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102-601: Denel SOC Ltd is a South African state-owned aerospace and military technology conglomerate established in 1992. It was created when the manufacturing subsidiaries of Armscor were split off in order for Armscor to become the procurement agency for the South African Defence Force ( SADF ), now known as the South African National Defence Force ( SANDF ), and the manufacturing divisions were grouped together under Denel as divisions . It

204-626: A Fitch ratings downgrade. Denel was established as a state-owned industrial company under the Department of Public Enterprises in April 1992. It inherited most of Armscor's production and research facilities, and over 15,000 employees. At the time of its formation, Denel restructured and reorganised the former Armscor subsidiaries into a number of divisions and subsidiaries within five industrial groups: systems, manufacturing, aerospace, informatics, and properties and engineering services. Denel has developed

306-652: A competitive, or uncooperative society. The historian Cassius Dio makes an argument in the voice of Augustus 's general Agrippa beseeching Augustus, having defeated his rivals for power in the Roman civil wars, not to overthrow the Roman republic because of its expected effect on society. The literature on relations between civil society and democratic political society has its immediate origins in Scottish Enlightenment philosophy, including Adam Ferguson 's An Essay on

408-561: A contract with the Finnish Navy for the Umkhonto air defence missile ; this was a significant step, since it was the first significant sale to a western nation. The Swedish defence force was also interested in the Umkhonto missile, but due to budget constraints had to put its purchase on hold. Although Denel has comparable quality products, at lower prices, it has struggled to attract buyers, with

510-430: A debilitating effect on Denel and consequently the country's defence capability. The Zondo Commission placed the blame specifically on the 2015 board of directors, who almost immediately after their appointment started to implement a slew of poor decisions which brought Denel to its knees. In 2016, it was revealed that Denel had entered into a controversial single source supplier deal for ten years with VR Laser. The deal

612-423: A democratic government. Putnam argues that the strength of civil societies in the U.S. have historically brought more social trust and more social capital for citizens. Others state that a dependence on civil societies can lead citizens to question the effectiveness of the U.S. government and can create instability by dividing society. In modern America, Yuval Levin writes that civil societies are considered to be

714-648: A gateway between the U.S. government and citizens Some state that civil societies help maintain individual freedoms as a check to the U.S. government's power, while others see its role as upholding the state's efforts by helping it fuel social causes while constraining the un-democratic consolidation of power. Others, such as David Rieff, point out that the U.S. government is more financially equipped to work on social causes than civil societies like NGOs, who prove inadequate due to their lack of relative strength. Research by Harvard professor Theda Skocpol indicates that though civil societies have brought more democracy to America,

816-467: A great impact on the thinkers in the Enlightenment period. The Enlightenment thinkers argued that human beings are rational and can shape their destiny. Hence, no need of an absolute authority to control them. Both Jean-Jacques Rousseau , a critic of civil society, and Immanuel Kant argued that people are peace lovers and that wars are the creation of absolute regimes (Burchill 2001:33). As far as Kant

918-492: A meeting with trade union Solidarity . The following divisions form part of Denel Companies part-owned by Denel. In 2004, Denel CEO Victor Moche informed parliament that the company was near bankruptcy after suffering a loss in the financial year 2003/4 of R358 million contributing to a mounting company debt of R1 billion. This was blamed on a lack of access to foreign markets and not being able to secure domestic arms procurement contracts. State capture (2011/12 to 2017) had

1020-542: A more informed citizenry, who make better voting choices, participate in politics, and hold government more accountable as a result. Civil society acts as a forum for people with common goals and interests to further develop democratic ideals, which in turn can lead to a more democratic state. Membership in these kinds of associations serves as a source of information which reduces the barriers to collective action. These groups then affect policy by putting pressure on governments. This implies that civil society serves to balance

1122-430: A natural consequence of Renaissance, Humanism, and the scientific revolution, the Enlightenment thinkers raised fundamental questions such as "What legitimacy does heredity confer?", "Why are governments instituted?", "Why do some human beings have more basic rights than others?", and so on. These questions led them to make certain assumptions about the nature of the human mind, the sources of political and moral authority ,

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1224-404: A number of notable products, such as: The Overberg Test Range is used for advanced aerial testing of missiles by Denel and other clients such as NASA , EADS and BAE Systems . Though Denel's market share is increasing, it still has not signed significant international contracts that will bring a real market return for its investments in development and research costs. In 2006, Denel signed

1326-586: A part of their salary, despite being expected to report for duty every day. The state owned company's financial troubles continued into 2021, when in April Denel Land Systems stopped paying its employees their salaries. Union UASA started legal proceedings in 2020 to recoup its members' salaries, while Solidarity achieved a victory in the Johannesburg Labour Court in February 2022, when Denel

1428-478: A professional bureaucracy and fiscal departments, which enabled them to maintain direct control and authority over their subjects. In order to meet administrative expenditures, monarchs exerted greater control over the economy. This gave birth to absolutism . Until the mid-eighteenth century, absolutism was the hallmark of Europe. The absolutist concept of the state was disputed in the Enlightenment period. As

1530-661: A public objective. For that reason, SOEs primarily operate in the domain of infrastructure (e.g., railway companies), strategic goods and services (e.g., postal services, arms manufacturing and procurement), natural resources and energy (e.g., nuclear facilities, alternative energy delivery), politically sensitive business, broadcasting, banking, demerit goods (e.g., alcoholic beverages ), and merit goods (healthcare). SOEs can also help foster industries that are "considered economically desirable and that would otherwise not be developed through private investments". When nascent or 'infant' industries have difficulty getting investments from

1632-489: A regular enterprise, state-owned enterprises are typically expected to be less efficient due to political interference, but unlike profit-driven enterprises they are more likely to focus on government objectives. In Eastern Europe and Western Europe , there was a massive nationalization throughout the 20th century, especially after World War II . In the Eastern Bloc , countries adopted very similar policies and models to

1734-592: A similar concept to Hobbes about the political condition in England. It was the period of the Glorious Revolution, marked by the struggle between the divine right of the Crown and the political rights of Parliament. This influenced Locke to forge a social contract theory of a limited state and a powerful society. In Locke's view, human beings led also an unpeaceful life in the state of nature. However, it could be maintained at

1836-485: A site for struggle to subvert Communist and authoritarian regimes. Thus, the term civil society occupies an important place in the political discourses of the New Left and neo-liberals. It is commonly believed that the post-modern way of understanding civil society was first developed by political opposition in the former Soviet bloc East European countries in the 1980s. However, research shows that communist propaganda had

1938-431: A situation, life was "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short" (Ibid: 25). Upon realizing the danger of anarchy, human beings became aware of the need of a mechanism to protect them. As far as Hobbes was concerned, rationality and self-interests persuaded human beings to combine in agreement, to surrender sovereignty to a common power (Kaviraj 2001:289). Hobbes called this common power, state, Leviathan . John Locke had

2040-499: A society's social interactions". With higher social capital comes a greater amount of social interdependence, which increases productivity and economic growth. For example, one study found that high school drop out rates in areas within the United States with better social networks were lower than in areas with weaker social networks. Some, like Thomas Carothers, somewhat dispute this narrative. He argues that although civil society

2142-419: Is a field of economics and constitutionalism which describes and analyzes the specific interrelationships between constitutional issues and functioning of the economy including budget process . The term "constitutional economics" was used by American economist James M. Buchanan as a name for a new budget planning and the latter's transparency to the civil society, are of the primary guiding importance to

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2244-562: Is a viable argument for SOEs is debated. SOEs are also frequently employed in areas where the government wants to levy user fees , but finds it politically difficult to introduce new taxation. Next, SOEs can be used to improve efficiency of public service delivery or as a step towards (partial) privatization or hybridization. SOEs can also be a means to alleviate fiscal stress, as SOEs may not count towards states' budgets. Compared to government bureaucracy, state owned enterprises might be beneficial because they reduce politicians' influence over

2346-753: Is approximately 70% of total employment. State-owned enterprises are thus a major factor behind Belarus's high employment rate and a source of stable employment. In most OPEC countries, the governments own the oil companies operating on their soil. A notable example is the Saudi Arabian national oil company , Saudi Aramco , which the Saudi government bought in 1988, changing its name from Arabian American Oil Company to Saudi Arabian Oil Company. The Saudi government also owns and operates Saudi Arabian Airlines , and owns 70% of SABIC as well as many other companies. China's state-owned enterprises are owned and managed by

2448-722: Is beneficial toward economic growth, it is not necessary , which he illustrates through how South Korea's great economic success was built without a strong civil society, which only appeared after economic growth had more than took off, as well as how Bangladesh, with an incredibly rich civil society, has largely failed to grow its economy, remaining one of the poorest countries in the world. Going even further, Carothers also points out how too much civil society, at least in certain sectors, can lead to harmful economic impacts, citing how some economists believe labor unions in Latin America have restricted economic growth. Constitutional economics

2550-542: Is debatable what the term "state" implies (e.g., it is unclear whether municipally owned corporations and enterprises held by regional public bodies are considered state-owned). Next, it is contestable under what circumstances a SOE qualifies as "owned" by a state (SOEs can be fully owned or partially owned; it is difficult to determine categorically what level of state ownership would qualify an entity to be considered as state-owned since governments can also own regular stock , without implying any special interference). Finally,

2652-602: Is highlighted in the predominant local terminology, with SOEs in Canada referred to as a " Crown corporation ", and in New Zealand as a " Crown entity ". The term " government-linked company " (GLC) is sometimes used, for example in Malaysia , to refer to private or public (listed on a stock exchange) corporate entities in which the government acquires a stake using a holding company . The two main definitions of GLCs are dependent on

2754-489: Is the largest of South Africa's state owned arms companies. The company had been experiencing major financial problems since 2015 and in 2021 it was announced in Parliament that Denel was on the brink of insolvency. The company stated that its woes were due to declining local defence budgets, weakened relationships with key customers and suppliers, the inability to retain or attract skilled personnel, ongoing salary disputes and

2856-596: The Rooivalk attack helicopter being a prime example of this. After being developed at a cost of R1 billion, no sales were made as the contract from Turkey for $ 2 billion was lost. The development of the Rooivalk, which could be Denel's most profitable project, also threatens to result in its largest loss ever. In 2009 and 2010 RheinMetall Denel, a Denel subsidiary, advertised artisan training programmes and study bursaries which excluded white applicants, but relented after

2958-703: The State-owned Asset Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) . China's state-owned enterprises generally own and operate public services, resource extraction or defense. As of 2017 , China has more SOEs than any other country, and the most SOEs among large national companies. China's SOEs perform functions such as: contributing to central and local governments revenues through dividends and taxes, supporting urban employment, keeping key input prices low, channeling capital towards targeted industries and technologies, supporting sub-national redistribution to poorer interior and western provinces, and aiding

3060-453: The public sphere encourages rational will-formation; it is a sphere of rational and democratic social interaction. Habermas analyzes civil society as a sphere of "commodity exchange and social labor" and public sphere as a part of political realm. Habermas argues that even though society was representative of capitalist society, there are some institutions that were part of political society. Transformations in economy brought transformations to

3162-404: The "third sector" of society , distinct from government and business , and including the family and the private sphere . By other authors, civil society is used in the sense of 1) the aggregate of non-governmental organizations and institutions that advance the interests and will of citizens or 2) individuals and organizations in a society which are independent of the government. Sometimes

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3264-519: The 1990s, which involved conditioned loans by the World Bank and IMF to debt-laden developing states, also created pressures for states in poorer countries to shrink. This in turn led to practical changes for civil society that went on to influence the theoretical debate. Initially the new conditionality led to an even greater emphasis on "civil society" as a panacea, replacing the state's service provision and social care, Hulme and Edwards suggested that it

3366-406: The 2021/22 financial year. Despite bank guarantees by the government, Denel lost out on a R6 billion missiles deal (2022-2024) with Egypt, when South African banks cited ethical concerns and refused to extend a loan. State-owned enterprise The terminology around the term state-owned enterprise is murky. All three words in the term are challenged and subject to interpretation. First, it

3468-542: The French Revolution, the second during the fall of communism in Europe. The concept of civil society in its pre-modern classical republican understanding is usually connected to the early-modern thought of Age of Enlightenment in the 18th century. However, it has much older history in the realm of political thought. Generally, civil society has been referred to as a political association governing social conflict through

3570-506: The History of Civil Society , and in the work of G. W. F. Hegel , from whom the concepts were adapted by Alexis de Tocqueville , Karl Marx , and Ferdinand Tönnies . They were developed in significant ways by 20th century researchers Gabriel Almond and Sidney Verba , who identified the role of political culture in a democratic order as vital. They argued that the political element of political organizations facilitates better awareness and

3672-833: The Minister of Finance II, the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of the Economic Planning Unit, the Chief Secretary to the Government, Secretary General of Treasury and the heads of each of the GLICs (the Employees Provident Fund, Khazanah Nasional Berhad , Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (the armed forces pension fund), Lembaga Tabung Haji and Permodalan Nasional Berhad . Khazanah Nasional Berhad provided

3774-1003: The USSR. Governments in Western Europe, both left and right of centre, saw state intervention as necessary to rebuild economies shattered by war. Government control over natural monopolies like industry was the norm. Typical sectors included telephones , electric power , fossil fuels , iron ore , railways , airlines , media , postal services , banks , and water . Many large industrial corporations were also nationalized or created as government corporations, including, among many others: British Steel Corporation , Equinor , and Águas de Portugal . A state-run enterprise may operate differently from an ordinary limited liability corporation. For example, in Finland, state-run enterprises ( liikelaitos ) are governed by separate laws. Even though responsible for their own finances, they cannot be declared bankrupt ;

3876-513: The backbone and foundation for the party and its propaganda. As a result, the Nazi party transformed itself from a place of political irrelevancy to the largest party in the German Reichstag after the 1932 elections . Contrary to Putnam's argument, in this instance, a dense civil society network had damaged democracy. The Nazi Party exploited the societal organization of Germany ultimately leading to

3978-425: The classical period did not make any distinction between the state and society. Rather they held that the state represented the civil form of society and ‘civility’ represented the requirement of good citizenship. Moreover, they held that human beings are inherently rational so that they can collectively shape the nature of the society they belong to. In addition, human beings have the capacity to voluntarily gather for

4080-433: The common cause and maintain peace in society. By holding this view, we can say that classical political thinkers endorsed the genesis of civil society in its original sense. The Middle Ages saw major changes in the topics discussed by political philosophers. Due to the unique political arrangements of feudalism , the concept of classical civil society practically disappeared from mainstream discussion. Instead conversation

4182-847: The company's chairman Daniel Mantsha. In March 2019 Denel representatives gave testimony to the Zondo Commission about the company's deal with the Gupta owned VR Laser. Department of Public Enterprises Acting Director-General stated that the deal resulted in up to R3 billion in lost revenue for Denel. Following the conclusion of forensic investigations into allegations of corruption in Denel the company announced in July 2019 that it would seek to recoup misspent money by pursuing civil and criminal action against former company executives. From May 2020 through to January 2022 some of their employees were not paid, or were only paid

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4284-433: The emergence of the modern state created a realm of civil society that reduced society to private interests competing against each other. Political society was autonomized into the state, which was in turn ruled by the bourgeois class (consider also that suffrage only belonged, then, to propertied men). Marx, in his early writings, anticipated the abolition of the separation between state and civil society, and looked forward to

4386-495: The emergence of the nongovernmental organizations and the new social movements (NSMs) on a global scale, civil society as a third sector became treated as a key terrain of strategic action to construct ‘an alternative social and world order.’ Post-modern civil society theory has now largely returned to a more neutral stance, but with marked differences between the study of the phenomena in richer societies and writing on civil society in developing states. Jürgen Habermas said that

4488-440: The environmental policy making process. These groups impact environmental policies by setting an agenda on fixing the harm done to the environment. They also get the public informed about environmental issues, which increases the public demand for environmental change. From a historical perspective, the actual meaning of the concept of civil society has changed twice from its original, classical form. The first change occurred after

4590-467: The fall of the communist system was a part of neo-liberal strategies linked to the Washington Consensus . Some studies have also been published, which deal with unresolved issues regarding the use of the term in connection with the impact and conceptual power of the international aid system (see for example Tvedt 1998). On the other hand, others see globalization as a social phenomenon expanding

4692-465: The fall of the nation's first ever republic. Even in well-established democracies, the proliferation of special interest groups—which signal a strong civil society—can potentially impede the functioning of representative institutions and distort policy outcomes in favor of the wealthy, well-connected, or well-organized. Moreover, based on survey data collected by Kenneth Newton, there is little evidence that social and political trust overlap, which renders

4794-403: The first treaty, people submit themselves to the common public authority. This authority has the power to enact and maintain laws. The second treaty contains the limitations of authority, i. e., the state has no power to threaten the basic rights of human beings. As far as Locke was concerned, the basic rights of human beings are the preservation of life, liberty and property. Moreover, he held that

4896-500: The form of Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs). The Malaysian government launched a GLC Transformation Programme for its linked companies and linked investment companies ("GLICs") on 29 July 2005, aiming over a ten-year period to transform these businesses "into high-performing entities". The Putrajaya Committee on GLC High Performance ("PCG"), which oversaw this programme, was chaired by the Prime Minister , and membership included

4998-528: The formal estate (trade and industry), and the universal estate (civil society). A man is able to choose his estate, though his choice is limited by the aforementioned inequalities. However, Hegel argues that these inequalities enable all estates in Civil Society to be filled, which leads to a more efficient system on the whole. Karl Marx followed the Hegelian way of using the concept of civil society. For Marx,

5100-475: The implementation of the rule of law . Also, the availability of an effective court system, to be used by the civil society in situations of unfair government spending and executive impoundment of any previously authorized appropriations, becomes a key element for the success of any influential civil society. Critics and activists currently often apply the term civil society to the domain of social life which needs to be protected against globalization , and to

5202-431: The imposition of rules that restrain citizens from harming one another. In the classical period, the concept was used as a synonym for the good society, and seen as indistinguishable from the state. For instance, Socrates taught that conflicts within society should be resolved through public argument using ‘ dialectic ’, a form of rational dialogue to uncover truth. According to Socrates, public argument through ‘dialectic’

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5304-404: The intrusive holistic state-dominated regimes of Communist Eastern Europe. The first post-modern usage of civil society as denoting political opposition stems from writings of Aleksander Smolar in 1978–79. However, the term was not in use by Solidarity labor union in 1980–1981. The ancient Romans were aware of the connections between democracy and a cooperative society, versus a monarchy and

5406-412: The leading application of the incomplete contract theory to the issue of state-owned enterprises. These authors compare a situation in which the government is in control of a firm to a situation in which a private manager is in control. The manager can invest to come up with cost-reducing and quality-enhancing innovations. The government and the manager bargain over the implementation of the innovations. If

5508-472: The mid-1900s, and observed that those who were engaged with civil society organizations demonstrated greater “political sophistication, social trust, political participation, and ‘subjective civic competence’” than those not involved in these organizations. Similarly, Dr. Sheri Berman found that the NSDAP (Nazi Party) civil society organization leveraged strong civil society networks among the middle class together for

5610-537: The modern industrial capitalist society, for it had emerged at the particular period of capitalism and served its interests: individual rights and private property. Hence, he used the German term "bürgerliche Gesellschaft" to denote civil society as "civilian society" – a sphere regulated by the civil code . This new way of thinking about civil society was followed by Alexis de Tocqueville and Karl Marx as well. For Hegel, civil society manifested contradictory forces. Being

5712-406: The most important influence on the development and popularization of the idea instead, in an effort to legitimize neoliberal transformation in 1989. According to theory of restructurization of welfare systems, a new way of using the concept of civil society became a neoliberal ideology legitimizing development of the third sector as a substitute for the welfare state . The recent development of

5814-452: The multifaceted broad issues facing society, such as the challenges of globalization, and instead the focus of elections becomes centered on a few specific hot-button topics, such as abortion. There is a considerable amount of data supporting the notion that civil society organizations significantly increase political participation. Dr. Robert Putnam conducted a study of civil society in Italy in

5916-428: The nature of human beings should be encompassed by the contours of state and established positive laws . Thomas Hobbes underlined the need of a powerful state to maintain civility in society. For Hobbes, human beings are motivated by self-interests (Graham 1997:23). Moreover, these self-interests are often contradictory in nature. Therefore, in state of nature , there was a condition of a war of all against all. In such

6018-592: The negotiations fail, the owner can decide about the implementation. It turns out that when cost-reducing innovations do not harm quality significantly, then private firms are to be preferred. Yet, when cost-reductions may strongly reduce quality, state-owned enterprises are superior. Hoppe and Schmitz (2010) have extended this theory in order to allow for a richer set of governance structures, including different forms of public-private partnerships . SOEs are common with natural monopolies , because they allow capturing economies of scale while they can simultaneously achieve

6120-841: The obligations and rights of citizens with regard to government processes, different types of political issues and policy agendas, ways in which citizens can collaborate to address societal issues, and approaches to creating meaningful change in communities. Professors Carew E. Boulding and Jami Nelson-Núñez assert that civil society organizations are beneficial in that citizens are more inclined to participate politically when they can act collectively and develop associative solidarities with others around shared policy preferences. Other scholars, however, note that there are some drawbacks of civil society organizations as it pertains to political participation and policy processes. Professor Thomas Carothers have explained that, because civil society organizations have such an influential role in political participation,

6222-706: The participation of a specific type of civil society organization—non-political organizations rooted in quotidian relationships—in the democratic transition process is what drives successful democratic transitions. Gianfranco Poggi argues this as well, saying that interpersonal trust is needed if republican society is to be maintained. Others, however, have questioned the link between civil society and robust democracy. As Thomas Carothers points out, civil societies do not necessarily form for worthy reasons nor do they necessarily promote democratic values. For example, Sheri Berman argued that civil society organizations can actually be used to mobilize people against democracy. This

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6324-429: The polis was an ‘association of associations’ that enables citizens to share in the virtuous task of ruling and being ruled. His koinonia politike described a political community . The concept of societas civilis is Roman and was introduced by Cicero . The political discourse in the classical period, places importance on the idea of a ‘good society’ in ensuring peace and order among the people. The philosophers in

6426-431: The power of the state. The statutes of these political organizations have been considered micro-constitutions because they accustom participants to the formalities of democratic decision making. More recently, Robert D. Putnam has argued that even non-political organizations in civil society are vital for democracy because they build social capital, trust, and shared values within a society. Social capital, as defined as

6528-399: The private sector (perhaps because the good that is being produced requires very risky investments, when patenting is difficult, or when spillover effects exist), the government can help these industries get on the market with positive economic effects. However, the government cannot necessarily predict which industries would qualify as such 'infant industries', and so the extent to which this

6630-446: The proliferation of these organizations has made it increasingly difficult for governments to meet both the widening range of policy preferences and rapidly changing social needs. The scholar David Rieff discusses another issue tied to civil society and political participation: single-issue activism. Since most civil society organizations focus on one sector or societal issue, this sometimes causes voters to shift their attention away from

6732-428: The proportion of the corporate entity a government owns. One definition purports that a company is classified as a GLC if a government owns an effective controlling interest (more than 50%), while the second definition suggests that any corporate entity that has a government as a shareholder is a GLC. The act of turning a part of government bureaucracy into a SOE is called corporatization . In economic theory ,

6834-410: The public sphere. Though these transformations happen, a civil society develops into political society when it emerges as non-economic and has a populous aspect, and when the state is not represented by just one political party. There needs to be a locus of authority, and this is where society can begin to challenge authority. Jillian Schwedler points out that civil society emerges with the resurrection of

6936-617: The purpose of mobilizing for political participation in Germany. The powerful influence of these efforts is evidenced by the NSDAP becoming the most potent political force in the nation in the mid-1900s. These case studies provide evidence of the crucial role of social networks in facilitating political participation and civic engagement. A strong civil society is often considered to be important for economic growth, with reasoning being that it can give important input on economic decisions, facilitate private enterprise and entrepreneurship, and prevent

7038-451: The question of whether a firm should be owned by the state or by the private sector is studied in the theory of incomplete contracts developed by Oliver Hart and his co-authors. In a world in which complete contracts were feasible, ownership would not matter because the same incentive structure that prevails under one ownership structure could be replicated under the other ownership structure. Hart, Shleifer, and Vishny (1997) have developed

7140-404: The realm of capitalist interests, there is a possibility of conflicts and inequalities within it (ex: mental and physical aptitude, talents and financial circumstances). He argued that these inequalities influence the choices that members are able to make in relation to the type of work they will do. The diverse positions in Civil Society fall into three estates: the substantial estate (agriculture),

7242-486: The reasons behind absolutism, and how to move beyond absolutism. The Enlightenment thinkers believed in the power of the human mind to reason. They opposed the alliance between the state and the Church as the enemy of human progress and well-being because the coercive apparatus of the state curbed individual liberty and the Church legitimated monarchs by positing the theory of divine origin. Therefore, both were deemed to be against

7344-452: The relationship between the strength of civil society and democracy obsolete. Indeed, as Larry Diamond asserts, in order to understand the multitude of ways civil society can serve democracy, it is also necessary to understand the tensions and contradictions civil society generates for democracy. In the United States, Tocqueville states that the tendency to form associations that would manifest into civil societies has propelled its success as

7446-477: The reunification of private and public/political realms (Colletti, 1975). Hence, Marx rejected the positive role of state put forth by Hegel. Marx argued that the state cannot be a neutral problem solver. Rather, he depicted the state as the defender of the interests of the bourgeoisie. He considered the state to be the executive arm of the bourgeoisie, which would wither away once the working class took democratic control of society. The above view about civil society

7548-499: The secretariat to the PCG and managed the implementation of the programme, which was completed in 2015. As of 2024, Philippines Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) is the most profitable state-owned enterprise in the Philippines. It is the third largest contributor to government revenues, following taxes and customs. Civil society Civil society can be understood as

7650-469: The service. Conversely, they might be detrimental because they reduce oversight and increase transaction costs (such as monitoring costs, i.e., it is more difficult and costly to govern and regulate an autonomous SOE than it is the public bureaucracy). Evidence suggests that existing SOEs are typically more efficient than government bureaucracy, but that this benefit diminishes as services get more technical and have less overt public objectives. Compared to

7752-431: The shift from large unions and organizations to smaller movements targeting specific political issues is less likely to spur large-scale participation in democracy. Galston and Levine state these new civil societies have proved to be less likely to engage in the political process and more likely to bring social activism. Civil society organizations provide citizens with knowledge crucial to political participation, such as

7854-433: The social networks and norms of reciprocity associated with them, can help societies resolve dilemmas of collective action; individuals with dense social networks are more likely to credibly commit to other members of society and leverage their social capital to build public goods. In turn, countries with strong civil societies are more likely to succeed as democracies. Some scholars have built on Putnam's claim and argued that

7956-418: The sources of resistance thereto, because it is seen as acting beyond boundaries and across different territories. However, as civil society can, under many definitions, include and be funded and directed by those businesses and institutions (especially donors linked to European and Northern states) who support globalization , this is a contested use. Rapid development of civil society on the global scale after

8058-456: The sphere of classical liberal values, which inevitably led to a larger role for civil society at the expense of politically derived state institutions. The integrated Civil Society Organizations (iCSO) System, developed by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), facilitates interactions between civil society organizations and DESA. Civil societies also have become involved in

8160-465: The state answers for the liabilities. Stocks of the corporation are not sold and loans have to be government-approved, as they are government liabilities. State-owned enterprises are a major component of the economy of Belarus . The Belarusian state-owned economy includes enterprises that are fully state-owned, as well as others which are joint-stock companies with partial ownership by the state. Employment in state-owned or state-controlled enterprises

8262-420: The state from stifling the economy. For example, labor leaders can ensure that economic growth benefits working people, faith leaders can advocate for greater inclusion in economic affairs, NGOs can flag and document harmful business practices, etc. Essentially, civil society creates social capital, which the World Bank defines as "the institutions, relationships, and norms that shape the quality and quantity of

8364-408: The state must operate within the bounds of civil and natural laws. Both Hobbes and Locke had set forth a system, in which peaceful coexistence among human beings could be ensured through social pacts or contracts. They considered civil society as a community that maintained civil life, the realm where civic virtues and rights were derived from natural laws. However, they did not hold that civil society

8466-493: The state's response to natural disasters, financial crises and social instability. China's SOEs are at the forefront of global seaport-building, and most new ports constructed by them are done within the auspices of the Belt and Road Initiative . As of at least 2024, an Ethiopian SOE is Africa's largest and most profitable airline, as well as Ethiopia's largest earner of foreign exchange. In India , government enterprises exist in

8568-440: The sub-optimal level in the absence of a sufficient system (Brown 2001:73). From that major concern, people gathered together to sign a contract and constituted a common public authority. Nevertheless, Locke held that the consolidation of political power can be turned into autocracy, if it is not brought under reliable restrictions (Kaviraj 2001:291). Therefore, Locke set forth two treaties on government with reciprocal obligations. In

8670-482: The survival of the hegemony of capitalism. Rather than posing it as a problem, as in earlier Marxist conceptions, Gramsci viewed civil society as the site for problem-solving. Misunderstanding Gramsci, the New Left assigned civil society a key role in defending people against the state and the market and in asserting the democratic will to influence the state. At the same time, neo-liberal thinkers consider civil society as

8772-463: The term civil society in the phrase koinōnía politikḗ ( κοινωνία πολιτική ), which refers to a political community , like the city-state ( polis ), established for collective survival. The telos or end of civil society, thus defined, was eudaimonia ( τὸ εὖ ζῆν , tò eu zēn ) (often translated as human flourishing or common well-being), in as man was defined as a ‘political (social) animal’ ( ζῷον πολιτικόν zōon politikón ). The concept

8874-457: The term civil society is used in the more general sense of "the elements such as freedom of speech, an independent judiciary, etc, that make up a democratic society" ( Collins English Dictionary ). Especially in the discussions among thinkers of Eastern and Central Europe, civil society is seen also as a normative concept of civic values. In the Politics , the philosopher Aristotle presents

8976-657: The term "enterprise" is challenged, as it implies statutes in private law which may not always be present, and so the term "corporations" is frequently used instead. Thus, SOEs are known under many other terms: state-owned company, state-owned entity, state enterprise, publicly owned corporation, government business enterprise, government-owned company, government controlled company, government controlled enterprise, government-owned corporation, government-sponsored enterprise , commercial government agency, state-privatised industry public sector undertaking, or parastatal, among others. In some Commonwealth realms , ownership by The Crown

9078-465: The term then gained currency to denote the corporate estates ( Ständestaat ) of a feudal elite of land-holders as opposed to the powers exercised by the prince. It had a long history in state theory, and was revived with particular force in recent times, in Eastern Europe, where dissidents such as Václav Havel as late as in the 1990s employed it to denote the sphere of civic associations threatened by

9180-418: The third sector is a result of this welfare systems restructuring, rather than of democratization. From that time stems a political practice of using the idea of civil society instead of political society . Henceforth, postmodern usage of the idea of civil society became divided into two main ones: as political society and as the third sector – apart from plethora of definitions. The Washington Consensus of

9282-496: The will of the people. Strongly influenced by the atrocities of Thirty Years' War, the political philosophers of the time held that social relations should be ordered in a different way from natural law conditions. Some of their attempts led to the emergence of social contract theory that contested social relations existing in accordance with human nature. They held that human nature can be understood by analyzing objective realities and natural law conditions. Thus they endorsed that

9384-515: Was a separate realm from the state. Rather, they underlined the co-existence of the state and civil society. The systematic approaches of Hobbes and Locke (in their analysis of social relations) were largely influenced by the experiences in their period. Their attempts to explain human nature, natural laws, the social contract and the formation of government had challenged the divine right theory. In contrast to divine right, Hobbes and Locke claimed that humans can design their political order. This idea had

9486-517: Was concerned, this system was effective to guard against the domination of a single interest and check the tyranny of the majority (Alagappa 2004:30). G. W. F. Hegel completely changed the meaning of civil society, giving rise to a modern liberal understanding of it as a form of non -political society as opposed to institutions of modern nation state . While in classical republicanism civil society where synonymous with political society , Hegel distinguished political state and civil society, what

9588-569: Was controversial due to the generous terms of the contract and because VR Laser was owned by the Gupta family which had close ties to then South African president Jacob Zuma . This contributed to Denel incurring a loss, the first in eight years, amounting to R1.7 billion putting the company in financial difficulty. This led to Denel not being able to pay staff and company pensioners. In 2017 the civil society group Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) (OUTA) stated that it had laid corruption charges against

9690-414: Was criticised by Antonio Gramsci (Edwards 2004:10). Departing somewhat from Marx, Gramsci did not consider civil society as a realm of private and alienated relationships. Rather, Gramsci viewed civil society as the vehicle for bourgeois hegemony, when it just represents a particular class. He underlined the crucial role of civil society as the contributor of the cultural and ideological capital required for

9792-502: Was dominated by problems of just war , a preoccupation that would last until the end of Renaissance . The Thirty Years' War and the subsequent Treaty of Westphalia heralded the birth of the sovereign states system . The Treaty endorsed states as territorially-based political units having sovereignty. As a result, the monarchs were able to exert domestic control by circumventing the feudal lords by raising their own armed troops. Henceforth, monarchs could form national armies and deploy

9894-596: Was evident in fall of the Weimar Republic in Germany. The Weimar Republic's failure to address the ravages of economic depression, and domestic struggles, led to the creation of a multitude of German civil societies. A defining and arguable fatal flaw of these groups was they reinforced societal conflicts and differences among Germans. This separation of German society into individual social groups meant they were incredibly vulnerable to nationalist ideals. Nazis infiltrated these discontent groups where they eventually became

9996-427: Was followed by Tocqueville's distinction between civil and political societies and associations, repeated by Marx and Tönnies. Unlike his predecessors, Hegel considered civil society ( German : bürgerliche Gesellschaft ) as a separate realm, a "system of needs", that is the, "[stage of] difference which intervenes between the family and the state". Civil society is the realm of economic relationships as it exists in

10098-415: Was imperative to ensure ‘civility’ in the polis and ‘good life’ of the people. For Plato , the ideal state was a just society in which people dedicate themselves to the common good, practice civic virtues of wisdom, courage, moderation and justice, and perform the occupational role to which they were best suited. It was the duty of the ‘ philosopher king ’ to look after people in civility. Aristotle thought

10200-458: Was now seen as "the magic bullet". By the end of the 1990s civil society was seen less as a panacea amid the growth of the anti-globalization movement and the transition of many countries to democracy; instead, civil society was increasingly called on to justify its legitimacy and democratic credentials. This led to the creation by the UN of a high level panel on civil society. However, in the 1990s with

10302-493: Was ordered to pay out R90 million by March 8. Denel did not comply however, prompting Solidarity to seize its bank accounts, which facilitated the full payout by July. Solidarity also vowed to bring to book those responsible for the supposed "fund mismanagement and looting". Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced in his 2022 budget address that the National Treasury had assigned Denel R3 billion in bailouts for

10404-416: Was used by Roman writers, such as Cicero , where it referred to the ancient notion of a republic ( res publica ). It re-entered into Western political discourse following one of the late medieval translations of Aristotle's Politics into Latin by Leonardo Bruni who as a first translated koinōnía politikḗ into societas civilis . With the rise of a distinction between monarchical autonomy and public law,

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