This post is a summary of a book with the complete title above published in 2008 at http://idbdocs.iadb.org/wsdocs/getdocument.aspx?docnum=1555501
Over recent decades, the political and social landscape of Latin America has been transformed by the impressive growth of civil society organizations (CSO) and civic activism. These citizens organizations have become an important and vibrant way to mobilize political energy and social aspirations of the least powerful. Their impact are examined under the still changing political environment in Latin America. In newly formed democracies, CSO are involved in the process of consolidating democratic institutions. In effective, working democracies, CSO seek to deepen democratic institutions by promoting wider political engagement and expanded social and economic opportunities. These cases show how CSO have given birth to independent community leadership, taught people how to organize themselves and to design and implement new approach to social problems. Against this backdrop, CSO are almost certain to play an expanding role in shaping Latin America's future political and social landscape. A post-dictatorship "rebirth" of Latin America democracy was celebrated at the 1994 Presidential Summit of the Americas. On subsequent reflection, Jorge Castaneda noted that "the region today faces an increasingly unpredictable future. People blame democracy for economic stagnation, or at least for failing to deliver economic growth. We see that dissatisfaction with governments was not without cause. Many citizens who lacked confidence in their governments reacted by forming or joining new social movements and citizens' organizations. CSO espouse concerns with human rights, environmental threats, treatment of women, opportunities for indigenous people, overcoming rural poverty, housing for low-income families, promoting small enterprises and local employment, participatory government budgeting. These concerns are each important in defining democracy, and the values that sustain these organizations are the foundations of democracy's historical heritage. What is Civil Society? Civil society, its citizen constituents and its organizations, are the prime focus of this work. Contradictory conceptions of civil society are easily found, both as to the definition and to the importance of its interaction with political society. The idea of "civil society" is inherited from Greek and Roman philosophers, but has become an important element of contemporary political thought. Among other encomiums, it has been credited with "bringing down dictatorship of every possible description. Edwards calls attention to what civil society can achieve. For example, Cato institute sees CSO as "fundamentally reducing the role of politics in society by expanding individual liberty." Meanwhile, the World Social Forum contends that civil society is "the single most viable alternative to the authoritarian state. To the World Bank is the key to "good governance and poverty-reducing growth." CSO are defined by the IDS as "an intermediate sphere between the State and the household." Even if we agree with that, the definition borders are still murky. When a fuller effort is made to determine which groups are, practitioners most often insist that CSO do not include: 1) Government institutions and political parties. 2) For-profit, market-oriented business (although associations of business are part of CSO). 3) Families and kinship groups. 4) Violence-oriented associations. What is Democracy? There is no simple definition for democracy, and inevitable quibbles surround the concept. Like obscenity, we may have trouble defining it, but we certainly know it when we seeit. Government is defined as the social institution with a monopoly on the power of coercion. Such power does not confer wisdom, but it does explain Churchill's well-known aphorism: "Democracy, we know, is but one of many forms that government may take. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all wise." Athenians prided themselves on their discovery of democracy. Democratization is an "open-ended, long-term and complex process," that may be compared to science in that the process is never complete, always open to new tests and improved ideas. Within these boundaries, political analysts have identified two operating models of "democracy": the adversarial and the deliberative. In a adversarial democracy, each party with access to the public decision-making process seeks maximum benefit from each exhange as it is negotiated in the political "marketplace." Participating approach the process with non-negotiable preferences, and are adversarial in all political dealings. In contrast, the "deliberative" or participatory democracy model emphasizes continuity and process. It is messy but has proved durable. Personal and groups preferences are defined and defended on the grounds of thier contributions to general welfare, rather than on ideological grounds. A "public agenda" emerges from the deliberative process that would not have been designed by any of the contending groups acting alone. Although a few countries in the region, most notably Uruguay and Costa Rica, follow the "deliberative model", the adversarial model better characterizes more Latin America countries. The differences between these forms helps explain the differences in growth of civil society and its organizations, and the evolution of the roles of CSOs in shaping forms of governance. Educational efforts are only a part of what is needed to increase citizen engagement and strengthen democracy. Community organizations, social movements and advocavy/service NGO effect their governments and public policy when they are able to gain access to the halls of power. In broad terms, the interaction of civil society with political process impacts governance in at least four ways: 1) by influencing public policy and decision making. 2) By enhancing performance of state agencies. 3) by achieving greater transparency and information about official acts and actors. 4) by fostering social justice and the rule of law.
