Organised Civil Society and European Governance: Routes of Contestation

Abstract

This paper focuses on the role played by civil-society organisations in three policy sectors -environmentalism, regionalism and anti-racism -at different territorial levels. The paper describes routes of Europeanisation, and highlights the crucial role of mediators between national and European levels of governance in building alliances and transnational networks.

The Participation of Slovenian Civil Society Organisations in EU Policymaking: Explaining their Different Routes

“…We understand the national route similarly to Ruzza and Bozzini's (2008) definition of it as CSOs' influence on EU policymaking by being active at the national level.…”

“…Our main research question is thus: how has the EU affected Slovenian CSOs' participation in the EU policy process at different levels across policy fields and stages of the policy process? To answer this research question, we apply a Europeanization analytical framework and focus on different opportunities available for Slovenian CSOs' participation in EU policymaking, such as a direct route by lobbying EU institutions; an indirect route by participating in EU-level umbrella CSOs; and a national route by influencing national-level authorities (Beyers 2002;Ruzza & Bozzini 2008) during the policy formulation and policy implementation phases. Since there may be significant variations between policy sectors, we will observe legislative proposals in three different, highly salient policy fields on the EU agenda between 2008 and 2010: environment & energy; finance & economy; and rights (human rights, patients' rights and animal rights).…”

Participation, Dialogue, and Civic Engagement: Understanding the Role of Organized Civil Society in Promoting Active Citizenship in the European Union

“…Of particular interest to the analysis presented here are those projects looking at political socialization and institutional cultures (Warleigh, 2001) and the Europeanization of civil society (Ruzza & Bozzini, 2008). The interplay between institutional and non-institutional actors at the European level has also been of particular interest to scholars looking at the changing nature and role of civil society in Europe.…”

Europeanization and Democratization in ECE: Towards Multi-Level and Multi-Actor Governance

“…Th e EU is in a creative crisis, and some outlines of the "new EU" in a "new Europe" can already be seen based on an MLG type of structure with extended external governance and deepened internal governance. In the democratic renewal of the EU -also in its relationship with the neighbours -, a new European identity and civil society cooperation will emerge (see Kostakopoulou 2008, Ruzza andBozzini 2008).…”