Module:                                 SIS302 Civil Society Organization

Programme:                          BA Political Science & Sociology

Credit Value:                         12

Module Tutor:                      

General objective

This module has three parts. First, it introduced the basic theories of civil society and the necessity of civil society in a democratic regime as the third estate. Students will also study the scholarly debates of civil society at present. Secondly, it provides the students with an understanding of the roles of the national and international media. Students will gain an insight into variety and functions of information channels and in which way they can influence the political process, and conversely, the ways in which politics influences the media.

Finally, it will explore the emergence of different types of NGOs around the world and their limitation and challenges specifically in-context to south Asian countries.

Learning outcomes

On completion of the module, learners will be able to:

• Explain the  theories,  concept  of  civil  society  and  its  role  in  fostering democracy

• Illustrate variety of national and international news sources

• Analyze the role of media in influencing political processes

• Recognize media as an important source of information and use on a daily basis

• Locate  the  conceptual  background  of  Non-governmental  organizations (NGOs).

• Compare and contrast CSOs influence in South Asia and western countries

• Link the  development  of  media  and  CSOs  with  the  strengthening  of democracy, with special reference to Bhutanese situation.

Learning and Teaching Approach

This  module  counts  for  12  credits,  divided  over  a  period  of  15  weeks. With  a maximum of 8 hours per week, the number of teaching hours is four per week. There will be a one hour tutorial, once per week. Two hours go to self-study and research. Once every week, there will be a one-hour group discussion.

Assessment Approach

Assessments will be carried out on a continuous basis through the following assignments:

A. Written Assignment: Portion of the final mark: 30%

The written assignment will be worth 30%, one assignment will be given for the module. The assignment will be of 2000- 3000-word limit.

• 5% - Organization
• 20% - Content and arguments formed
• 5% - language and referencing

B. Presentation: Portion of the final mark: 20%

Each student will be asked to do one presentation for the module. The presentation will be for 0.5 hour

• 5% - Organization
• 10% - Content
• 5% - presentation

C. Class participation: Portion of the final mark: 10%

Student will be divided into group for seminar and workshop once a week; each student has to lead one group discussion and debate during the seminar/workshop.

D. End Semester Exam: Portion of the final mark: 40%

End semester will be conducted after the completion of Week 15. Questions will cover all the subject matter of the modules. Questions will be divided into three sections - A, B and C separating objective-short answer question and long answer questions. The examination will be for three hours for a total of 100 marks.

• 20% - Objective/short answer questions
• 20% - Long answer questions

Overview of the assessment approaches and weighting

Subject matter

Unit I:  Civil Society

• Theories and concepts of civil society
• Role and importance of civil society
• Scholarly debates on civil society by J. Habermas
• Civil society in Asia with special focus on South Asia (Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan)

Unit II: Theory on Media

• Historical introduction,
• Types of media,
• Functions of media,
• Media-influences and Scholarly debates on media

Unit III: The Reality of Media: Case Studies

• Case studies: national politics
• Case studies: international politics

Unit IV: NGOs

• Concept and theories,
• Types of NGOs, Role and importance,
• The emergence of NGOs and development - Bhutan case study
• Mandates  of  NGOs  in  Bhutan  –  CSO  Act  of  Bhutan,  The Religious Organization Act of Bhutan- Ati Foundation, Tshokey Dorji Foundation.
• Emergence of NGOs and their development in Bhutan - past and post the CSO Act of Bhutan

Unit V: Case studies

• A study of some international and national NGOs and An assessment of working of NGOs in Bhutan

The Module Tutor can decide over the choice of case studies. Topics could be chosen considering their significance such as the ones that deal with a recent issue from the national or international media, and should be linked to the theory.

Reading List

Essential Reading:

Collingwood, V. (2006). Non-governmental organisations, power and legitimacy in international society. Review of International Studies, 32(03), 439-454

Curran,  J.,  (1987)  Impacts  and  Influences:  Essays  on  Media  Power  in  the

Twentieth Century.  Routledge.

Curran, J. (1991). Rethinking the media as a public sphere.

Edwards, M. (2011) The Oxford Handbook of Civil Society. Oxford University Press. London.

Flyvbjerg,  B. (1998). Habermas and Foucault: thinkers for  civil society?  The

British Journal of Sociology, 49(2), 210-233. 

Gray, R., Bebbington, J., & Collison, D. (2006). NGOs, civil society and accountability: making the people accountable to capital. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 19(3), 319-348.

Additional Reading

Habermas,  J.  (1991).  The  structural  transformation  of  the  public  sphere:  An inquiry into a category of bourgeois society. MIT press

Habermas, J. (2006). Political communication in media society: Does democracy still enjoy an epistemic dimension? the impact of normative theory on empirical research1. Communication theory, 16(4), 411-426.

HADL, G. (2004, July). Civil society media theory: Tools for decolonizing the lifeworld. In  Paper presentatoallaconferenzaannualedell’International Association for Media and Communication Research. Porto Alegre.

Kammer, D. D. D., Groke, I., Halberstadt-Wasser, M. Y., Schutz, M. P., Jules

Collingwood, C., Bolstad, R., ... & Thompson, R. RESEARCH ON NLP.

Taylor. P., (1997) Global Communications, International Affairs and the Media since 1945.Routledge.

Date August 2015