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Supporting civil society and NGOs in Eastern Europe: Some lessons learned

Supporting civil society and NGOs in Eastern Europe: Some lessons learned Supporting civil society and NGOs in Eastern Europe: Some lessons learned Wilco de Jonge 1 Introduction To a certain extent, the transition processes in the countries of Eastern Europe are unique. These countries have a common history of dictatorships which were based upon the principle of democratic centralism, i.e. leadership by the communist parties. The whole society was subjugated to one single political party 2 , which exerted tight control over trade unions, the educational system, the media, churches, businesses and interest groups. In other words, there was no civil society 3, but a party society. The transition process towards democracy in Eastern Europe thus implies a complete overturn of society. It is often referred to as a transformation process. Instead of organizing society from above, the society has to rearrange itself from below. Initiative should now come from citizens, no longer from the authorities only. Needless to say, such a fundamental transition takes a long time and is a most complicated process. The seventeen years that have passed since the fall of the Berlin Wall are much too short to expect this fundamental change to have been completed. In fact, since the transition is to a large http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Helsinki Monitor (in 2008 continued as Security and Human Rights) Brill

Supporting civil society and NGOs in Eastern Europe: Some lessons learned

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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
© 2006 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
0925-0972
eISSN
1571-814X
DOI
10.1163/157181406778917288
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Supporting civil society and NGOs in Eastern Europe: Some lessons learned Wilco de Jonge 1 Introduction To a certain extent, the transition processes in the countries of Eastern Europe are unique. These countries have a common history of dictatorships which were based upon the principle of democratic centralism, i.e. leadership by the communist parties. The whole society was subjugated to one single political party 2 , which exerted tight control over trade unions, the educational system, the media, churches, businesses and interest groups. In other words, there was no civil society 3, but a party society. The transition process towards democracy in Eastern Europe thus implies a complete overturn of society. It is often referred to as a transformation process. Instead of organizing society from above, the society has to rearrange itself from below. Initiative should now come from citizens, no longer from the authorities only. Needless to say, such a fundamental transition takes a long time and is a most complicated process. The seventeen years that have passed since the fall of the Berlin Wall are much too short to expect this fundamental change to have been completed. In fact, since the transition is to a large

Journal

Helsinki Monitor (in 2008 continued as Security and Human Rights) – Brill

Published: Jan 1, 2006

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