Civil society under growing state control?

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Civil society under

growing state control?

State regulation of civil society has grown consistently over the past decade, raising

concerns over the eroding role of the latter in shaping democratic decision-making. e

ERC-funded STATORG project has investigated this issue across several long-lived

democracies, considering country-specic regulations and how these aect civil society

organisations.

Published in 2018, ‘The State and Civil Society’ provides an

unprecedented look into the origins of constraining civil society

legislation. Sure, this question had been tormenting researchers

for a while, as they tried to find out whether and how democratic

governments actually constrain civil society organisations. But

so far, their research has been mostly fragmented.

The crucialness of civil society

“This issue had not yet been considered across a wide range

of long-lived democracies while considering legislation appli-

cable to different types of organisations,” says Nicole Bolleyer,

Professor of Comparative Politics at the University of Exeter.

CORDIS Results Pack on elections and democratic participation

Understanding turbulent political times through innovative EU-funded research