Civil Society and Democracy: Weimar Reconsidered
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2009
Keywords
civil society, democracy, Weimar Republic, Nazism
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1080/17448680902925604
Abstract
his article argues that such authors as Sheri Berman and Ariel Armony have overstated the importance of the state when explaining the relationship between civil society and democracy. They have done so because no theoretical framework is currently available to assess civil society's democratic potential, which led them to focus rather on the state as the central explanans. Furthermore, Berman's incorrect interpretation of Weimar's civic organizing led her to draw erroneous conclusions about civil society in general. This article seeks to correct this view on Weimar's civil society and offers a theoretical framework able to capture the relationship between civil society and democracy by focusing on civil society's internal diversity and the quality of democratic representation and procedure.
Rights Information
Was this content written or created while at USF?
Yes
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Journal of Civil Society, v. 5, issue 1, p. 21-34
Link to Full Text
https://doi.org/10.1080/17448680902925604
Scholar Commons Citation
Reiter, Bernd, "Civil Society and Democracy: Weimar Reconsidered" (2009). Government and International Affairs Faculty Publications. 11.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/gia_facpub/11
