Global news is generally bad news. On the surface, the story is about war, poverty, ethnic and sectarian strife. Democracy movements advanced by the U.S. government seem to be stalled or even reversed. Yet just below the surface, more hopeful trends are brewing. A new global awareness of the people at "the bottom of the pyramid" is summoning forth an unprecedented response to human need and suffering. It involves a shift from vertical to horizontal power that official aid agencies are only beginning to comprehend. Whereas twenty-five years ago, government aid accounted for 70 percent of all American outflows, today 85 percent of all outflows of resources come from private individuals, businesses, religious congregations, universities, and immigrant communities. If aid policy in the twentieth century relied on top-down bureaucracy dominated by policy specialists and elites, the twenty-first century is shaping up as an era in which citizens, social entrepreneurs, and volunteers link up to solve problems. U.S. military and economic power are basic components of America's presence in the world; but in an environment of rampant anti-Americanism, it is compassion that is America's most consequential export. Civil society, once the distinctive characteristic of American democracy, is now advancing across the globe, carrying with it new forms of philanthropy, citizenship, and volunteerism. Tens of thousands of voluntary associations are prying open closed societies from within, solving problems in new ways, and forming the seedbed for a long-term cultivation of democratic norms. Building Nations from the Bottom Up: The Global Rise of Democratic Society presents a sweeping overview of the forces now shaping the global debate, including citizen-led development projects, poverty-reduction strategies that substitute opportunity for charity, and electronically linked movements to combat corruption and autocratic rule.
The Rise of Global Civil Society
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"Anyone in international business should read this book. Don Eberly describes in convincing detail the dynamic force-multiplying interaction of technology, communications, compassion, and civic norms and practices in Third World (and Second World) countries. Businesses concerned with creating markets must appreciate the important parallel phenomenon of the proliferation of thriving economic communities built from the bottom up. Eberly reveals both the surprising scale and the important nuances of a new and hope-filled force in our age." -- William W. Adams, former chairman and president of Armstrong World Industries
"Building Nations from the Bottom Up is a brilliant book that captures a growing movement transcending national, cultural, and ideological differences. The spirit of volunteerism and the mobilization of civil society, once thought unique to America, are spreading throughout the world. This is a hopeful sign for war-torn nations and for countries with high rates of poverty and disease. It is also a hopeful sign for America, whose greatest export is its compassion. No one in America is better positioned to tell this story than Don Eberly, who has worked both in the trenches in communities around the world and at the highest levels of our government." -- John Bridgeland, former assistant to the President of the United States, director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, and director of the USA Freedom Corps
"Don Eberly is America's leading thinker about civil society. This timely book is a one-of-a-kind blueprint for a people-first globalization movement. An intellectual godfather of national fatherhood initiatives and longtime champion of community-based charities that serve the poor, Eberly has distinguished himself in public service from Washington D.C. to Iraq. Now, in Building Nations from the Bottom Up, he analyzes how to build healthy societies, economies, and governments `from the bottom up.' This important book charts a new course to homegrown peace and prosperity that can benefit children and families all around the world." -- John J. DiIulio Jr., Frederic Fox Leadership Professor of Politics, Religion and Civil Society, University of Pennsylvania, and former director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives
"Few tasks are more urgent for American foreign policy than building the `infrastructure of democracy,' as President Ronald Reagan said nearly twenty-five years ago. . . . Don Eberly has offered up a timely set of strategies and insights on how to do exactly this, based on years of experience around the world. There are valuable lessons here for both the public and the private sector as we seek to engage a broad range of challenges. Eberly's work is a must-read for all of us who are seeking to fulfill Reagan's vision and help other nations gain the freedoms upon which a real civil society is based." -- John Sullivan, executive director of the Center for International Private Enterprise
"If you ever doubted that the United States has an important role to play in world development--or wondered what that role might be and whether it is worth pursuing--read this book. Eberly argues, clearly and persuasively, that the world's biggest constituency for the `American values' of the market, the rule of law, and democracy are the poor of the developing world--four billion potential partners in their own development." -- Hernando De Soto, author of The Mystery of Capital
"Building Nations from the Bottom Up is a brilliant book that captures a growing movement transcending national, cultural, and ideological differences. The spirit of volunteerism and the mobilization of civil society, once thought unique to America, are spreading throughout the world. This is a hopeful sign for war-torn nations and for countries with high rates of poverty and disease. It is also a hopeful sign for America, whose greatest export is its compassion. No one in America is better positioned to tell this story than Don Eberly, who has worked both in the trenches in communities around the world and at the highest levels of our government." -- John Bridgeland, former assistant to the President of the United States, director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, and director of the USA Freedom Corps
"Don Eberly is America's leading thinker about civil society. This timely book is a one-of-a-kind blueprint for a people-first globalization movement. An intellectual godfather of national fatherhood initiatives and longtime champion of community-based charities that serve the poor, Eberly has distinguished himself in public service from Washington D.C. to Iraq. Now, in Building Nations from the Bottom Up, he analyzes how to build healthy societies, economies, and governments `from the bottom up.' This important book charts a new course to homegrown peace and prosperity that can benefit children and families all around the world." -- John J. DiIulio Jr., Frederic Fox Leadership Professor of Politics, Religion and Civil Society, University of Pennsylvania, and former director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives
"Few tasks are more urgent for American foreign policy than building the `infrastructure of democracy,' as President Ronald Reagan said nearly twenty-five years ago. . . . Don Eberly has offered up a timely set of strategies and insights on how to do exactly this, based on years of experience around the world. There are valuable lessons here for both the public and the private sector as we seek to engage a broad range of challenges. Eberly's work is a must-read for all of us who are seeking to fulfill Reagan's vision and help other nations gain the freedoms upon which a real civil society is based." -- John Sullivan, executive director of the Center for International Private Enterprise
"If you ever doubted that the United States has an important role to play in world development--or wondered what that role might be and whether it is worth pursuing--read this book. Eberly argues, clearly and persuasively, that the world's biggest constituency for the `American values' of the market, the rule of law, and democracy are the poor of the developing world--four billion potential partners in their own development." -- Hernando De Soto, author of The Mystery of Capital
About the Author
Don Eberly is a scholar and speaker on civil society. He has authored or co-authored numerous books, including The Civil Society Reader and Civil Society in the 21st Century, which is circulating among democratizers in the Middle East. He has served as a senior counselor for civil society at USAID, a senior advisor on Iraq, director of private sector coordination for tsunami reconstruction at the State Department, and a deputy assistant to the President of the United States.
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19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
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Superb Overview, A Bright Light Into the Future,
By Robert D. Steele (Oakton, VA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)
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This review is from: The Rise of Global Civil Society: Building Communities and Nations from the Bottom Up (Hardcover)
I would normally penalize the publisher one star for being lazy about providing basic information using Amazon's excellent digital loading dock.
Here's the part the publisher should have provided: Foreword: Poverty Reduction in the Age of Globalization 01 Compassion: America's Most Consequential Export 02 Core Elements of Community and Nation-Building: The American Debate 03 The Great Foreign Aid Debate: Stingy or Generous 04 From Aid Bureaucracy to Civil Society: Participation & Partnership 05 Wealth, Poverty, and the Rise of Corporate Citizenship 06 Microenterprise: Tapping Native Capability at the Bottom of the Pyramid 07 The Great Tsunami of 2004 and America's Generosity 08 Conflict or Collaboration: Religion and Democratic Civil Society 09 Understanding Anti-Americanism 10 Civil Society and Nation-Building: Prospects for Democratization 11 Conflict and Reconciliation in the Context of Nation-Building 12 Habits of the Heart: The Case for a Global Civic Culture 13 Roadmap for Bottom-Up Nation-Building in the 21st Century Although there are omissions and correspondences that are not addressed in this book, which relies on a handful of core readings, I have nothing but admiration for the author's talent, insight, and art in bringing this all together. This one book is easily a substitute for 10-25 other books, and the author communicates some key ideas with discipline. Highlights for me: + Shift from vertical to horizontal power + 85% of aid is NOT from governments + Key trends include citizen-led development; provision of opportunity instead of charity; and use of electronic devices, notably the cell phone, to counter corruption and the abuse of power (while also increasing individual and group productivity) + Propaganda (public diplomacy or strategic communication or covert action media placements and influence operations) DOES NOT WORK. What works is good works for the right reasons. + We are in the midst of an association revolution at the same time that corporate citizenship and social responsibility is on the rise. + Local ownership and local innovation are the heart of success + There is an emerging role for religion and culture that is distinct from the negative role now played by extremists on both sides + Anti-Americanism is making US government aid ineffective at same time that door is being left open to non-governmental aid from US sources + Goal is to cultivate democratic citizens by creating civil society, which the author reminds us citing Tocqueville, is what actually nurtures citizenship--not state or government directives + Capital trapped in poverty far exceed all combined sources of aid + Third World is a hot-bed of innovation and small-scale experimentation, and the cell phone is playing a huge role in helping individuals climb out of poverty + Pushing democracy before civil society has been established, or before reconciliation and stabilization have been achieved, will not work + In next 25 years 31-41 trillion dollars in wealth will become available for philanthropy (or debauchery, but the author is an optimist) + In the age of networks collaboration, the concept of sound governance is one that needs development--I thought immediately of a sparse matrix in which various organizations have metrics associated with a specific project, and they strive to turn each from red to yellow to green. + 75% of US individual taxpayers did not itemize deductions, this is a huge untapped source of charity--however, while the author focuses on increasing individual donations to intermediaries like the Red Cross, we at Earth Intelligence Network would much prefer to create global range of gifts tables that allow all individuals to opt in at any level ($10 and up) and start peer-to-peer giving on a global scale at the household level of precision. + Key trends: from the giant to the small; from the remote to the local; from the bureaucratic to the non-bureaucratic; from the impersonal to the personal; from the compartmentalized to the holistic + More key trends: from clientelism to citizenship; from giantism to human scale; from credentialism to capacity building (see EIN's idea for teaching the poor one cell call at a time using global virtual networks of volunteers--they do not need diplomas, they need knowledge on demand); from fragmentation to integration (e.g. must harmonize all twelve policies to eradicate any given threat); from aid bureaucracies to civil society + Bottom-line: empower the indigenous and do not pretend you know what they need. It is NOT "on us" to do anything other than practice the Golden Rule and be compassionate and generous. + The final section of the book needs to be read in detail but includes ideas such as government becoming a catalyst rather than a supplier (steer not row); achieving a means of tracking (and we hope, orchestrating) government, private and NGO giving, and remittances, which the author feels must be counted. + He speaks of a third way that combines conditionality (give us a good legal environment) with anti-corruption (on this point his focus is on mis-direction of aid, not on the Canadian gold company paying a single Colonel to move a village so they can loot billions in gold from the Peruvian commonwealth) + Corporate strategic or venture giving is a favorable emerging trend, along with social entrepreneurship and I would add, hybrid enterprises + Web-based giving is in its infancy (and still gives control of the money to large organizations with huge staffs--EIN wants to get to P2P Web 3.0 giving that is both point to point and on the record for all to see The book concludes with 26 suggestions spanning the full eight tribes as I call them (government, military, law enforcement, academia, business, media, NGOs, and civil society) and for this alone you must buy the book or check it out of the library. Solid common sense. Amazon does not provide a capability to link to lists, so I can only offer a couple of examples in several literatures. If I point to a book you can read my review and find 10 more links there. Poverty Potential The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits (Wharton School Publishing Paperbacks) The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom Capitalism 3.0 Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage Civilization Building The leadership of civilization building: Administrative and civilization theory, symbolic dialogue, and citizen skills for the 21st century How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas, Updated Edition Tao of Democracy Society's Breakthrough!: Releasing Essential Wisdom and Virtue in All the People Collective Intelligence: Creating a Prosperous World at Peace Failure of Government and the Two-Party Spoils System Breaking the Real Axis of Evil: How to Oust the World's Last Dictators by 2025 Running On Empty: How The Democratic and Republican Parties Are Bankrupting Our Future and What Americans Can Do About It
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