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International Political Science Review, Vol. 28, No. 3, 361-386 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0192512107077097

A Boon or a Bane? The Role of Civil Society in Third- and Fourth-Wave Democracies

Rollin F. Tusalem

University of Missouri-Columbia, Department of Political Science, 113 Professional Building, Columbia, Missouri 65211, USA, rftb52{at}missouri.edu

Since Putnam published Making Democracy Work, his seminal work on the effect of civic associationalism in promoting better institutional performance, many other studies have confirmed the deleterious effects of civil society in promoting democratic breakdown and malperformance. To solve the empirical puzzle as to whether civil society is a bane or boon for democracies, this article examines the effect of the pre-transitional strength and post-transitional density of civil society on state institutional performance among more than 60 states since the third wave. The results show that the strength of civil society prior to transition and its density post-transition not only play a significant role in the deepening of political freedoms and civil liberties among transitional citizens, but also lead to better institutional performance. Hence, Putnam's major findings can be extended in the context of third- and fourth-wave democracies.

Key Words: Civil society • Fourth-wave democratization • Institutional performance • Nongovernmental organizations • Quality of governance • Third-wave democratization


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