What If We Valued Civil Society Enough to Pay For It?

Imagine a civil society organization that did more than publish policy briefs and organize conferences. What if this hypothetical organization of passionate, authentic employees were able to mobilize millions of people when our liberties were at risk, or when there...
Something is Happening in Mexico

Something is Happening in Mexico

Political commentator Mario Campos makes a plea for activists to think in trendlines rather than headlines, to lengthen their time horizons of social change, to become involved with civil society organizations that are increasingly unified and strategic in their efforts to advance social change when the political opportunities do emerge.

[Impunity in Peru] The Importance of Civil Society

[Impunity in Peru] The Importance of Civil Society

In April 2009 Aldo Panfichi, a professor at Peru’s Pontificia Universidad Católica and consultant for OSI’s Latin America Program (disclosure: my current employer), carried out a survey of 462 residents of Lima about their perceptions of NGO’s. He...
The Future is Present … For Some

The Future is Present … For Some

Via Boris, I discover this quote from William Gibson: The future is already here – it is just unevenly distributed. Just try flying from Delhi to Tokyo or from Singapore to East Africa and you’ll know exactly what he means. In South Korea they watch TV on...