Civil Society

The concept of civil society has many different conceptualizations, which emphasizes its complexity. There is really no commonly agreed upon definition beyond the basic idea that civil society is an arena of voluntary, uncoerced collective action around shared interests, purposes, and values.

The status of MENA civil society is not a good at all. Although civil society has played large roles in democratic transitions all over the world like Latin America and Eastern Europe, it hasn’t helped MENA nearly at all. There are really several as to why many believe that is. The main question in Africa is whether the concept of civil society is even applicable in the geographical context. It is understood that conditions for Western-type civil society are mostly absent in Africa. Africa knows only traditional associations but has no space for a civil society that aims at participatory governance (also known as democracy). Africa has not known a time when they did not have this traditional sense of government. Others argue that the weak development of civil society is partly due to the generally low level of development that hinders societies to further differentiate and to offer opportunities for civil society activities.

I believe that civil society in MENA is very weak. The division among the people and the development of radical regimes, and their actions have resulted in little effective action from the civil society because of Sisi's targeted approach and the Muslim Brotherhood's inability to unite the Egyptian people. Civil society in MENA has been unable to fulfill its seven roles and states' powers have gone unchecked in the MENA region as a result of their ineffectiveness. I think it isn't making political participation even look like an alternative, let alone a better one.