THE ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN PROMOTING DEMOCRATIC GOOD GOVERNANCE

ABSTRACT

Since the revival of the concept three decades ago by East European social scientists, the assumptions have been that the notion of civil society could be useful for public policy formulation and democratization.

The key hypothesis of scholars, activists and donors is that civil society is the hitherto missing key to sustained political reforms, legitimate states and governments, improved governance, viable state and society, state-economy relationship and the prevention of the political decay that undermined new African governments a generation ago ” ( John Haberson, 1994 ).

What notions of civil society do stakeholders and actors espouse? Is civil society in Sierra Leone promoting democratic governance? What type of civil society would promote democratic good governance?

This work takes a realistic look at civil society in Sierra Leone; its different configurations and its role in the transition and consolidation of democratic good governance . We argue that the crisis to promoting democratic good governance, which involves advancing unity, cohesion, peace and socioeconomic development is the absence of legitimized norms governing how state- society relationships are to be constituted. The civil society that broadens the avenues of representation of societal interest by being a broker, buffer, symbol, agent, midwife can promote democratic governance. That configuration of civil society can constantly redistribute social power and negotiate different subcultures in the public sphere.

Social scientists have used historical approaches by analyzing major decision processes to see just who and what institutions influenced the outcomes at any stage and in the overall process. Robert Dahl has used a more exhaustive model in studying the influence of different actors and institutions in collective decision –making. He examined major decision-making issues and see who and what institutions influenced the outcomes at any stage and in the overall process. This model reveals well alliances, networks, organizational resources and other major independent variables ( Robert Dahl, 1961). We will explore some major decision-making processes, like the recent presidential, parliamentary and district elections, and see what forms of civil society organizations influence the outcomes at any stage and in the overall process. We will examine

why, how and when did they influence the outcomes.