Civil society contribution to democratic governance: a critical assessment

"Civil society ranks high in academic and political discussions on democracy. It is perceived as a remedy to the legitimacy crisis of national systems and as a promise to turn international governance more democratic. But civil society is an illusive concept and contending conceptual frames govern the normative reflections and political recommendations which give legitimacy to civil society engagement. Therefore, researchers in RG 4 set out to exploit existing research comparing theoretical and methodological approaches intended to justify and measure the democratic value added by civil society participation. Furthermore, they engaged in comparative research to analyse the rise and metamorphosis of civil society in different parts of the world and compared it with the incantation and uses of civil society in the EU." (excerpt