Barriers to democracy Jamal, Amaney A
2009., 20090706, 2009, 2007, 2007-01-01, 20070101
eBook
Democracy-building efforts from the early 1990s on have funneled billions of dollars into nongovernmental organizations across the developing world, with the U.S. administration of George W. Bush ...leading the charge since 2001. But are many such "civil society" initiatives fatally flawed? Focusing on the Palestinian West Bank and the Arab world,Barriers to Democracymounts a powerful challenge to the core tenet of civil society initiatives: namely, that public participation in private associations necessarily yields the sort of civic engagement that, in turn, sustains effective democratic institutions. Such assertions tend to rely on evidence from states that are democratic to begin with. Here, Amaney Jamal investigates the role of civic associations in promoting democratic attitudes and behavioral patterns in contexts that are less than democratic.
Jamal argues that, in state-centralized environments, associations can just as easily promote civic qualities vital to authoritarian citizenship--such as support for the regime in power. Thus, any assessment of the influence of associational life on civic life must take into account political contexts, including the relationships among associations, their leaders, and political institutions.
Barriers to Democracyboth builds on and critiques the multifaceted literature that has emerged since the mid-1990s on associational life and civil society. By critically examining associational life in the West Bank during the height of the Oslo Peace Process (1993-99), and extending her findings to Morocco, Egypt, and Jordan, Jamal provides vital new insights into a timely issue.
Using Germany as an example, this qualitative study explores how refugees use their social capital within and outside organizations to enter their host countries' labor market. Following a grounded ...theory approach, we interviewed 36 Syrian refugees who had already secured employment in Germany. We aim to provide in-depth information regarding the available types, uses, and benefits of social capital with regard to their access and integration into the labor market. We found that refugees have access to different types of social capital and that these types can offer different forms of support to refugees during the labor market integration process. In addition, we identify subtle differences in the kinds of support offered through vertical and horizontal bonding and bridging social capital. More specifically, we found that vertical bridging social capital is a valuable source for securing adequate employment, whereas horizontal bonding social capital and independent job-searching methods may more often lead to low-skilled work or underemployment. Our findings provide new insights into how different forms of social capital can facilitate labor market integration of refugees at different stages.
•Access to social capital may facilitate integration of refugees into labor markets.•Refugees had access to different types of social capital in their host country.•Refugees' bridging and bonding social capital provided different kinds of support.•Types of social capital used may affect the outcome of this integration process.•Vertical bridging social capital was found to be especially valuable to refugees.
This study examines the factors that explain outpatient care utilization and the choice between different levels of health facilities in Bhutan, focusing on individual social capital, given Bhutan's ...geography of remote and sparsely populated areas. The more isolated the living, the more important individual social capital may become. Standard factors proposed by the Andersen model of healthcare utilization serve as control variables. Data for 2526 households from the 2012 Bhutan Living Standards Survey, which contains a social capital module covering structural, cognitive and output dimensions of social capital, are used. The results from the logistic regression analysis show that individual social capital is positively related with the probability of seeking treatment when ill or injured. Informal social contacts and perceived help and support are most important in rural areas, whereas specific trust matters in urban areas. The explanatory power of the model using a subset of the data for urban areas only, however, is very low as most predisposing and enabling factors are insignificant, which is not surprising though in view of better access to health facilities in urban areas and the fact that healthcare is provided free of charge in Bhutan. Multinomial regression results further show that structural and output dimensions of social capital influence the likelihood of seeking care at secondary or tertiary care facilities relative to primary care facilities. Moreover, economic status and place of residence are significantly associated with healthcare utilization and choice of health facility. The findings with respect to social capital suggest that strategizing and organizing social capital may help improve healthcare utilization in Bhutan.
•Individual social capital increases the probability of outpatient care utilization.•Individual social capital affects the choice between different levels of health facilities.•The distinction between the components of individual social capital matters.•Stark differences exist between Bhutan's rural and urban areas.
The paper empirically examines the effects of social capital of the relationship between the chief information officer (CIO) and top management team (TMT) on organizational value creation based on ...responses from CIOs and matched TMT respondents from 81 hospitals in the United States. Specifically, we theorize how the three dimensions of social capital-structural, cognitive, and relational social capital-facilitate knowledge exchange and combination between the CIO and TMT resulting in the alignment between the organization's information systems (IS) strategy and business strategy. Results show that IS alignment significantly influences the firm's financial performance and mediates the relationship between CIO-TMT social capital and performance. The findings also indicate that cognitive and relational social capital influence information systems strategic alignment but that structural social capital exerts its influence through its effects on cognitive social capital. Recommendations are provided as to how organizations can develop CIO-TMT structural, cognitive, and relational social capital to positively influence firm performance via IS strategic alignment.
Social capital in the modern sense can be described as the capacity for socially oriented management of organizations. As social capital serves this purpose, it needs to be measured using relevant ...sociological tools based on the principles of operationalizing it as a complex social concept and a resource of immaterial nature. The purpose of the article is to present the results of social capital operationalization problem study that were obtained during the empirical portion implemented within the framework of the socio-resource approach towards managing organizations. The data obtained as a result of a panel study in 2022 give grounds for concluding that the basic process of operationalizing social capital proposed by the author provides an opportunity to substantiate variables and correlations between them for subsequently measuring the development of certain components of social capital. The suggested approach also allows asserting that social capital operationalization largely allows for solving the problem of “measuring the immeasurable” which involves, based on evaluating the current state of an organization’s social capital, developing management decisions aimed at the effective formation and development of said human capital. The author offers practical recommendations for correcting managerial actions while taking into account the problematic aspects of social capital formation.
The aim of the study is to explore whether and how WhatsApp interactions can improve students' psychological well-being by focusing on the mediating role of bonding social capital (BOC) and bridging ...social capital (BRC). The present study also investigates the moderating role of social integration in association with WhatsApp use and psychological student well-being. Data were collected from 266 college and university students from Islamabad, Pakistan. Results showed that time spent on WhatsApp positively influenced student psychological well-being and that social integration significantly affected the mediation of BOC in association with WhatsApp use and student psychological well-being but insignificantly affected the mediation effect of BRC in association with WhatsApp use and student psychological well-being. The study also discusses the implications and future directions.
•Time spent on WhatsApp has significant positive affect on student's PSW.•WhatsApp usage strengthened the bonding social capital of students.•Social integration moderated the mediation of bonding social capital
Although there is increasing evidence supporting the associations between social capital and health, less is known of potential effects in Latin American countries. Our objective was to examine ...associations of different components of social capital with self-rated health in Colombia. The study had a cross-sectional design, using data of a survey applied to a nationally representative sample of 3025 respondents, conducted in 2004–2005. Stratified random sampling was performed, based on town size, urban/rural origin, age, and sex. Examined indicators of social capital were interpersonal trust, reciprocity, associational membership, non-electoral political participation, civic activities and volunteering. Principal components analysis including different indicators of social capital distinguished three components:
structural-formal (associational membership and non-electoral political participation),
structural-informal (civic activities and volunteering) and
cognitive (interpersonal trust and reciprocity). Multilevel analyses showed no significant variations of self-rated health at the regional level. After adjusting for sociodemographic covariates, interpersonal trust was statistically significantly associated with lower odds of poor/fair health, as well as the cognitive social capital component. Members of farmers/agricultural or gender-related groups had higher odds of poor/fair health, respectively. Excluding these groups, however, associational membership was associated with lower odds of poor/fair health. Likewise, in Colombians with educational attainment higher than high school, reciprocity was associated with lower odds of fair/poor health. Nevertheless, among rural respondents non-electoral political participation was associated with worse health. In conclusion, cognitive social capital and associational membership were related to better health, and could represent important notions for health promotion. Human rights violations related to political violence and gender based discrimination may explain adverse associations with health.
► The good: social capital is relevant given positive effects of trust and political participation on self-rated health. ► The bad: low socioeconomic status people reported worse health. Civic participation was low despite legal mandates. ► The ugly: members of gender and peasant organizations exhibit worse health, potentially due to violations of human rights.
Although building social capital improves student learning and the effectiveness of schools in educating students, it still needs to be explored in the area of primary schools. Thus, this case study ...was undertaken to explore the practices of primary school principals to develop students' social capital by taking social capital theory as a theoretical lens. Five school principals were selected purposefully from primary schools in Ethiopia. Thematic analysis was used to narrate data gathered through semi-structured interviews. Five focus group discussions were held with teachers and students separately. Findings revealed that the principal formed various social groups, facilitated family and community engagement, created a caring school culture, worked with parent-student-teacher associations and other social networks, and created common school goals for developing the social capital of students. Lack of interest and commitment from parents, lack of willingness and trust from teachers, and giving poor value for information were challenges constraining principals from developing the social capital of students in primary schools. In a nutshell, this study is important because it provides educators, administrators, the Ministry of Education, and other pertinent school stakeholders with more knowledge and information on methods for helping students build their social capital. This also makes the principals transform their leadership behavior to be more ethical, focused, caring, democratic, and pedagogical in leading teaching and learning and enhances their ability to exercise empowering, effective social behaviors towards their students in their daily practices.
Abstract
Positive social capital-building outcomes were identified in a longitudinal evaluation of a veteran-specific initiative supporting desistance from crime and substance misuse. A secondary ...analysis of the qualitative data generated is presented here. We identify three transformational subjective re-alignments across the veteran cohort who sustained their engagement in the mutual aid initiative. These re-alignments are linked to the mobilization of bonding, bridging and linking sources of social capital. We directly align mutual aid practice dynamics with the micro-, meso- and macro-level distinctions highlighted in relational desistance explanatory frameworks. Our analysis provides new insights into the relationship between social capital building and desistance. We present a theoretically informed social capital-building process model highlighting the generalizability of our findings to wider (ex-) offender populations.
