Studies

Shrinking democratic civic space for youth

Authors: Council of Europe (CoE), Tomaž Deželan, PhD, Laden Yurttagüle

Year of production: 2022

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Photo by Rosemary Ketchum

Despite the centrality of civil society organisations, youth organisations included, in promoting and safeguarding basic human rights and democracy, the last few years have witnessed a persistent silencing of civil society that narrowed down the civic space significantly. The change in civil society was discussed under the conceptualisation of “shrinking civil society” beginning with the 2010s with the contribution of both academia and civil society fields. The conceptualisation primarily refers to the actions of the political power holders which endangers freedom of assembly, association and speech, mostly, in the name (discourse) of security. Closing of civil society was demonstrated with explicit measures and implicit mechanisms. Read more within this report.

Shrinking democratic civic space for youth
pjp-eu.coe.int
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Authors

Council of Europe (CoE)

The Council of Europe is the continent's leading human rights organisation. It includes 47 member states, 27 of which are members of the European Union. The Council of Europe advocates freedom of expression and of the media, freedom of assembly, equality, and the protection of minorities. The Council of Europe helps member states fight corruption and terrorism and undertake necessary judicial reforms. The Council of Europe promotes human rights through international conventions, such as the Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence and the Convention on Cybercrime.

Tomaž Deželan, PhD

Tomaž Deželan, PhD, is a Professor of Political Science at the University of Ljubljana. He is an expert in Higher Education policy, employability and improvement/quality assurance in education. He is a member of the several national and international organisations and governing bodies in Higher Education and has collaborated with many international governmental and non-governmental organisations and initiatives on topics related to education, youth sector and EU policies, as well as governments.

Laden Yurttagüle

Experienced in capacity building for CSOs; skilled in program, content and tool development for CSOs. Working on the concept of "participation," including advocacy, volunteering, policy development, and policy analysis.

Shrinking democratic civic space for youth