelligence Elites and Public Accountability
Intelligence Elites and Public Accountability

Author: Vian Bakir

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2018-04-17

Total Pages: 234

ISBN-13: 1351388959

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This book provides a definitive overview of the relationships of influence between civil society and intelligence elites. The secrecy surrounding intelligence means that publication of intelligence is highly restricted, barring occasional whistle-blowing and sanitised official leaks. These characteristics mean that intelligence, if publicised, can be highly manipulated by intelligence elites, while civil society’s ability to assess and verify claims is compromised by absence of independent evidence. There are few studies on the relationship between civil society and intelligence elites, which makes it hard to form robust assessments or practical recommendations regarding public oversight of intelligence elites. Addressing that lacuna, this book analyses two case studies of global political significance. The intelligence practices they focus on (contemporary mass surveillance and Bush-era torture-intelligence policies) have been presented as vital in fighting the ‘Global War on Terror’, enmeshing governments of scores of nation-states, while challenging internationally established human rights to privacy and to freedom from torture and enforced disappearance. The book aims to synthesise what is known on relationships of influence between civil society and intelligence elites. It moves away from disciplinary silos, to make original recommendations for how a variety of academic disciplines most likely to study the relationship between civil society and intelligence elites (international relations, history, journalism and media) could productively cross-fertilise. Finally, it aims to create a practical benchmark to enable civil society to better hold intelligence elites publicly accountable. This book will be of great interest to students of intelligence studies, surveillance, media, journalism, civil society, democracy and IR in general.

Dynamics of Democratization
Dynamics of Democratization

Author: Graeme Gill

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2017-03-14

Total Pages: 287

ISBN-13: 0333985540

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The author assesses the main theories developed to account for and explain why and how authoritarian regimes give way to democratic ones. The book takes issue with the predominantly élite-centred focus of much of the literature, and illustrates how an understanding of democratization can be gained only if the role of civil society is taken into account.

Elites in an Egalitarian Society
Elites in an Egalitarian Society

Author: Trygve Gulbrandsen

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2018-09-06

Total Pages: 216

ISBN-13: 3319959840

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Based on two unique survey studies of elites in Norway, this book examines whether elite attitudes towards central national issues have changed in the wake of international and national events and developments since 2000. The chapters examine elite integration and relations between elites and citizens in Norway as a means to discuss the continued viability of the Nordic welfare state model. This insight into how elites relate to central issues in Norwegian society and how they look upon citizens’ political interest and competence in general, will be of interest to academics within sociology and political science, as well as journalists and commentators and policy makers.

Civil Society Elites
Civil Society Elites

Author: Håkan Johansson

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2023-12-28

Total Pages: 339

ISBN-13: 3031401506

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This open access book introduces a groundbreaking concept - civil society elites - and serves as an essential resource for scholars, researchers and students interested in the complexities of power and influence within contemporary civil societies. Through a series of unique empirical studies, the authors offer a comprehensive examination of the individuals occupying the upper echelons of influential civil society organisations and movements. By delving into the factors that propel individuals into key positions and examining the connections between civil society leaders within and across sectors, the book offers insight into the mechanisms that shape access to powerful positions in civil societies. As a reflection of current debates on elites and populism, the book furthermore explores the expression and conceptualisation of counter-elite positions and criticism of civil society elites. With its original approach, the book serves as a catalyst for further research into inequalities, power structures and elites within civil societies.

The New Power Elite
The New Power Elite

Author: Alan Shipman

Publisher: Anthem Press

Published: 2018-04-13

Total Pages: 433

ISBN-13: 1783087897

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Elites have always ruled – wielding inordinate power and wealth, taking decisions that shape life for the rest. In good times the ‘1%’ can hide their privilege, or use growing social mobility and economic prosperity as a justification. When times get tougher there’s a backlash. So the first years of the twenty-first century – a time of financial crashes, oligarchy and corruption in the West; persistent poverty in the south; and rising inequality everywhere – have brought elites and ‘establishments’ under unprecedented fire. Yet those swept to power by this discontent are themselves a part of the elite, attacking from within and extending rather than ending its agenda. The New Power Elite shows how major political and social change is typically driven by renegade elite fractions, who co-opt or sideline elites’ traditional enemies. It is the first book to combine the politics, economics, sociology and history of elite rule to present a compact, comprehensive account of who’s at the top, and why we let them get there.

Inn Civility
Inn Civility

Author: Vaughn Scribner

Publisher: NYU Press

Published: 2019-04-23

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13: 1479864927

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Examines the critical role of urban taverns in the social and political life of colonial and revolutionary America From exclusive “city taverns” to seedy “disorderly houses,” urban taverns were wholly engrained in the diverse web of British American life. By the mid-eighteenth century, urban taverns emerged as the most popular, numerous, and accessible public spaces in British America. These shared spaces, which hosted individuals from a broad swath of socioeconomic backgrounds, eliminated the notion of “civilized” and “wild” individuals, and dismayed the elite colonists who hoped to impose a British-style social order upon their local community. More importantly, urban taverns served as critical arenas through which diverse colonists engaged in an ongoing act of societal negotiation. Inn Civility exhibits how colonists’ struggles to emulate their British homeland ultimately impelled the creation of an American republic. This unique insight demonstrates the messy, often contradictory nature of British American society building. In striving to create a monarchical society based upon tenets of civility, order, and liberty, colonists inadvertently created a political society that the founders would rely upon for their visions of a republican America. The elitist colonists’ futile efforts at realizing a civil society are crucial for understanding America’s controversial beginnings and the fitful development of American republicanism.

The Oxford Handbook of Civil Society
The Oxford Handbook of Civil Society

Author: Michael Edwards

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2013-07-04

Total Pages: 532

ISBN-13: 019933014X

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Broadly speaking, The Oxford Handbook of Civil Society views the topic of civil society through three prisms: as a part of society (voluntary associations), as a kind of society (marked out by certain social norms), and as a space for citizen action and engagement (the public square or sphere).

Europeanization in Sweden
Europeanization in Sweden

Author: Anna Meeuwisse

Publisher: Berghahn Books

Published: 2018-12-17

Total Pages: 312

ISBN-13: 1789200350

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Notwithstanding its many successes since 1945, the project of European integration currently faces major difficulties, from financial crises and mass immigration to the departure of the UK from the European Union. At the same time, these challenges have spurred civil society organizations within and across Europe, revealing a shared public sphere in which citizens can mobilize around refugee rights, opposition to austerity policies, and other issues. Europeanization in Sweden assembles new empirical research on how these processes have played out in one of the continent’s wealthiest nations, providing insights into whether, and how, the “Swedish model” can guide European integration.

Civil Society in the Philippines
Civil Society in the Philippines

Author: Gerard Clarke

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 041557272X

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"Using the case study of the Philippines, this book provides a path-breaking account of civil society. Critically engaging with theoretical, methodological and policy debates on the analysis of civil society in the development studies, political science and sociology literature, it offers a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary, empirically-based, and national-level portrait of civil society. In challenging the widespread belief that civil society is an institutional arena in which the poor and marginalized can challenge and reverse their social, economic and political disempowerment, the book argues that civil society is characterised by structural inequalities that echo spatial and income inequalities. It thus compounds poverty and primarily empowers urban-based professionals and their families. Focusing on the Philippines, a country renowned for a vibrant civil society which first emerged under American colonial rule (1898-1946) and which re-emerged from 1986 after 14 years of authoritarian rule, the book traces the reasons for this extensive civil society and it's [sic] political, economic and social implications, and draws comparison to other developing countries"--Supplied by publisher.