Civil Society

It's been said before -- including by me -- that democracy is more than the mechanics, more than just the capacity to hold free elections. It's also a robust civil society, and today -- and on the front page no less -- the Times reports on the growing development of one. Now, they focus on efforts to aid the poor, which to me is important, but the least of civil society per se. That isn't because these groups aren't important, but because they aren't the heart of democracy, political parties, groups devoted to political rights and so forth. But the Times is right that to the extent these groups reflect a concern and commitment to the larger polity, they're certainly a good sign for the health of the larger body politic.

There it is right on the front page:

Since 2003 the government has registered 5,000 private organizations, including charities, human rights groups, medical assistance agencies and literacy projects. Officials estimate that an additional 7,000 groups are working unofficially. The efforts show that even as violence and sectarian hatred tear Iraq's mixed cities apart, a growing number of Iraqis are trying to bring them together. "Iraqis were thirsty for such experiences," said Khadija Tuma, director of the office in the Ministry of Civil Society Affairs that now works with the private aid groups. "It was as if they already had it inside themselves."

And they provide critical context:

The burst of public-spiritedness comes after long decades of muzzled community life under Saddam Hussein, when drab Soviet-style committees for youth, women and industrialists were the only community groups permitted.

Comments

[contractmonitor]

This is a really interesting blog, very much one of the topics I'm very interested in--media coverage of conflict (conflictmedia.blogspot.com), but I was also wondering what you and your readers think of defense contractors--how they are (/are not) portrayed in media, etc. Please check out my new blog, http://defensecontractor.blogspot.com

[dauber]

It's come up periodically, and you can google the term with the blog title, but I'm not sure it's something I could simply be said to have an out of context opinion on. Can't speak for my readers, obviously.