Civil Society and Political Change in AsiaExpanding and Contracting Democratic Space

Imran Khushal 21017

Purpose• Literature Gap

• Political change as a result of the role of civil society

• Towards open, participatory, and accountable politics

Nature and development of Asian civil societies,

Idea of civil society is not alien to Asian societies

Development of civil society as social reality

Multiple factors have fueled the development of civil societies in Asia.

Diverse civil societies in Asian countries

Seems valid in the case of India when it argues that civil society in India but in Sri Lanka with Buddhist majority population and South Korea where just under half of the South Korean population expressed no religious preference seems not valid

Composition and dynamics of civil societies

Negates its own position while saying in India, civil society, is mainly influenced by Gandhi’s philosophy of self-reliance and “Ahimsa so that means the composition of Indian civil society is not altered with the passage of time.

Features of contemporary Asian civil societies

The neo-TocquevilleanThe neo-Gramscian

Growth in the number of civil society organizations

The rights and rules necessary to construct and protect the autonomy of this realm are still not all in place in several countries, including democratic ones.

Connection between civil society and democracy

There is no necessary connection between civil society and democratic change

Civil society supports democracy

When its dominant discourse is rooted in democratic ideals and organizations advocating democracy acquire critical mass.

Character of specific democratic role of civil society in Asia

Depends upon a number of factors these could be the political opportunity and constraints, the stage of political development, and the strength, orientation, and role of the state and political society in a country.

Civil society is a necessary but not sufficient

On its own, civil society has a limited effect; in fact, it faces an uphill battle in promoting and consolidating democratic change

The rise of civil society has limited the power and reach of the state

It exercises its power to keep in check of activism and applies different legal apparatus to reduce the role civil society.

Impact of state on the nature and development of civil society

For example in Sri Lanka, civil society ultimately had to link itself with politics to implement its agendas and ideas.

State–civil society interaction in Asia

Is not necessarily confrontational. The relationship varies widely across countries and has undergone transformation in several of them

Overlapping civil and political societies

The role of civil society in Philippines has been of unexpected nature ,for instance, when one section of civil society was active and mobilized to rid the popular elected president who had not completed his term in January 2001 to one's surprise another movement started to restore him, just three months later

Civil society is not necessarily detrimental to political society

This argument looks valid in countries where civil society is relatively independent but where state is controlling civil society like in Sri Lanka where government led by Sinhalese tried to control civil society groups between 80’s and 90’s by placing different restrictions and kept them under observation through different legal apparatus, it does not seem correct

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