ABSTRACT
How robust is the relationship between civil society and democracy in Africa? Conventional proponents of civil society, both academics and donors, claim that strengthening civil society promotes democracy. They argue that civil society actors, particularly newly formed organizations, initiated the recent wave of democratic reforms and are participating significantly in their consolidation. One writer concludes that ‘civil society has played a crucial role in building pressure for democratic transition and pushing it through to completion’.1 Another suggests that ‘the nature and strength of Africa’s fledgling civil societies will also help to determine the prospects for democratic consolidation’.2 Donors often take a stronger position. At the outer limit, civil society is claimed to be a necessary condition for democracy. One of USAID’s ‘Guidelines for Strategic Plans’ states that ‘vibrant civil society is an essential component of a democratic polity’.3 Both
writers and donors seem to agree that ‘the road to a democratic and just order must pass through the coalescence of civil society’.4
