Civil Society Elites: An Impediment in front of Volunteerism? from 17th IAVE World Conference

Presentations made at Workshop at the 17th IAVE Conference on "Civil Society Elites: An Impediment in front of Volunteerism?" by M. Umut Korkut Central European University, Turkey

My paper concentrates on understanding and explaining democratic potential of civil society organisations. In this context, I am particularly interested in discussing an argument whether internally undemocratic organisations can convey much
needed habits of participation and volunteering to their members. Therefore, I advocate that habits of volunteerism can develop at best through participation into decision making. This discussion is particularly important given that, in countries
under discussion institutionalised interest articulation and participatory habits of the citizenry are evolving only recently. In cases where ordinary members are prevented from deciding on the policies of their organisations, they would be alienated from the whole structure. The result would be their enfeebled volunteerism.

My theoretical expectation is that, elitism is embedded in internal decision making of civil society organisations in Eastern Europe. As such, volunteerism and participation of the rank and file during the internal decision making of their organisations will be very much inhibited. That is why I hypothesise that, at the face of embedded elitism in civil society organisations ordinary members of these organisations cannot develop democratic habits. Hence a Tocquevillian understanding of civil society, i.e. schools of democracy, will not materialise.

In order to test this hypothesis, I utilise the results of my interviews with trade unions activists and agricultural producers’ associations in Hungary, Poland and Romania. I collected my data over 6 months in 2001 both through structured
questionnaire and informal discussions. The interviews were made with the presidents and mid rank officials both at the confederation and federation levels of these organisations.

As a result my paper will promote an idea that, rather than sheer number of civil society organisations in emerging democracies we should look at their democratic potential. I explain this democratic potential through looking at the following variables within civil society organisations: routes of internal decision making; means of accountability; prevalent attitudes towards extending participation to the rank and file; understanding of democracy; relative autonomy from and dependence on members during internal decision making; factors determining success of an interest group and finally levels of hierarchy.

In this context, my conviction is that strengthening participation, volunteerism and empowering activists should be the main goals of civil society organisations in order to cultivate democratic habits in their members.