Abstract

Which civil sociey organizations (CSOs) contribute to democracy, how and why? Organized civil society is traditionally considered a cornerstone of democracy. Nevertheless, individual CSOs’ readiness and ability to serve as venues for participation, vehicles of democratic representation or indeed both at the same time have remained a matter of on-going debate across social science disciplines. Prominent notions such as ‘NGOization’ and ‘cartelization’ have problematized CSOs’ and parties’ increasing state dependency and professionalization, shifting organizational priorities away from societal values towards instrumentally driven self-maintenance, thereby diminishing their contribution to democratic governance. Read more

Nicole Bolleyer Chair of Comparative Political Science at the Geschwister Scholl Institute of Political Science, Ludwigs-Maximilians-Universität, Munich.

Hybrid event at WZB and online via Zoom. For details and registration see here.