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6 Int'l J. Civ. Soc'y L. 3 (2008)

handle is hein.journals/ijcsl6 and id is 1 raw text is: LETTER FROM THE EDITOR January 31, 2008 Dear Readers, This quarter we are honored to bring to you several interesting articles and a book review coming from various parts of the world. The Articles section of this issue features the following: 1. Dr. V enap Cakmak's discussion of Civil Society Actors in International Law and World Politics. As Dr. Cakmak points out, the role of NGOs in the development of policies at the UN and other international bodies has grown markedly since World War II, and the analysis of what impact that has had is increasingly important. The ways in which non-state actors influence the development of international law, in particular international human rights law, has been noted by many scholars. This is the first time that IJCSL seeks to address this significant issue, and it welcomes the perspective of a well-known Turkish scholar on it. 2. Ms. Maria Latukhina, a PhD Student at the University of Saskatchewan in the Department of Sociology, has contributed a paper on the question of the civil society deficit in Russia. Her analysis suggests that not only is the government repression of NGOs and independent media effective, but the Russian people also do not participate in civic activity. They are either indifferent or they maintain a strong belief that they cannot influence the government. She suggests some efforts at education to build a sense of civic awareness in the youth of the country in order for Russia to become more democratic in the long run. 3. The article about the legal and fiscal environment for civil society organizations in Germany is written by our frequent contributor and Editorial Board member Dr. Michael Ernst-Poerksen. It describes the various legal forms of NPOs in Germany and the tax benefits they and their donors receive. This important paper includes the most recent (2007) changes in tax benefits and describes how the landscape has changed, but not markedly, from what it was before. The article is part of a series that will include the< e3> Project - Civil Societies in the Euromed Region. 4. Special Section on Zimbabwe. This section includes two articles by young Zimbabwean scholars offering two quite different perspectives on developments in that country. The first, by Mr. Jephias Mapuva, a lecturer at Kwekwe Polytechnic in the Department of National and Strategic Studies (NASS), discusses the effectiveness of civil society organizations in engaging government in Zimbabwe. Mr. Mapuva's article contains a case study of three selected civic organizations, namely the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP), the Zimbabwe Human Rights Organization (ZimRights) and the National Constitutional Assembly, (NCA). A detailed analysis of policy documents indicates that key parts of the legislative framework curtailed citizen participation in public affairs. Yet, despite the restrictive nature of sections of the legislation guiding civil

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