Featuring a broad range of perspectives on the democratic process, this collection of essays explores the development of civil society and how civil societies manage democratic change around the world.

1. Civil Society, Democratization and Development: Clearing the analytical ground 2.Bowling in the Bronx: The uncivil interstices between civil and political society 3. The Taming of the Idea of Civil Society 4.Civil Society: Market economy and democratic polity 5. Civil Society, the Market and Democracy in Latin America6. Civil Society, the State and Democracy in Africa 7. The 'Civil' and the 'Political' in Civil Society: The case of India 8. Die Lehrjahre sind vorbei!: Reforming democratic interest groups in the East German Lander 9.Civil Society and Transnational Non-Governmental Organizations in the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership 10. Democratization in Bosnia: The limits of civil society building strategies 11. Building Civil Societies in East Central Europe: The effects of American NGOs on women's groups