TY - JOUR
T1 - From Exclusion to Co‐Optation
T2 - Political Opportunity Structures and Civil Society Responses in De‐Democratising Hungary
AU - Gerő, Márton
AU - Fejős, Anna
AU - Kerényi, Szabina
AU - Szikra, Dorottya
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 by the author(s); licensee Cogitatio (Lisbon, Portugal).
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - While it is well‐known that democratic backsliding imposes a variety of challenges on civil society organisations, it is often assumed that it represses civil society. However, a closer look at the impact of democratic backsliding on civil society organisations reveals that even in countries where democratic backsliding is fairly advanced, the relationship between civil society and the state is more complex. Close cooperation and partnership between civil society organisations and the state are scarce in backsliding countries; the relationship between civil society organisations and the state might, however, range from hostility to varying forms and degrees of co‐optation. Based on interviews with representatives of civil society organisations and the examination of the sector‐specific social and political environment, we aim to explore the forms and factors that shape the relationship between civil society organisations and the state in Hungary. More specifically, we ana-lyse the impact of the changing political opportunity structures on three important sectors of civil society organisations: human rights organisations, environmental organisations, and women’s organisations. We argue that, to seize control over civil society the government applies sector‐specific strategies, ranging from exclusion to co‐optation. State strategies, in turn, spark different responses from civil society organisations.
AB - While it is well‐known that democratic backsliding imposes a variety of challenges on civil society organisations, it is often assumed that it represses civil society. However, a closer look at the impact of democratic backsliding on civil society organisations reveals that even in countries where democratic backsliding is fairly advanced, the relationship between civil society and the state is more complex. Close cooperation and partnership between civil society organisations and the state are scarce in backsliding countries; the relationship between civil society organisations and the state might, however, range from hostility to varying forms and degrees of co‐optation. Based on interviews with representatives of civil society organisations and the examination of the sector‐specific social and political environment, we aim to explore the forms and factors that shape the relationship between civil society organisations and the state in Hungary. More specifically, we ana-lyse the impact of the changing political opportunity structures on three important sectors of civil society organisations: human rights organisations, environmental organisations, and women’s organisations. We argue that, to seize control over civil society the government applies sector‐specific strategies, ranging from exclusion to co‐optation. State strategies, in turn, spark different responses from civil society organisations.
KW - Hungary
KW - civil society
KW - environmental policy
KW - gender
KW - human rights
KW - hybrid regimes
KW - political opportunity structure
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85146176016&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.17645/pag.v11i1.5883
DO - 10.17645/pag.v11i1.5883
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85146176016
SN - 2183-2463
VL - 11
SP - 16
EP - 27
JO - Politics and Governance
JF - Politics and Governance
IS - 1
ER -