Civil Society in New Democracies: What Is Old and What Is New in the Relationship between the State and Civil Society?

Abstract

Civil societies in the post-Communist new democracies are largely regarded as underdeveloped and not sufficiently influential in national politics. After the initial stages of democratization, when the role of civic mobilization and pluralistic associations was recognized in several instances, the predominating picture has become that of a weak civil society. This evaluation is even more relevant with regard to the new East European democracies. These conclusions are derived predominantly from research on the NGO sector, while other associations, such as trade unions and business associations, are far less studied. The analysis in this article is based on fresh empirical data on the political behavior of civil society and interest groups in Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. The author focuses on classic themes in interest groups literature, including the characteristics and structure of the populations of national interest groups, their organizational characteristics and their relationships with political institutions. The analysis shows that, sharing similar contexts of democratization, Europeanization, and with a shared past in a federal state, interest groups in Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia show remarkable similarities. Most of the research findings are in line with the literature on interest groups in old democracies, but there are a number of differences that indicate the rather poor quality of the relationship between the state and civil society.