Civil Society and Democracy Promotion

Through compelling contributions from experts on democratization, this volume analyzes the impact and importance of civil society development and external civil society promotion on democracy promotion in post-socialist Eastern Europe. Looking specifically at countries with a failed or deficient process of democratic consolidation, where civil society is viewed as a substitute or complement to democracy promotion in government, the contributors explore the problems and unintended consequences of external democracy promotion on civil society development. The theoretical contributions analyze roles civil society play for democratization and how democracy promotion can support or undermine these roles. The empirical contributions cover a wide range of civil society actors and current developments in various Eastern European countries.

Professor Dr. Timm Beichelt is Professor of European Studies at the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder), Germany.

Irene Hahn-Fuhr is affiliated to the European University Viadrina, Germany and the research programme External Democracy Promotion and Civil Society in Post-Socialist Europe run in cooperation with the ETH Zürich.

Frank Schimmelfennig is Professor of European Politics at ETH Zurich, Switzerland, and member of the Center for Comparative and International Studies.

Susann Worschech graduated in Social Sciences from Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany. With her current PhD research at the European University Viadrina, she analyzes network patterns and strategies through which external donors support civil actors in Ukraine.

1.Introduction; Irene Hahn-Fuhr and Susann Worschech
2.External Democracy Promotion and Divided Civil Society: The Missing Link; Irene Hahn-Fuhr and Susann Worschech
3.External Democracy Promotion and Civil Society in Non-Democratic Regimes – Modes and Effects; Timm Beichelt and Wolfgang Merkel
4.From the Unity of Goodness to Conflicting Objectives: The Inherent Tensions in the External Promotion of Democracy and Civil Society; Jonas Wolff
5.The Changing Nature of EU Support to Civil Society; Natalia Shapovalova and Richard Youngs
6.On the Tradeoffs of Assisting Civil Society Development Abroad: The Case of the Eastern EU Civic Democracy Promoters; Tsveta Petrova
7.Democratization from Below: Civil Society Versus Social Movements?; Donatella Della Porta
8.Engineered Civil Society: the impact of 20 years of Democracy Promotion on Civil society Development in the Former Soviet Countries; Armine Ishkanian
9.Who is Supported by Western Civil Society Promotion? The Russian Case; Stepanka Busuleanu
10.Participation in Civil Society Organizations and Political Parties in Post-Communist Europe: The Impact of Political Divides; Franziska Blomberg and Edina Szöcsik
11.Democracy promotion and civil society in Eastern Europe: Conclusions; Frank Schimmelfennig