The myth of civil society : social capital and democratic consolidation in Spain and Brazil / Omar G. Encarnación.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Encarnación, Omar Guillermo, 1962-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Civil society--Case studies.

Civil society.

Democratization--Case studies.

Democratization.

Civil society--Spain.

Democratization--Spain.

Spain.

Civil society--Brazil.

Democratization--Brazil.

Brazil.

Genre:

Case studies.

Physical Description:

ix, 233 pages ; 22 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.

Summary:

Encarnació n makes the controversial argument that a strong civil society and social capital are not necessary to enhance either democratization or the stability of a new democracy. Tracing the development of the concept "civil society," he argues that what matters are the political institutions existing in a state and the strategies and decisions of political leaders. The importance of these are examined through careful case studies of Brazil, where a strong civil society was not critical in the transition to democracy and has not led to a robust democracy, and Spain, where a weak civil society neither prevented the transition nor strong democratic institutions.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [185]-222) and index.

ISBN:

140396226X

OCLC:

52160002