Civil Society's Democratic Potential: Organizational Trade-offs between Participation and Representation

This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International licence. It is free to read on the Oxford Academic platform and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations. In Civil Society's Democratic Potential , Nicole Bolleyer explores which civil society organizations (CSOs) contribute to democracy, how, and why. Organized civil society, including interest groups, political parties, and service-oriented associations, is traditionally considered a cornerstone of democracy. Constituting the organizational fabric between government and society, these organizations encompass a wide diversity of entities thought to fundamentally contribute to both democratic participation and representation. However, CSOs' readiness and ability to serve as venues for participation, vehicles of democratic representation, or indeed both at the same time, are increasingly questioned in political science, sociology, and voluntary sector research alike. Bringing those fields together, the author argues that two contrasting organizational templates - the 'voluntary association' and the 'professionalized voluntary organization' - allow theorizing fundamental trade-offs shaping CSOs' 'performance' on three dimensions accounting for their varying democratic contributions: participation, representation, and societal responsiveness. The study's innovative theoretical framework is examined using a mixed-methods design. The latter combines the analysis of survey data covering over 3000 CSOs across four European democracies with qualitative case studies of the evolution of three CSOs - a political party, an interest group, and a service-orientated organization - over several decades. Cover Halftitle page Title page Copyright page Acknowledgements Contents List of Tables 1 A Multidimensional Framework on Civil Society's Contributions to Democracy Civil Society's Contributions to Democracy: Between Potential and Reality Disaggregating the 'Transmission Belt': Three Normative Yardsticks Demarcating CSOs' Potential Contributions to Democracy Membership Organizations as Venues for Participation Membership Organizations as Vehicles of Representation The Ambiguity of Interest Representation Behaviour: Expression of Assumed, Consultative or Surrogate Representation? Adding Societal Responsiveness of CSO Behaviour as Third Normative Yardstick From Normative Yardstick to Comparative Analysis Conclusion and Chapter Overview 2 The Distinct Internal Logics of Associations and Professionalized Voluntary Organizations Why Study the Discrepancies between Democratic Potential and Organizational Realities in Membership-Based Voluntary Organizations? The Diversity of Organizational Forms and Its Consequences for CSOs' Democratic Contributions Intra-Organizational Trade-Offs and the Conflicting Priorities of Leaders, Members, and Managers How CSOs Respond to Intra-Organizational Trade-Offs: The Different Logics of `Voluntary Associations' and `Professionalized Voluntary Organizations' Conclusion 3 Methodological Choices and Data Measures Used in the Quantitative Analyses The Dependent Variables: How to Measure CSOs' Diverse Contributions to Democracy Central Explanatory Variables: CSOs' Governance Characteristics Control Variables Central to the Functioning of CSOs Generally Control Variables Relevant to Specific Dimensions of CSOs' Democratic Contribution CSO Diversity and Why the Voluntary Association and the Professionalized Voluntary Organization Are Not Treated As Counter-Images The Advantages of a Mixed-Methods Design The Selection of Three UK CSOs for In-Depth Study Conclusion 4 The Distinct Roles of Members in Civil Society Organizations: Trading Member Control against Leader Autonomy A Governance Perspective on Member Activism in Civil Society Organizations Hypotheses on Member Activism in Professionalized Voluntary Organizations Hypotheses on Member Involvement in Voluntary Associations Expected Impacts of CSO Type on Patterns of Member Activism A Quantitative Analysis of Member Activism in Civil Society Organizations Conclusion 5 When Managers Take Over: Drivers of Staff Control in Civil Society Organizations A Governance Perspective on Staff Control in Civil Society Organizations Hypotheses on Staff Control in Professionalized Voluntary Organizations Hypotheses on Staff Control in Voluntary Associations A Quantitative Analysis of Staff Control in Civil Society Organizations Conclusion 6 From Voluntary Association to Professionalized Voluntary Organization: The Evolution of Member Activism and Staff Control in Civil Society Organizations Intra-Organizational Dynamics and Decision-Making Power in a Service-Oriented, a Political, and a Partisan Organization The National Activity Providers Association (NAPA) Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) The Green Party of England and Wales (GPEW) Conclusion 7 CSO Goal Reorientation in Individualizing Societies: Between Commitment and Change A Governance Perspective on CSO Goal Commitment and Reorientation Voluntary Associations and Professionalized Voluntary Organizations: Hypotheses on Responsive Goal Commitment versus Instrumental Goal Reorientation Bringing in Market and Constituency Pressures: External Sources of Instrumental and Responsive Goal Reorientation A Quantitative Analysis of CSO Goal Reorientation and Commitment Conclusion 8 CSOs' Political Engagement: Between the Logic of Membership and the Logic of Influence A Governance Perspective on CSO Political Engagement Hypotheses on the Political Engagement of Voluntary Associations and Professionalized Voluntary Organizations Expected Impacts of CSO Type on Political Engagement A Quantitative Analysis of Political Engagement of Civil Society Organizations Conclusion 9 From Voluntary Association to Professionalized Voluntary Organization: CSO Goal Reorientation and the Evolution of Political Engagement Tracing Change in CSO Goals and Political Engagement Qualitatively Intra-Organizational Dynamics, Goals, and Political Engagement of a Service-Oriented, a Political, and a Partisan Organization The National Activity Providers Association (NAPA) Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) The Green Party of England and Wales (GPEW) Conclusion 10 Disaggregating the Transmission Belt and the Study of CSOs' Democratic Contributions The Democratic Contributions of Voluntary Associations and Professionalized Voluntary Organizations: An Overview CSOs as Changing Configurations of Participation and Representation and the Growing Importance of Hybridization The Professionalized Voluntary Organization: Better Than Its Reputation The Three Faces of Membership Organization and Avenues for Future Research Some Final Remarks Bibliography Index ## Abstract Which civil society organizations (CSOs) contribute to democracy, how, and why? Organized civil society including interest groups, political parties, and service-oriented associations is traditionally considered a cornerstone of democracy. Their potential to contribute to democracy is more often than not treated as a given. Nevertheless, individual CSOs’ readiness and ability to serve as venues for participation, vehicles of democratic representation, or indeed both at the same time have remained a matter of ongoing debate across different social science disciplines. Prominent notions such as ‘NGOization’ and ‘cartelization’ have problematized CSOs’ and parties’ increasing state dependency, professionalization, and bureaucratization, shifting organizational priorities away from societal values towards instrumentally driven self-maintenance, supposedly diminishing their contribution to democratic governance. This study argues that two contrasting governance templates—the ‘voluntary association’ and the ‘professionalized voluntary organization’—allow theorizing fundamental trade-offs shaping CSOs’ ability to simultaneously ‘perform’ on three dimensions central to their democratic contributions: participation, representation, and societal responsiveness. The study’s theoretical framework is examined through a mixed-methods design that combines the analysis of survey data across four European democracies (Germany, Norway, Switzerland, UK) with qualitative case studies of individual organizations’ long-term trajectories over several decades.