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One of the distinctive features of the post-industrial stage of social development is the strengthening of the social movement. Originating in ancient Greece, it became widespread only in the second half of the XX century. Today, public organizations have a huge weight, and have a tangible impact on the lives of individual countries and the entire world community.
Why do public organizations appear? Isn’t the existence of political parties and government bodies enough? It turns out that they do not always cope with the mission entrusted to them, and then there are non-governmental organizations aimed at drawing public attention to the existing problem and finding ways to solve it. Sociologists distinguish several reasons for the emergence of public organizations:
- the presence of unresolved social problems, such as environmental degradation, the HIV epidemic, the disappearance of rare animal species;
- discredit in the eyes of the public of the state authorities, political parties and trade unions. The crisis of public trust in these structures leads to the creation of public associations consisting of representatives of the population. Examples include the People’s Control, the Society for the Protection of Consumer Rights, and the Association of Journalists;
- Dissatisfaction with the modern form of democratic system, which implies indirect participation of citizens in the management of the state and, as a result, the creation of an alternative structure, allowing direct influence on the solution of state issues. Thus were born the unions of entrepreneurs, anti-corruption associations and foundations of civic initiatives.
The main goals of creating public organizations are the following:
- Provision of services (public and non-profit institution, autonomous non-profit organization);
- Protection of rights, interests (public organization);
- Solution of social problems arising at the place of residence or work/study (public amateur body);
- Solution of common problems (union/association);
- Achievement of public benefits, socially useful goals (social movement, non-commercial partnership).
As a social formation, public organizations perform a number of socially significant functions:
- provide opportunities for ordinary citizens to participate in political decision-making. Let us recall the American antiwar public organizations that played a decisive role in ending the Vietnam War;
- represent the interests of certain segments of the population. Examples are associations of single mothers, the Chernobyl Union, the society of defrauded depositors;
- carry out public control over the observance of human rights and freedoms. This function is performed by organizations defending the rights of women, prisoners, refugees, and migrants;
- influence the formation of public opinion. This is the task of all public formations, without exception.
Public organizations do not replace state authorities and their conclusions are of recommendatory nature. For example, a consumer rights protection society cannot call a seller, who deceived a consumer, to account; it only has the right to advise a victim and suggest where he/she should apply to protect his/her interests. People’s control is not empowered to punish unscrupulous producers or sellers, its representatives can only detect such cases and report them to the police.
However, the role of such unions and associations should not be underestimated. By influencing public opinion, they often compel governments to make the decisions they want. A case in point is the UN, which has for 60 years served as arbiter of peace in war conflicts.
Today, many citizens fail to obtain justice in many spheres of life. Standing up for one’s own interests is difficult in today’s world. Of course, if we combine our efforts, the result will be much more significant.
Creating public organizations is one way to activate human solidarity, to create a strong collective identity. It is one method of shaping social relations in the world. It is an increase in social activity of the population in order to defend common interests. And according to studies, recently there has been a significant increase in the number of such civic associations.
