Few people now know what civil initiatives are in modern Russia. Information about this is rarely seen in newspapers or on television. And for officials, parties and organizations, they have no meaning. What are civic initiatives and what role do they play in society?
Components
- Leader.
- Kernel (optional).
- Peripherals.
A leader is a person who organizes a group of citizens and takes charge of it. It is assumed that there may be several such activists. The core is a few other members who constantly contribute to the development and activities of this association. Sometimes its functions are performed by the leader himself. The rest of the people who take part in the group are called the periphery. It can be lawyers, environmentalists, club members and ordinary residents who are striving to solve a common problem. Their number can vary from a couple of people to several hundred. After the problem is gone,There are two options for the further development of the civil initiative. In the first case, the group breaks up. In the second - its activity does not fade away. Its members continue to further resolve any issues. But in this case, it can last a short period of time. Not all civil initiatives cope with the difficulties that have appeared on their way. There are two types of associations under consideration: conflicting and supporting. Let's take a look at each one.
Conflict groups
To better understand what this is, consider the following example. The authorities decided to give free space in the city for development. Residents of the area are against. To resolve this situation, they gather in a conflict civil initiative. That is, its basis is some kind of dispute.
Sustaining joins
Educating social groups, helping them, protecting rights, etc. - this is what supportive civil initiatives do. Examples of such organizations: the "Communication" club in Moscow (created on the basis of the district library, where you can listen to lectures and discuss various topics), the "Neighbours" community (it consists of elderly people at the place of residence). Separately, we can single out the Nord-Ost initiative, which includes relatives of people who were taken hostage at Dubrovka. Its participants seek to support the victims in the psychological and therapeutic plan. And also punish criminals.
Why did civic initiatives emerge?
The first reason is the inability to regulate some situations. Unfortunately, not all problems are spelled out in our legislation. Sometimes the authorities do not react in any way to the ongoing conflicts. Often, when a difficult situation arises for a group of people, they should contact the local government. However, they do not live up to their name. The higher authorities allocate them too little budget. They are often very limited in their rights, because they are subordinate to other governing bodies. So grassroots civic initiatives are just ordinary people who want to solve their problems.
The second reason is that the state, criminal groups or commercial organizations often neglect the rights of ordinary citizens. In order to protect themselves, people are forced to gather in initiatives. Among such civil associations, the Danko club can be singled out. It was created to help preserve housing for children whose parents have been deprived of the right to raise them. Officials will go to great lengths to appropriate easily accessible living space. The authorities in Nizhny Novgorod decided to cut down the garden in order to build a commercial center in its place. In this situation, the club "Zimina, 6" was created, which for a long time struggled with this decision. And the organization "Old Nizhny" in the same city protested against the eviction of residents to the outskirts due to the demolition of the old housing stock.
The third reason is the people themselves. There are individuals who are not indifferent to other people's problems and activelytrying to help everyone. And if these people have the natural qualities of a leader, then the emergence of groups under their leadership is inevitable. Conflict civil initiatives imply that when a problem arises, there must be a person who will take care of all organizational issues. At the same time, he must have free time and the ability to mobilize a group of people interested in this matter. In supporting civic initiatives, the personal qualities of community organizers are important. These people seek to realize their ideals, enlighten disadvantaged social groups, help others to improve themselves. They are concerned about the spiritual state of society.
Conclusions
The importance of civil initiatives is gradually gaining momentum in Russia, especially in the political sphere. It is enough to recall the dissatisfaction of residents with monetization. When the state wanted to deprive citizens of some benefits (for example, free travel, medicines), people did not remain indifferent. Small civic initiatives were created at the place of residence, which became parts of a huge protest movement.
