The Weakness of Civil Society in Post-Communist EuropeOver a decade has passed since the collapse of communism, yet citizens of post-communist countries are still far less likely to join voluntary organizations than people from other countries and regions of the world. Why do post-communist citizens mistrust and avoid public organizations? What explains this distinctive pattern of weak civil society? And what does it mean for the future of democracy in post-communist Europe? In this engaging study, Marc Morjé Howard addresses these questions by developing a provocative argument about the powerful and enduring impact of the communist experience on its countries and citizens. Howard argues that the legacy of the communist experience of mandatory participation in state-controlled organizations, the development and persistence of vibrant private networks, and the tremendous disappointment with developments since the collapse of communism have left most post-communist citizens with a lasting aversion to public activities. In addition to analyzing data from over 30 democratic and democratizing countries in the World Values Survey, Howard presents extensive and original evidence from his own research in Eastern Germany and Russia, including in-depth interviews with ordinary citizens and an original representative survey. |
Contents
An Experiential Approach to Societal Continuity and Change | 16 |
Civil Society and Democratization | 31 |
PostCommunist Civil Society in Comparative Perspective An Empirical Baseline | 57 |
Explaining Organizational Membership An Evaluation of Alternative Hypotheses | 92 |
Why PostCommunist Citizens Do Not Join Organizations An Interpretive Analysis | 121 |
Conclusion | 146 |
Coding of the Variables | 164 |
Country Scores on the Main Variables | 167 |
The PostCommunist Organizational Membership Study PCOMS Survey | 170 |
The InDepth Interviews | 175 |
189 | |
201 | |
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Common terms and phrases
active authoritarian average number behavior Bunce Cambridge causal Chapter Civic civil liberties civil society communist organizations comparative cultural Czech Republic developed disappointment East German Eastern Germany economic society elites empirical example explain factors Freedom House friends friendship networks GDP per capita group mean important in-depth interviews individual-level institutions join Larry Diamond Latvia levels of membership levels of organizational levels of participation low levels membership in voluntary memberships per person mistrust of communist non-Western number of organizational older democracies orga organizational membership organizations of civil overall participation in voluntary people's Piotr Sztompka political society post-authoritarian countries post-communist citizens post-communist countries post-communist Europe post-communist societies prior communist experience prior regime type private networks Putnam question region Regression Analysis rights and civil Russia sample scores Slovakia Slovenia Social Capital South Korea Soviet Sovietology statistically studies Table trust variables West Western World Values Survey