Publication details
Semi-Civil Society : A Missing Link in Explaining the Transformation of Communist Dictatorships?
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2021 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Journal of Civil Society |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17448689.2021.1943855 |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17448689.2021.1943855 |
| Keywords | Civil society; semi-civil society; communism; Vietnam; democratization; Eastern Europe |
| Attached files | |
| Description | Much has been written about civil society’s role in transforming communist regimes; however, scholars have largely ignored the officially sanctioned organizations. Yet, when political openings arise, official organizations evolve into ‘semi-civil society and play an important role in bringing down communist-led regimes. When a reformist regime begins opening up, semi-civil society turns to the regime and pressures it to reach make fartherreaching reforms, which can lead to a negotiated transition. When the regime is less open, semi-civil society turns to the opposition, which can help bring about an uprising. Semi-civil society by itself cannot bring down a regime or make it more pluralist, but it provides a missing link that has been absent from previous analyses of the collapse of communist regimes. This article applies these insights to a reformist Asian communistruled country: Vietnam (with reference to China). In such communist-ruled countries, semi-civil society is already making society more pluralist and we can it expect it to be a driving force for the further pluralization of society and possibly even its democratization. If these countries eventually democratize, semicivil society will help them follow the Hungarian path to negotiated transitions rather than the Czechoslovak path to change through an uprising. |