Civil Society and Political Transition in Africa
Civil Society and Political Transition in Africa
Civil Society and Political Transition in Africa
by Michael Bratton
Michael Bratton is Professor of Political Science and African Studies at Michigan State University, and is a Senior IDR Associate. This report is based on remarks presented at Addis Ababa University, January 24, 1994 and at the Boston-Area Faculty NGO Seminar, Boston University, April 20, 1994. Introduction The renewal of interest in democracy has thrust the concept of civil society into a prominent position in both social science theory and development policy. Pressures for political reform have emanated from two quarters. In the international arena, the superpowers have adjusted to the end of the Cold War by withdrawing or reducing support to client states, thereby undercutting authoritarian regimes. At the same time, demands for political change have emanated from within domestic societies as citizens have mobilized to rid themselves of the military and one-party structures that have buttressed illegitimate power. To the extent that popular forces have captured the political initiative from state elites, analysts now acknowledge the importance of civil society. Civil society is a truly international idea. Its roots can be found in both the liberal and Marxist traditions of European political thought, for example in de Tocqueville's emphasis on the importance of voluntary associations in promoting democratic citizenship and in Gramsci's emphasis on the role of social institutions in either buttressing or challenging state power. The emergence of a democratic opposition to authoritarian socialist party-states in Central and Eastern Europe provided the impetus to the contemporary revival of civil society (e.g. Havel, 1985; Ashe, 1990; Kennedy, 1991; Rau, 1991). The concept was then picked up by analysts of transitions from authoritarian rule in Southern Europe and Latin America (e.g. O'Donnell, Schmitter and Whitehead, 1986; Mainwaring and Viola 1984; Eckstein, 1989; de Janvry et.al., 1993). It has also been adopted by social critics who note the decline of civic values in the advanced capitalist countries and has been most recently applied to social movements and political transitions in Russia, China and countries in Africa (e.g. Gustafson, 1989; Gold, 1990; Fowler et.al., 1992; see also bibliography, sections 2 and 3). Common elements in the civil society discourse are a critique of state domination of public life, a preference for reform over revolution, and a strategy for political change based upon negotiations and elections. Since this discourse has emerged in African countries, we must now ask: Is there a civil society in Africa? What role, if any, can it play in democratization? This paper argues that there is prima facie evidence of a nascent civil society in certain African countries. But universal ideas require adaptation to take into account distinctiveness of different world regions, notably in the level of socioeconomic development and in the cultural attributes of different nations and sub-nations. Westerners, projecting aspirations derived from their own histories, are prone to overestimate the prospects for democratic change elsewhere in the world. We should therefore expect civil societies in Africa to possess different contours to civil societies elsewhere in the world and resist the temptation to anoint them as the harbingers or the instruments of a brighter democratic future. Page 1
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1. Theory and General Allison, Graham T. Jr. and Beschel, Robert P. Jr. 1992. "Can the United States Promote Democracy?" Political Science Quarterly, 107, 1, Spring. Atkinson, Doreen. 1992. "State and Civil Society in Flux: Parameters of a Changing Debate." Theoria, May, pp. 1-28. Bates, Robert. 1992. "Social Dilemmas and Rational Individuals: An Essay on the New Institutionalism." Duke University Program in Political Economy, Working Paper, No. 164, April. Bendix, Reinhard, John Bendix, and Norman Furniss. 1987. "Reflections on Modern Western States and Civil Societies." Research in Political Sociology. JAI Press Inc., Volume 3, pp. 1-38. Blair, Harry. 1993a. " Doing Democracy in the Third World: Developing An Applied Theory of Civil Society." A paper for the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association. Washington D.C., 2-5 September. Blair, Harry. 1993b. "Civil Society and Democratic Development: A CDIE Evaluation Paper." Washington: USAID, POL/CDIE/E/POA, November 9. Bobbio, Norberto. 1988. "Gramsci and the Concept of Civil Society" in Keane, 73-100. Bronislaw, Germek. 1992. "Civil Society: Then and Now." Journal of Democracy, 3,2, 3-12. Brown, L. David and Korten, David. 1989. "The Role of Voluntary Organizations in Development." Boston, Institute for Development Research, Concept Paper prepared for the World Bank. Clark, John. 1991. Democratizing Development: The Role of Voluntary Organizations. West Hartford: Kumarian Press. Cohen, Jean L. and Arato, Andrew. 1993. Civil Society and Political Theory. Cambridge, M.A.: M.I.T. Press. Cohen, Joshua and Rogers, Joel. 1992. "Secondary Association and Democratic Governance." Politics and Society, 20, 4 December, 393-472. Also the responses in this special issue of the journal Coleman, James. 1988. "Social Capital and the Creation of Human Capital." American Journal of Sociology, 94 (supplement), 95-120. DeLue, Steven M. 1992. "Nationalism and the Idea of a Liberal Civil Society." History of European Ideas, vol. 15, 406, 483-490.
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Walzer, Michael. 1991. "The Idea of Civil Society." Dissent, Spring, pp. 293-304. Wildavsky, Aaron. 1992. "Can Cultural Theory Contribute to Understanding and Promoting Democracy, Science and Development?" Paper presented at an International Conference on Culture and Development in Africa, April 2 and 3, World Bank, Washington D.C. Wiseberg, Laurie S. 1993. "Defending Human Rights Defenders: The Importance of freedom of Association for Human Rights NGOs." Essays on Human Rights and Democratic Development, No.3, Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development. Wolfe, Alan. 1989. Whose Keeper? Social Science and Moral Obligation. Berkeley: University of California Press. Wood, Ellen Meiksins. 1990. "The Uses and Abuses of 'Civil Society'" in Ralph Miliband, Leo Panitch, and John Saville (eds.) Socialist Register, 1990. London: Merlin Press. World Bank, 1990. World Development Report, 1990: Poverty. Washington D.C., The World Bank. Wuthnow, Robert (ed). Between States and Markets: The Voluntary Sector in Comparative Perspective. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. Young, Dennis. 1992. "Organizing Principles for International Advocacy Associations." Voluntas, 1, 1992, 1-28.
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African Charter for Popular Participation in Development and Transformation. 1990. Arusha, Tanzania, International Conference on Popular Participation in the Recovery and Development Process in Africa, February. Agbaje, Adigun. 1992. "In Search of Building Blocks: The State, Civil Society, Voluntary Page 17
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