Institutional Theory and Civil Society Organizations in Central and Eastern Europe

Session Submission Type: Panel

Abstract

Established democracies are increasingly facing turns towards populism, extremism, authoritarianism, and democratic erosion. As part of this turn, political actors have sought to delegitimize civil society organizations (CSOs) and their activities, particularly those that seek to uphold the rights of marginalized groups, participate in democratic policymaking, monitor government activities and expose breaches of public trust. This panel will explore these delegitimation processes and CSOs’ responses in Central and Eastern European member states of the European Union (EU). Because the EU provides institutional guardrails that prevent full autocratization, efforts to control CSOs have taken place at the level of informal values, norms, expectations, and practices rather than formal legislation, regulations, or other state actions. As such, CSOs’ responses have varied and appear contrary to CSOs in authoritarian states. The contributors to this panel use analytical frameworks from new institutionalism, which focus on how sets of norms, values, and expectations award legitimacy and resources to organizations (Meyer & Rowan 1977; DiMaggio & Powell 1983; Oliver 1991; Thornton et al. 2012). Its findings will be relevant to CSOs in democracies around the world and to the conference theme of emerging global trends.

References

DiMaggio, P. J., & Powell, W. W. (1983). The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields. American sociological review, 147-160.

Meyer, J. W., & Rowan, B. (1977). Institutionalized organizations: Formal structure as myth and ceremony. American journal of sociology, 83(2), 340-363.

Oliver, C. (1991). Strategic responses to institutional processes. Academy of management review, 16(1), 145-179.

Thornton, P. H., Ocasio, W., & Lounsbury, M. (2012). The institutional logics perspective: A new approach to culture, structure and process. OUP Oxford.

Sub Unit

• Third Sector organizations and civil society under different political regimes and contexts: role and regulations

Moderator

• Peter Raeymaeckers, University of Antwerp

Individual Presentations

• Legitimation processes in civil society organizations: cases in Slovakia - Boris Strecansky, Comenius University in Bratislava

• “Goulash democracy”: nonprofit organisational responses in the changing civic space of Hungary - Krisztina Túry, Corvinus University Budapest; Peter Raeymaeckers, University of Antwerp

• Replace, Reduce, Reframe: How Civil Society Organizations in Central and Eastern Europe Responded to Multiple Institutional Pressures - Merrill Sovner