Civil Society in Russia, Myth and Reality
(2007)Department of Law
- Abstract
- Russia is a country in transition towards democracy. After a long period of economical and political suppression, people have a chance to participate in society's life, to affect the ruling government and to express their views more freely. However, in order for the democratic transition to continue, it is not enough to merely have a chance to participate and be active&semic there should be de facto participation and activism. The state should promote public participation in the society and the government should consider people's opinion. Only those countries, where people are active and participate in the political and social spheres, can truly be called democratic. This participation and activism can take many shapes. It can be... (More)
- Russia is a country in transition towards democracy. After a long period of economical and political suppression, people have a chance to participate in society's life, to affect the ruling government and to express their views more freely. However, in order for the democratic transition to continue, it is not enough to merely have a chance to participate and be active&semic there should be de facto participation and activism. The state should promote public participation in the society and the government should consider people's opinion. Only those countries, where people are active and participate in the political and social spheres, can truly be called democratic. This participation and activism can take many shapes. It can be everything from small groups of parents gathering frequently to make their neighbourhood safer, to established non-governmental organisations that involve thousands of people and can with their opinions affect high politics. 'Civil society' is a collective term for such organising activities. In sum, civil society can be characterized as a voluntary organisation form that is independent from the state and non-profit making. Similar to the development of democracy, the development of civil society takes time. However, analysing the history of the country it becomes clear that civil society in its western-defined form has never existed. People were never free enough to organise themselves on a voluntary basis without state's interference. Therefore, in Russia civil society got a chance for the development only after the fall of communism in the early 1990s. Moreover, even after 1990s the governance never promoted civil society and public participation. In addition, the present government is not only reluctant, but is actively trying to suppress civil society economically, administratively and with legal means. The path that Russia is taking turns more and more away from the democratic goal. Many changes should be done to promote public participation in particular and democracy in general. (Less)
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http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/1555228
- author
- Galaeva, Irina
- supervisor
- organization
- year
- 2007
- type
- H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
- subject
- keywords
- International Human Rights Law
- language
- English
- id
- 1555228
- date added to LUP
- 2010-03-08 15:23:06
- date last changed
- 2010-03-08 15:23:06
@misc{1555228,
abstract = {{Russia is a country in transition towards democracy. After a long period of economical and political suppression, people have a chance to participate in society's life, to affect the ruling government and to express their views more freely. However, in order for the democratic transition to continue, it is not enough to merely have a chance to participate and be active&semic there should be de facto participation and activism. The state should promote public participation in the society and the government should consider people's opinion. Only those countries, where people are active and participate in the political and social spheres, can truly be called democratic. This participation and activism can take many shapes. It can be everything from small groups of parents gathering frequently to make their neighbourhood safer, to established non-governmental organisations that involve thousands of people and can with their opinions affect high politics. 'Civil society' is a collective term for such organising activities. In sum, civil society can be characterized as a voluntary organisation form that is independent from the state and non-profit making. Similar to the development of democracy, the development of civil society takes time. However, analysing the history of the country it becomes clear that civil society in its western-defined form has never existed. People were never free enough to organise themselves on a voluntary basis without state's interference. Therefore, in Russia civil society got a chance for the development only after the fall of communism in the early 1990s. Moreover, even after 1990s the governance never promoted civil society and public participation. In addition, the present government is not only reluctant, but is actively trying to suppress civil society economically, administratively and with legal means. The path that Russia is taking turns more and more away from the democratic goal. Many changes should be done to promote public participation in particular and democracy in general.}},
author = {{Galaeva, Irina}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Civil Society in Russia, Myth and Reality}},
year = {{2007}},
}