Government/non-profit Partnerships, Public Services Delivery, and Civil Society in the Transitional Nations of Eastern Europe: Lessons from the Hungarian Experience

Abstract

This paper will explore the complexity of the relationship between government and non-profit organizations in the context of Hungary on the cusp of accession to the European Union. First it will argue that the concept of a civil society is in fact not a unitary one but, rather, a cluster of linked concepts. It will argue further that it is essential to deconstruct this cluster of concepts in order to develop a common language. Without such a language it is not possible to debate the achievement of a civil society, or otherwise. This article is a contribution to the development of such conceptual clarity.

Notes

1. Adamson, W. Gramsci and the Politics of Civil Society. Praxis International 1998 7, 3/4

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