January 27, 2000 | Read Time: 2 minutes
Civil society, which has become “one of the favorite buzzwords among the global chattering classes,” may have difficulty living up to its proponents’ high expectations, says Thomas Carothers in Foreign Policy (Winter 1999-2000).
Mr. Carothers, who is vice-president for global policy at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, tries to debunk some of what he considers to be common misconceptions about civil society. The idea, he says, emerged in its modern form in the late 18th century, was revived in the past few decades by activists fighting tyranny in Eastern Europe and Latin America, and in recent years has become “a key element of the post-cold-war zeitgeist,” touted by presidents and political scientists alike as the key to political, economic, and societal success.
Many people equate civil society with non-governmental organizations, he says — especially with advocacy groups devoted to “good causes” like the environment, human rights, and women’s issues. But he says civil society in fact embraces a broader universe that includes not only labor unions, professional associations, student groups, sports clubs, and civic organizations but also citizen militias, hate groups, and organized-crime syndicates.
What’s more, he adds, while some groups embody non-material values, “much of civil society is preoccupied with the pursuit of private and frequently parochial and grubby ends.”
Conventional wisdom is that a strong civil society goes hand in hand with democracy, but Mr. Carothers says either can exist without the other. A vibrant civil society in Weimar Germany, for example, ended up subverting liberal democratic values, paving the way for the Nazis’ rise to power. On the other hand, he adds, countries like Japan, France, and Spain have forged stable democracies despite having relatively weak and undeveloped civil societies.
Nor is a robust civil society a prerequisite for economic success. “South Korea’s economic miracle was built on the back of a repressed civil society,” Mr. Carothers says. Yet he notes that Bangladesh remains one of the world’s poorest countries, despite the presence of thousands of very active advocacy groups and social-service organizations.
Civil society is indeed on the ascent around the world, Mr. Carothers declares, but its attributes must be considered dispassionately. “It carries the potential to reshape the world in important ways,” he concludes, “but one must not oversell its strength or idealize its intentions.”
The article is available on line at http://www.foreignpolicy.com.
