Democracy and the role of associations : political, organizational and social contexts / edited by Sigrid Rogbteutscher.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

The lure of the associative elixir -- Democracy, fascism, and civil society / E. Spencer Wellhofer -- The limits of civil society within a divided community : the case of Northern Ireland / Feargal Cochrane -- European civil society : institutional interests and the complexity of a multi-level policy / Stijn Smismans -- Welfare through organizations / William A. Maloney and Sigrid Rossteutscher -- The position of interest groups in Eastern European democracies : maturing servicemen or trojan horses? / Umut Korkut -- Activating participation : generating support for campaign groups / Emma L. Clarence, Grant Jordan and William A. Maloney -- Tracing the contradictions : associational life versus informal networks in a third world context / Nadia Molenaers -- Churches as voluntary associations : their contribution to democracy as a public voice and source of social and political involvement / Joep de Hart and Paul Dekker -- Women's power under threat? voluntary organizations in transition / Dag Wollebæk and Per Selle -- Civic communities and multicultural democracy / Meindert Fennema and Jean Tillie.

Print version record.

Annotation Voluntary associations have been presented as a solution to political apathy and cynicism towards representative democracy. The authors collected in this volume, however, argue that these claims require more robust substantiation and seek to critically examine the crucial link between the associative sector and the health of democracy. Focusing on the role of context and using diverse approaches and empirical material, they explore whether these associations in differing socio-political contexts actually undermine rather than reinvigorate democracy.

English.

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