Civil Society in Democratization

Peter Burnell, Peter Calvert

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2004
• eBook ISBN: 9781135755102
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Democracy
• Index: Politics & International Relations

This title brings together competing theories of civil society with critical studies of the role of civil society in diverse situations and the way in which it has been promoted as the key to democratization. The combination of contemporary theory and practical applications provides valuable reading for students of civil society and contemporary social and political change, and its policy implications for Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America.

Building Civil Societies in East Central Europe: The Effect of American Nongovernmental Organizations on Women’s Groups

PATRICE C. McMAHON

Since the collapse of communism, East Central Europe has been a laboratory for democratic experimentation. On several fronts, the experiment appears to have been a great success. While many have described this historical transformation, too little has been written about the role of international actors in this process. This is surprising given the number of external actors, particularly American nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). The article examines the relationship between American NGOs and women’s groups in Hungary, Poland and Russia. It argues that although American NGOs have had discrete positive effects on certain groups and individuals, the strategies employed by these groups may have actually hindered the success of the very goals they pursued. Employing the concept of a domestic advocacy network, the article explains the importance of elite support, contextually rooted organizations and ideas that resonate with local conditions and culture.

INTRODUCTION

As the iron curtain came down, Western governments, intergovernmental organizations, and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs)¹ made their way to the former Warsaw Pact countries. Whether they were interested in political party development or cleaning up the environment, they assumed that democratic consolidation depended on the existence of vibrant civil societies.² Believing that money, advice and good intentions could fill the gap created by the retrenching state, members of the international community, almost exclusively from North America and Western Europe, invested in local NGOs, particularly public advocacy groups.³ The recipe was simple. Advocacy groups would broaden public participation, promote institutional pluralism, and instil democratic values. In record time, it was hoped, this investment would produce civil societies in East Central Europe that would perform the same functions as civil societies in the West.⁴

International assistance has undeniably contributed to the rapid pace of change in this region. At the same time, the strategies used by these international actors may have actually hindered the success of the very goals they pursued.⁵ The problem with the strategies adopted by international actors is their failure to help foster a domestic advocacy network. A domestic advocacy network consists of support among local elites, autonomous, contextually rooted organizations,⁶ as well as the employment of ideas that resonate with societal conditions and local culture. By supporting and even creating organizations that modelled themselves on those in the West, well-intentioned international actors have overlooked the fact that civil society is inherently about ‘things domestic’, about citizens’ interests, domestic politics and local culture. As the voluntary, self-generating realm that lies between the state and the individual citizen,⁷ organizations found in civil society are traditionally created from the bottom up, rather than the top down. Thus, the success of international efforts depends on their ability to cultivate what needs to become an organic relationship between public advocacy groups, citizens and the state. These ties are only possible when local NGOs seek to influence government policies on behalf of citizens they genuinely represent.

The goal of this article is to circumscribe what is a broad and complex topic in an effort to understand the impact of civil society initiatives on East Central Europe. It does so by focusing on the relationship between certain international groups in one narrowly defined sector. This research focuses on the relationship between American NGOs and women’s groups in three post-communist countries —Hungary, Poland and Russia. Although the focus is on American nongovernmental actors involved in women’s issues, these strategies, and the problems encountered as a result, do not appear to be unique to women’s issues, American groups, or even NGOs.⁸ Nevertheless, it only discusses and evaluates the strategies of American private foundations, including the network of Soros foundations, the Ford Foundation, the German Marshall Fund, the MacArthur Foundation, and the Global Fund for Women, and American women’s organizations like the Network for East-West Women, Women’s World Banking, and the League of Women Voters.⁹ Despite important differences among these post-communist countries, American NGOs interested in this aspect of civil society development have adopted similar strategies and instruments to assist the female population and promote gender equality.

Under the rubric of civil society development, some 60 international groups focused their attention on helping women respond to the challenges posed by the move to democracy and a market economy.¹⁰ For some, this assistance was meant to provide immediate help to women threatened by unemployment, domestic violence and the reduction of state benefits. Others aspired to create independent women’s movements, ensuring the female population a voice in the democratic process and thereby strengthening civil society. Among these international actors, American NGOs were important and generous supporters of gender initiatives, particularly women’s advocacy groups. After a decade of involvement, tentative conclusions about the impact of this assistance on women’s groups and post-communist society are possible.

Evaluating international assistance initiatives has become a topic of immense interest for policy-makers and academics alike.¹¹ Democracy promotion or assistance¹² and civil society development have become cottage industries, particularly with the collapse of communism in East Central Europe.¹³ In the last decade, the United States government has spent close to ‘$1 billion on democracy programmes for post-communist countries’.¹⁴ Yet, national governments are hardly alone. The democracy assistance industry now includes ‘a growing number of privately formed groups that are international in scope and membership’.¹⁵ It is, thus, not surprising that governments, foundations, boards of various non-profits, and even development banks, want to know more about the efficacy of these programmes. Despite practitioners’ obvious interest in evaluating these programmes, those involved in day-to-day issues of democracy making have neither the time nor tolerance for academic debates, and they tend to focus on the future rather than the past.¹⁶ What this has meant is that the questions regarding the impact of democracy assistance efforts too often go unanswered or are asked and answered by citizens of the donor countries.¹⁷

Understanding the effects of international assistance is also of interest to political scientists study ing transnationalism,¹⁸ democratization,¹⁹ international civil society,²⁰ as well as the diffusion of international norms.²¹ Even though, or perhaps because, democracy assistance relates to such a variety of issues, scholars have only started to come to terms with these questions.²² There are many other reasons for the paucity of research on this topic. In short, political scientists are challenged conceptually, methodologically and even empirically. Terms like democracy, civil society, and NGOs are often used, but all suffer from definitional or conceptual ambiguity.²³ Methodologically, it is difficult to evaluate international assistance programmes because one must establish somewhat objective criteria for success and demonstrate the causal links between these programmes and domestic outcomes.²⁴ While some outcomes are quantifiable, this is generally an inadequate way to measure the effect of external actors on domestic outcomes.²⁵ Finally, while the plethora of actors, projects and countries offer numerous possible case studies, it is not surprising that scholars feel overwhelmed by the thousands of international programmes currently underway around the world.

Without resolving these challenges entirely, primary and secondary research on this sector from 1989 to 1998 explains how assistance by these international actors has contributed to the marginalization and even ‘ghettoization’ of women’s groups in post-communist society. The argument proceeds in four parts. The brief discussion that follows identifies the strategies American NGOs have used to support gender initiatives in the region. It is important for understanding the different ways in which American groups have approached civil society development in this sector. The second part describes some of the positive effects of American involvement. As indicated, however, this assistance has hardly fulfilled initial expectations. The third part of the article initially explains the importance of a domestic advocacy network to the advancement of women’s issues and civil society development. It then describes some of the unintended, and certainly undesired, effects of foreign involvement. To summarize, while numerous women’s groups currently exist, many more have fallen by the wayside. Moreover, the ones that remain have few members and remain isolated from mainstream politics. While disheartening to admit, ten years of investment and activism have neither improved the status of women nor produced discernible women’s movements in any post-communist state. Ironically, American NGOs have discouraged, rather than encouraged, women’s groups in East Central Europe from becoming the voice of the female population or an integral part of civ...

Table of contents

• COVER PAGE
• TITLE PAGE
• COPYRIGHT PAGE
• SOURCES
• CIVIL SOCIETY IN DEMOCRATIZATION
• CIVIL SOCIETY, DEMOCRATIZATION AND DEVELOPMENT: CLEARING THE ANALYTICAL GROUND
• BOWLING IN THE BRONX: THE UNCIVIL INTERSTICES BETWEEN CIVIL AND POLITICAL SOCIETY
• THE TAMING OF THE IDEA OF CIVIL SOCIETY
• CIVIL SOCIETY: MARKET ECONOMY AND DEMOCRATIC POLITY
• CIVIL SOCIETY, THE MARKET AND DEMOCRACY IN LATIN AMERICA
• CIVIL SOCIETY, THE STATE AND DEMOCRACY IN AFRICA
• THE ‘CIVIL’ AND THE ‘POLITICAL’ IN CIVIL SOCIETY: THE CASE OF INDIA
• DIE LEHRJAHRE SIND VORBEI! RE-FORMING DEMOCRATIC INTEREST GROUPS IN THE EAST GERMAN LäNDER
• CIVIL SOCIETY AND TRANSNATIONAL NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS IN THE EURO-MEDITERRANEAN PARTNERSHIP
• DEMOCRATIZATION IN BOSNIA: THE LIMITS OF CIVIL SOCIETY BUILDING STRATEGIES
• BUILDING CIVIL SOCIETIES IN EAST CENTRAL EUROPE: THE EFFECT OF AMERICAN NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS ON WOMEN’S GROUPS