Research Project on Civil Society STate Relations

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing from the Institute of Development Studies, UK to request your
help in disseminating the findings of our 3-year research project on Civil
Society and Governance.  I am attaching a press release about the project
which may be suitable for inclusion in email bulletins/newsletters.

During the course of this three year project, we have amassed a great deal
of information about the nature of civil society in many part of the world.
Any help you can give us in ensuring that this data reaches as many
interested parties as possible, would be very much appreciated.

I realise your list is concerned with civil society-related issues and
projects in the Newly Independent States.  Although our project did not
focus on these countries, I believe your members would find the outputs of
the project interesting from a comparative perspective.

Best wishes,



Karen Ross-Millianos


Karen Ross-Millianos
Research Officer
Civil Society and Governance Programme
Institute of Development Studies
University of Sussex
Falmer, Brighton BN1 9RE
Tel: + 44 1273 877414
Email: [email protected]



P R E S S   R E L E A S E

Looking for information on civil society-state relations in a specific
country?  Then look no further.

Funded by the Ford Foundation and based at the Institute of Development
Studies, UK, the Civil Society and Governance Programme
http://www.ids.ac.uk/ids/civsoc is a 3-year research project involving
researchers in 22 countries, spanning 6 international regions: Africa, Asia,
Latin America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and the US.

Focusing specifically on the interplay between civil society and government,
the objective of the project is to gain a clearer understanding of the
character and functions of civil society, especially its promise and
limitations with regard to promoting good governance and social justice, and
to develop strategies to these ends.

Outputs include draft country reports mapping civil society in each of the
22 countries, and case studies of state-civil society interactions written
by in-country researchers.  Study topics range from the nationwide campaign
to prompt the rewriting of the Thai constitution, to the equally successful
efforts of villagers in India to thwart government backed plans to sell
communal land to private enterprise.

The wealth of evidence covers various thematic sectors, and focuses on
successes and failures, weaknesses and strengths, large episodes and small,
and the activities of everything from single civil society organisations to
alliances of many of them.  Links to other civil society oriented websites
and electronic discussion forums can also be found on the site.  For contact
details for any of the researchers please email the programme administrator,
Julie McWilliam: [email protected]



_______________________________________________
CivilSoc mailing list
[email protected]
http://lists.civilsoc.org/mailman/listinfo/civilsoc

IT solutions for international development - http://www.partners-intl.net