What kind of civil society is best for democracy?

Abstract

The correlation between civil society and democracy and civil society has been so striking that we now see them as reinforcing one another. But as we look more closely at civil societies, we find they can grow in ways that undermine democracy. This was the case in Weimar Germany, and it appears that many of the newest democracies are threatened by growing nationalism and religious sectarianism. Many new democracies are only nominally democratic, maintaining veneers of democratic institutions that mask authoritarian realities. While each case has its own logic and history, a political theorist’s responsibility is conceptual: Can we distinguish between civil societies that are good for democracy and those that are not? I argue that we can and must: by conceiving the multiple requirements of democracy and as well as differing associations that might serve these requirements, we can distinguish between civil societies that are good for democracy and those that are not. If we can make these distinctions, we might also understand how to design institutions that encourage and protect those features of civil society that underwrite democracy.