The Community Justice Liaison Unit was established under Papua New Guinea's (PNG) law and justice sector program, with the support of the Australian government, to enhance the capacity of PNG's civil society and facilitate its involvement in policy development and delivery of services in the justice sector. The case study highlights those efforts in a context characterized by broad-based ownership of sector reforms and shared interests among civil society and government actors. In addition, it underscores the role external actors can play in supporting traditional institutions---such as PNG approaches to mediation and restorative justice---while encouraging links between the formal and informal aspects of the justice system.

This volume is an authoritative description of a little-recognized element of modern governance: associations of public officials in state and local government. These associations, whose membership consists of elected and appointed officials such as mayors, legislators, council members, city and county managers, and planners, play an often overlooked role in public administration and governmental policy on state and local levels. This work provides an incisive analysis of their role using a combination of documentary sources and extensive personal interviews with a special interest in association management. It traces the historical development of associations from 1890 to 1990 within the context of the Progressive Movement, the New Deal, the Great Society, and the era of cutbacks and devolution. In addition, an examination of the effects of associations in the evolving administrative state touches upon many of the most important topics in public administration, including intergovernmental relations, by professionalism, ethics, and leadership. The text is augmented by an appendix of association profiles, an annotated bibliography, and an index.

Whether examining election outcomes, the legal status of terrorism suspects, or if (or how) people can be sentenced to death, a judge in a modern democracy assumes a role that raises some of the most contentious political issues of our day. But do judges even have a role beyond deciding the disputes before them under law? What are the criteria for judging the justices who write opinions for the United States Supreme Court or constitutional courts in other democracies? These are the questions that one of the world's foremost judges and legal theorists, Aharon Barak, poses in this book. In fluent prose, Barak sets forth a powerful vision of the role of the judge. He argues that this role comprises two central elements beyond dispute resolution: bridging the gap between the law and society, and protecting the constitution and democracy. The former involves balancing the need to adapt the law to social change against the need for stability; the latter, judges' ultimate accountability, not to public opinion or to politicians, but to the "internal morality" of democracy. Barak's vigorous support of "purposive interpretation" (interpreting legal texts--for example, statutes and constitutions--in light of their purpose) contrasts sharply with the influential "originalism" advocated by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. As he explores these questions, Barak also traces how supreme courts in major democracies have evolved since World War II, and he guides us through many of his own decisions to show how he has tried to put these principles into action, even under the burden of judging on terrorism.

Making the 'state - society synergy' a reality by bridging the 'great divide' between the state and the society is vital for achieving prosperity. Of the several attempts in Sri Lanka to bridge this divide, 'Samurdhi', the current main social safety net in Sri Lanka, can be considered the most significant attempt. This book places its emphasis on researching the factors that influence the Samurdhi program's potential for creating a constructive engagement between the state and the civil society, thus empowering the civil society and contributing to achieving economic development. The study shows that state - society interaction has created a number of mutual benefits for both the state and society. Yet, some of the positive impacts of this synergy have been diminished by the absence of a proper policy direction. The political involvement in the program has created a 'distorted form of state - society interaction', thus negating some of the benefits of the synergy between the two actors. The book also suggests that current theories on the 'state - society synergy' should pay more attention to causes of social fragmentations such as ethnicity and caste in the South Asian societies.

This book examines the role of faith-based organizations in managing international aid, providing services, defending human rights and protecting democracy. It argues that greater engagement with faith communities and organizations is needed, and questions traditional secularism that has underpinned development policy and practice in the North.

In Bridging the Divide, Jack Metzgar attempts to determine the differences between working-class and middle-class cultures in the United States. Drawing on a wide range of multidisciplinary sources, Metzgar writes as a now middle-class professional with a working-class upbringing, explaining the various ways the two cultures conflict and complement each other, illustrated by his own lived experiences. Set in a historical framework that reflects on how both class cultures developed, adapted, and survived through decades of historical circumstances, Metzgar challenges professional middle-class views of both the working-class and themselves. In the end, he argues for the creation of a cross-class coalition of what he calls "standard-issue professionals" with both hard-living and settled-living working people and outlines some policies that could help promote such a unification if the two groups had a better understanding of their differences and how to use those differences to their advantage. Bridging the Divide mixes personal stories and theoretical concepts to give us a compelling look inside the current complex position of the working-class in American culture and a view of what it could be in the future.

Renowned social and political theorist Bob Jessop explores the idea of civil society as a mode of governance in this bold challenge to current thinking. Developing theories of governance failure and metagovernance, the book analyses the limits and failures of economic and social policy in various styles of governance. Reviewing the principles of self-emancipation and self-responsibilisation it considers the struggle to integrate civil society into governance, and the power of social networks and solidarity within civil society. With case studies of mobilisations to tackle economic and social problems, this is a comprehensive review of the factors that influence their success and identifies lessons for future social innovation.

Bridging State and Civil Society provides an in-depth study of parts of Central Asia and Afghanistan that remain marginalized from the larger region. As such, the people have developed distinct ways of governing and surviving, sometimes in spite of the state and in part because of informal organizations. Suzanne Levi-Sanchez provides eight case studies, each an independent look at a particular informal organization, but each also part of a larger picture that helps the reader understand the importance and key role that informal organizations play for civil society and the state. Each case explores how informal organizations operate and investigates their structures and interactions with official state institutions, civil society, familial networks, and development organizations. As such, each chapter explores the concepts through a different lens while asking a deceptively simple question: What is the relationship between informal organizations and the state?

How is modern civil society created? There are few contemporary studies on this important question and when it is addressed, scholars tend to emphasize the institutional environment that facilitates a modern civil society. However, there is a need for a new perspective on this issue. Contemporary China, where a modern civil society remains in a nascent stage, offers a valuable site to seek new answers. Through a comparative analysis of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in today’s China, this study shows the importance of the human factor, notably the NGO leadership, in the establishment of a modern civil society. In particular, in recognition of the social nature of NGOs, this study engages in a comparative examination of Chinese NGO leaders’ state linkage, media connections and international ties in order to better understand how each factor contributes to effective NGOs.