Constituencies for reform : strategic approaches for donor-supported civic advocacy programs

This assessment, the second in a series of inquiries into democracy sponsored by USAID"s Center for Development Information and Evaluation (CDIE), examines the role of civic advocacy groups in advancing good governance in five countries: Bangladesh, Chile, El Salvador, Kenya, and Thailand. After defining the concept of civil society, the study compares the role of civic advocacy organizations in the democratic transitions taking place in the five countries, finding that civic advocacy organizations play preeminent roles in some, but have little involvement in others, largely depending on whether or not the country has had previous experience with democracy. The study next argues that civil society and its facilitating role in democratic transition should be an integral part of donor strategies to support political reform; the importance of building and supporting coalitions of associations that are pro-reform at particular points along the democratic path is also stressed. The four phases of democratic transition are then described: (1) pre-transition, in which civil society generally operates in an environment of government repression and hostility toward political reform; (2) early transition, which begins when an authoritarian regime concedes in some demonstrable way that legitimate rule requires popular consent and rival political elites seek a consensus for a more open political system; (3) late transition, which consists in a fundamental redirection toward a more open political system; and (4) consolidation, in which systematic and operational rules have essentially been agreed on, and mechanisms to ensure political participation and government accountability are in place. Guidelines for donor investments are detailed in conclusion.