Building strong civil societies in Eastern Europe after the fall of communism: Poland, Romania, and the importance of pre-existing social roots

Résumé du document

Throughout Eastern Europe, embryonic civil societies have demonstrated in various ways but with the same result their crucial role in the advent of democracy in the early 1990s : within a few years, Eastern European communist governments were forced to cede power and undertake democratic reforms under the pressure of popular movements, whether peaceful as in Czechoslovakia after its famous ''Velvet revolution'', Poland and Hungary, or more violent, as in Romania, the most extreme case, where the communist regime was overthrown through riots which ended in the execution of its ruler, Nicolae Ceausescu, and his wife.

A strong civil society indeed appears to be an important precondition for the development and consolidation of democracy, especially in Eastern Europe where the communist parties relied on the absence of structured oppositional movements to retain power. The notion of civil society refers to the existence of voluntary social relationships in a specific state, through various and numerous civic and social organizations and institutions, as opposed to the force-backed state structures and market institutions. After the end of the communist era in this area, many political actors, both from Eastern Europe itsef comprised mainly of intellectuals and from abroad through donations and foundations, assumed the best way to support democratic reforms was through aiding in the construction and consolidation of the previously stifled civil society.

Extraits

[...] Given the troubled context of the 1990s, the occurrences of violent conflicts in Eastern Europe indeed appear relatively rare, and moderate nationalism in states like Poland or Hungary can be seen as a source of this stability. Such a moderate and inclusive nationalism, as opposed to the antagonistic ethnic nationalism which was instrumentalized in Yugoslavia, appears thus as an enabler rather than an obstacle for the building of strong civil societies. * * * As a conclusion, building strong civil societies in Eastern Europe has revealed itself a real challenge, both for internal and external actors. [...]

[...] As aformentioned, results of both internal and external interventions to encourage the construction of civil societies throughout Eastern Europe were mixed, and contrasting situations can be observed even though the international interventions used the same methods in most of the countries. How can those differences be explained ? A first explanation can be found in the presence or absence of pre- existing roots in civil society. Even though the general stance of Eastern European governments was to silence any oppositional movement, there were still differences in how forcefully they applied this policy, creating in turn roots for the creation and strengthening of a lasting civil society in certain countries. [...]

[...] It reveals the difficulties of the communist-era professional groups to adapt to the new environment of competition for jobs. The most striking example of this phenomenon is the failure of Solidarity to both stay in power and remain an influential trade union : after 1989, it began losing its unity as well as its members, and has currently little influence on Polish politics[3]. In Romania, the prospects for civil society are even more grim. In the early 1990s, once the formerly closed public space was opened for debate, intellectuals organized and gathered to create the “Group for Social Dialogue”, followed by the publication of a new journal, Revista 22. [...]

[...] Although progress has been recorded, more is still needed, and sharp contrast can be observed throughout Eastern European countries. To explain these discrepancies, the presence or absence of pre-existing social roots appears as a fundamental factor, nationalism itself having ambiguous roles. Bibliography “NGOs in Poland research results”, J. Dąbrowska, M. Gumkowska, J. Wygnański, Klon/Jawor Association (http://portal.ngo.pl/files/civicpedia.pl/public/raporty/NGO_Poland_research _2002.pdf). “Civil society in poland : Case study”, Research by G. Ekiert, J. [...]

[...] Civil society organizations in Eastern Europe also lacked personnel, especially trained, experienced personnel. From a more general point of view, several decades of communist rule severely affected the political culture in Eastern Europe, rendering it less favorable to the constitution of a strong civil sphere relying on voluntary individual involvement on community issues, since such groupings were often either forbidden or artificially driven by the central government. International interventions were also driven by a need for quick turn around, while they lacked a deep knowledge of Eastern European political patterns at this time ; this led to a focus on brokers, that is, mediatized figures known for their involvement in civil society building, yet who are not necessarily the most effective and representative of actors. [...]