Un-Civil Society

- ‘Bowling with Hitler’ v. “Bowling Alone

o fascist regions of Italy and Germany had high levels of associational life

- sectarian associations can reinforce divisions in society

o Islamist NGOs rather than secular or ecumenical NGOs

§ Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood

§ Malaysia: Allied Coordinating Committee of Islamic NGOs (ACCIN) opposed inter-faith commission proposed by Malaysian Bar Association

§ Pakistan: Jamaat-e-Islam v. Human Rights Commission of Pakistan

o Ethnic nationalist NGOs than civic or multi-ethnic NGOs

§ Rwanda: Radio Mille Collines

- civil associations may compete with parties and state organizations…

o associational interests v. political interest-aggregation

§ firms, unions, landowners pursue patronage rather than politics

§ undercut support for mass-membership parties

- …but they may be co-opted by states and parties as well

o partisan & statist interests override associational interests

§ GONGO v. ‘working NGO’ (Cooper)

§ Thai media under TRT

Positive Net Effect of Civil Society

- democratic regimes favor flourishing civil society

- totalitarian and authoritarian regimes repress civil society