Civil Society and Good Governance in Societies in Transition

How does civil society influence good governance in societies in transition? How can governments benefit from the expertise of the NGO sector? To what extent do EU accession procedures influence the development of good governance? So far, these key questions have not found satisfying answers – up to now: Civil Society and Good Governance in Societies in Transition sets out to fill this gap. In this collection, scholars and practitioners from seven South East European countries describe the role of civil society and clarify its relationship to the promotion of good governance in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Miroslav Živanović), Croatia (Igor Vidačak and Jasmina Božić), Kosova (Valon Murati), Macedonia (Selvie Shaqiri), Montenegro (Nebojša B. Vučinić and Siniša Bjeković), Serbia (Igor Bandović) and Slovenia (Tina Divjak). The collection is opened by a foreword of Vojin Dimitrijević, the director of the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights, and contains an introduction and general conclusions by the editor, Wolfgang Benedek. Describing the past challenges and future prospects of civil society, the contributors reflect on issues such as the legal framework of NGOs, their funding situation and the institutionalization of cooperation between governments and civil society. The book concludes that civil society plays an essential role for societal development and the rule of law, in particular in post-conflict situations. Governments are encouraged to seize this potential of civil society.