ABSTRACT
The findings from the survey and interviews have highlighted issues that are indicative of other Tunisian civil society organisations (CSOs), but this chapter assesses one CSO’s practices: its internal procedures, decision-making processes, and the extent to which civil political culture is exhibited within the organisation. The study of practice requires observation of the practice, therefore civil political culture can be observed, measured, and assessed through ethnographic observations. In contrast to the survey and interviews in this book that focus on discourse and seek to make generalisations and comparisons about CSOs, an ethnographic study focuses on the “small world” of everyday interaction (Lichterman, 2005: 1–2).
I worked with Jeunes Indépendants Démocrates (JID) (Young Independent Democrats), a youth-led CSO from Tunis. The observation data was verified with interviews of JID members and analysis of their charter to determine their adherence to rules. This chapter concludes that JID underwent a democratic learning process, that was “reflexive (internal) and cross-cultural (external)” (Sadiki, 2015: 706) and that the challenging leadership transition fundamentally impacted on its institutional culture.
