Over a decade has passed since the collapse of communism, yet citizens of post-communist countries are still far less likely to join voluntary organizations than people from other countries and regions of the world. Why do post-communist citizens mistrust and avoid public organizations? What explains this distinctive pattern of weak civil society? And what does it mean for the future of democracy in post-communist Europe? In this engaging study, Marc Morjé Howard addresses these questions by developing a provocative argument about the powerful and enduring impact of the communist experience on its countries and citizens. Howard argues that the legacy of the communist experience of mandatory participation in state-controlled organizations, the development and persistence of vibrant private networks, and the tremendous disappointment with developments since the collapse of communism have left most post-communist citizens with a lasting aversion to public activities. In addition to analyzing data from over 30 democratic and democratizing countries in the World Values Survey, Howard presents extensive and original evidence from his own research in Eastern Germany and Russia, including in-depth interviews with ordinary citizens and an original representative survey.
Contents
1. Introduction; 2. An experiential approach to societal continuity and change; 3. Civil society and democratization; 4. An empirical baseline: post-communist civil society in comparative perspective; 5. Explaining organizational membership: a statistical test of alternative hypotheses; 6. Why post-communist citizens do not join organizations: an interpretive analysis; 7. Conclusion.
Prize Winner
Best Book Award of the European Politics and Society Section of the American Political Science Association
2004 Virginia Hodgkinson Research Prize presented by the Independent Sector
2006 Alpha Sigma Nu National Jesuit Book Award, Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities
Reviews
"Marc Howard's book on postcommunist civic participation raises important questions for our understanding of democratization, especially in light of current concerns about how new democracies can take hold after the fall of dictatorships. It complements a focus on political institutions and is ambitious in combining qualitative and quantitative data."
John K. Glenn, Council for European Studies, Slavic Review
"...the book will be of great interest to researchers and students working on issues of civil society and democracy. The complexity of its methodological design and the questions it raises will undoubtedly encourage others to delve more deeply and comparatively into the intricacies of civil society. In this way, the book will undoubtedly help contribute to 'meaningful and cumulative comparative research' for years to come."
American Journal of Sociology
"This book is a major achievement: a multi-method, cross-national study of civil society that demonstrates the decisive impact of Leninist rule on the post-communist world. After reading Marc Howard's book, I am convinced that the differences between the political experience of the post-communist countries of Europe and the post-authoritarian states of Latin America are not merely differences of degree but differences of kind. Howard's study will surely become a standard work for students of civil society and democracy."
Jeffrey Kopstein, University of Toronto
"Marc Howard has presented the most systematic and convincing evidence to date that the Eastern European 'post-communist' countries, despite their seemingly diverse trajectories since the collapse of the Soviet bloc, continue to share deep and abiding cultural similarities rooted in their common experience of Leninist dictatorship. At the same time, he brings fresh insight to the age-old debate about the role of civil society in democratic consolidation. Anyone interested in the future of Europe in the 21st century should read this book."
Stephen Hanson, University of Washington
"In his superb study, Howard manages to link democratization studies, theorizing on civil society, and the debate on social capital. He blends quantitative and qualitative data into an end product that will be a 'must' for students of post-Communist Europe. A rare and enviable success."
Claus Offe, Humboldt, University zu Berlin
"A wonderful book! Marc Howard has taken a subject we all care about... and written a major account of the problem. Drawing upon the systematic comparative evidence, including opinion polls and in-depth interviews... Howard demonstrates that the quality of democracy in these states is directly related to their citizens' experiences under communist rule. Among these experiences, Howard emphasizes the previous regimes' systemic inability to provide needed social and economic goods and the corresponding centrality of personal connections in addressing these needs. Although Howard's predictions about the post-communist future are by no means gloomy, he stands out among many observers in concluding that citizens' membership in public organizations and their participation in civic life will not necessarily grow in lock step with the improvement of political and economic conditions. I found the argument to be completely convincing."
A. James McAdams, University of Notre Dame
"Most works on civil society suffer from overabundance of theory and paucity of empirical data. The work analyzed here, Marc Morje Howard's The Weakness of Civil Society in Post-Communist Europe, is a laudable exception. Its strengths are contrastive cases, precise comparisons, careful conceptualizations, effective operationalizations, clear logic, and elegant prose."
East European Politics and Societies
"This book is a major contribution to both the literature on the causes and consequences of political change in the postcommunist world and the debate about the role of civil society in the process of democratization."
Political Studies Review
"Howard offers a straightforward study of the weakness of organizational membership and participation in postcommunist society. He persuasively demonstrates that the unique clear-cut division between public and private realms that existed under the communist system continues to shape the postcommunist environment, offering little space for civil society."
Choice
"a book destined to become the definitive portrait of civic life in the aftermath of the demise of Communism."
Comparative Politics
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