Relationship Trouble
Can we find the correct balance between the state and civil society? Photo taken by Stan Oleson.Published under a CC BY-SA 3.0 license on fotopedia.
The Future Challenges team works together to choose each topic that we discuss. We gather proposals from our network, select a general topic from these proposals, draft several important questions, and then vote together on the final question.
This content package deals with the relationship between the state and its citizens, both how it looks now and how it might look in the years ahead as economic, demographic and social pressures build. Our team voted for the following question:
Economic woes and changing demographics across the globe have brought to the fore questions about the relationship between states and their citizens. Will massive changes in our economies and societies also force us to re-think the social contract? In the future, will many states be drifting slowly towards the welfare-state model, or will new models rise up instead? What can (or should) citizens expect from their governments in the future?
Future Challenges authors are in 65 countries in the developed and the developing world. Take your pick from the Local Views on the right, and explore the ways in which writers from around the world think about this critical issue.
Tags: Cities, Civil Society, democracy, developing countries, education, globalization, Good Governance, Governance, human rights, urbanization, youth unemployment
Tom Fries
Most recent Local Views on ‘Relationship trouble’
-
El Salvador y la democracia feudal
Written by vlemus
on December 3, 2013. Abstract: Salvadoran society is as politically weak as can be. Although a former guerrilla has won the national elections and held office without any incident, there is still no feedback between the State and its citizens. Is it a heritage of the several unresolved issues (of land distribution, of poverty, […]
-
You know… it’s good for you
Written by Josh Grundleger
on November 25, 2013. Deep in American DNA is a visceral aversion to despotism….The bad news is that we don’t feel that way—anymore—about softer, more diffuse and bureaucratic forms of tyranny. Every American is taught from grade school up that they should fear living in the world of Orwell’s 1984. Few Americans can tell […]
-
Syria: So . . . What about the Kurds?
Written by Tom Tyler
on September 24, 2013. In spite of the clear polarization of the Syrian Civil War, with Iranian- and Russian-backed Shiite authorities on one side and Western-backed Sunni rebels on the other, one group does not quite fit into this mess. Just who, precisely, are Syria’s Kurds, what are their aims, and what is to […]
-
Egypt’s June 30: A Military Coup or a Revival of Dreams?
Written by Fady Salah
on July 25, 2013. The events recently witnessed in Egypt have clearly stirred a huge wave of controversy on the international front. International political analysts and politicians are now divided in their views; while some perceive the ousting of president Morsi as a great achievement, others view it as a “military coup” and a […]
-
The Egyptian Revolution: A Love Affair Gone Wrong
Written by Sara Elkamel
on July 23, 2013. Egypt’s revolution –glorious, as it may be – has ruined our chances for healthy relationships, in my honest opinion. Let me tell you why. During, and in the aftermath of the 25 January revolution which called for bread, freedom and social justice, and demanded the ouster of three-decade dictator Hosni […]
-
Conflict in the DR Congo
Written by The Oxonian Globalist
on July 20, 2013. Fearing for the future, weeping for the past If civil-society struggles persist, the DRC will continue to fall short of its vast economic potential. Philip Gourevitch, author and journalist, once wrote: “Oh Congo, what a wreck. It hurts to look and listen. It hurts to turn away.” In three sentences […]
-
A Specter of Socialism in the Lone Star State
Written by Samuel Chapman
on July 17, 2013. The United States of America faces a number of grim issues- disparity in income and wealth, the consolidation of power, the erosion of civil liberties- all of which are not being adequately addressed by the current system of governance. One effect of this is that Americans’ interest in a […]
-
Morsi’s Seven Deadly Sins
Written by Tarek Amr
on July 7, 2013. Call it a coup, or a revolution, or even a coup-volution, but whatever you call it the truth is that on June 30th millions of Egyptians went onto the streets demonstrating against Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood rule. And that two days later the army could easily remove him from […]
-
Fiji Votes for Economic Growth?
Written by Arnold Chanel
on June 27, 2013. Fiji has a very high poverty rate. In 2010 45% of Fijians lived under the poverty line and this figure has certainly risen since then due to the economic crisis and chronic lack of employment. With only one year left to the much anticipated 2014 Fijian elections, the big question […]
-
The economic crisis from Buenos Aires to Cyprus … and back again
Written by rodolfomohr
on June 23, 2013. The economic crisis has global dimensions. Countries of Latin America and Europe have been suffering its effects through the austerity plans, trade gaps and unemployment. So, some people are seeking the collective answers to global issues, trusting Latin America’s creativity on being a resistance pole to financial capital’s offensive.
