Jon Gresham

Research and Education in a Civil Society



Posted: Tuesday, October 13, 2009

by Jon Gresham
civilsociety.Seedwiki

Planning Towards Civil Society Basics of Civil Society (from a non-Iraqi perspective)

  • An economic system is the result of its legal system. Or, economics is a symptom, and the cause is law?

    The two fundamental laws on which most major religions and philosphies agree are:

    1. Do all you have agreed to do, and

    2. Do not encroach on other persons or their property.

    These laws were the basis of the old common law. But only these two. Except for them we have little or no agreement about right and wrong.

    See: Two Fundamental Laws

    Extracted from "Whatever Happened to Justice?" by Richard Maybury, Bluestocking Press.

    In my family, we have used the saying, ""Always do the kindest thing, and don't make others squeak."

  • Is that close enough?--jon How do we get to a common basis for civil society? Take core elements from the following:

    1. Do all you have agreed to do (Richard Maybury of "Whatever Happened to Justice")

    2. Under promise/over deliver (Steven Covey of "7 Habits")

    3. Synergize/Interdependence (Tom Mcgehee of "Whoosh", Barabassi of "Linked")

    4. Chaordic Age principles (Dee Hock)

    Explorations of a Civil Society in Iraq (Attributes?)

    Civil Society International (Holt Ruffin) http://www.civilsoc.org/ claims that the keystones of civil society are:

    (1) limited government, popular elections, and the rule of law;

    (2) free association and expression;

    (3) regulated, but open and market-oriented economies;

    (4) aid to the poor, orphaned, elderly, sick, or disabled; (Selfish Altruist principles) and finally,

    (5) civic cultures that value pluralism and individual liberty but also respect human needs for community and shared visions of the common good.

    How can any of these attributes be measured quantitatively?

  • Can we measure compliance for each area of attribute?
  • Can we guess at "keystone compliance overall"?
  • What about competencies to measure in each area? We could rate them on a 1-5 scale. Suggested Planning Matrix

    I. Goals to achieve (50%?) compliance

    Achievable, measurable goals for each attribute.

    II. Obstacles to overcome

    --Freedom of association outside of normal relationship lines

    --Hope for the future: will it become better, can I make a difference

    --Training in how to organize self-help/focus groups (Where are the USAID strategy documents on their "Community Level Focus Groups with WFP / VAM" ?)

    Other questions:

  • --What is a "Coping Strategies Index" and how does it relate?

  • --Entrepreneurship capability and start-up resources

  • --Creative thinking towards solutions

  • --Trust others to not take unfair advantage of me

  • --Lack of information resources

    (Do we need internet access per 1000 citizens?)

  • --Lack of security on the streets, at home, at work

  • --Property law settlement

  • --Inflation due to injection of foreign money

  • --Lack of communications (phone, internet, post)

  • --Basic Needs (Does the Maslow hierarchy work here?)

  • --Dubious rewards for risk (especially for the merchant class?)

  • --Education & Training that is forward thinking

  • --Health?

  • --Environmental constraints (physical, emotional, social, technical)

  • --Purpose in life questions (rational assessment, philosophical options)
    • III. Resources to overcome the obstacles

    --People, finances, natural resources, external assistance, INTERNET

    IV. Plans to use the resources to overcome the obstacles

    --How can we tackle which issues in what order?

    --Who should be the planners? Shouldn't this be a local project? V. Evaluations to assess how we are moving ahead

    --An auditing council could review progress.

    --We could do massive personal interviews. It is inexpensive to hire qualified survey assistants. We can do this easily, if we know what questions to ask.

    Research, Training, Thinking, Writing.

    Fun!

    Jon Gresham, PhD

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