Voters and citizens do not stand alone as individuals in a vacuum. Nor are political parties the only mediators of their interests in the political realm. This topic area will invoke the term civil society. While this section deals with the importance of civil society being involved in the processes of designing, implementing, and evaluating voter education programmes, it will also develop a working definition of civil society.
Civil Society: A Working Definition
This section will take a pluralistic and liberal approach to the concept of civil society. Specifically, it adopts the broad definition of civil society developed by Larry Diamond:
the realm of organised social life that is voluntary, self-generating, (largely) self-supporting, autonomous from the state, and bound by a legal order or set of shared rules. It is distinct from society in general in that it involves citizens acting collectively in a public sphere to express their interests, passions and ideas, exchange information, achieve mutual goals, make demands on the state, and hold state officials accountable...it excludes...political efforts to take control of the state.[1]
In other words, civil society consists of a range of associations and membership organisations that bring citizens together to act in political and policy realms. It cannot be segregated from the private sector, as it sometimes is, because it will inevitably include associations with commercial and business interests. Nor can civil society be discussed as an independent sector, as it can be remarkably partisan in its expression. Rather, it may be considered an amorphous conglomeration of interests and resources that can, at crucial moments in a country's history, be aligned in favour of certain social goals.
For the purposes set forth herein, the authors would caution against any use of the term that would suggest an ideological connotation. In many of its usages, the assumption is made that civil society is progressive, or has a coherent social policy in favour of the poor and disadvantaged, or has a particular view of social and economic relations. When used in this way, however, the term can become controversial, especially when used in an electoral context. In environments where political or electoral authorities are intent upon limiting political competition, the ideological use of the term civil society may well lead to the exclusion of civil society from campaigns and elections altogether.
Mobilizing Civil Society during an Election
An election is one of those seminal events where civil society - because of its resources, its voluntary nature, its diverse skills, and its ability to reach into all sectors of the society - should be mobilized and, to the extent that it is possible, aligned in favour of non-partisan educational activities.
In an election period, a variety of groups may be involved in voter education and election monitoring, as well as the more politically charged activities of endorsing one political party or candidate over the other and campaigning on their behalf.
These groups may not necessarily have political or electoral or even educational activities as their primary focus. As a result, they will have to negotiate any political activities with their membership. These types of groups include trade unions, community groups, business and professional associations, and possibly religious bodies.
There may be many other organisations and associations that also support a successful election but will remain independent from the candidates and from the election authority. Some of these groups may have a mandate specific to political and electoral processes, such as nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) dedicated to voter and civic education, public advocacy, election monitoring and parallel vote counts, and human rights. One well known example of such a group in the USA is the League of Women Voters.
In addition, there will probably be a range of special interest groups that will conduct voter education and mobilization directed primarily at their own constituency. Such constituencies may include young and first time voters, women voters, ethnic or linguistic minorities, rural or remote communities, handicapped voters, and internally displaced persons or refugees. Some of these constituencies may be at risk in terms of their relative lack of information, apathy, sense of alienation from existing institutions and processes, or vulnerability to manipulation.
NGOs and Civil Society
The use of the term NGO sector in conjunction with civil society, and the tendency amongst some leaders of NGOs to assume the role of spokespersons for civil society, should not confuse educators and election management authorities about the difference between them. However important NGOs may appear, they are, in fact, actually a subset or segment of the broader category designated as civil society.
That wider civil society includes all types of associations already mentioned. But educators may want to look very closely at the full range of groupings in their country. Some, such as sporting and social clubs or savings and cooperative groups may be less visible and less obvious options for conveying voter education. Yet members of these groups may represent all political persuasions and therefore be a valuable non-partisan resource to a voter education programme.
Organizing Civil Society
It should be relatively easy to contact a national election management authority, or in the case of local elections a municipal election management authority, to attend a meeting to share information about voter education activities and, where possible, to coordinate them. It should also be possible to make similar invitations to political parties, coalitions, or voter initiative groups by making use of such resources as a list of registered parties (either registered with the ministry of justice or the national election management authority, for example) or a list of parties with seats in the national assembly. It may even be possible to encourage the candidates to meet together to coordinate their collaborative efforts during an election.
But when it comes to civil society, it may be relatively more difficult to find a comprehensive listing of all informally or independently organised groups of citizens. Nor will all of them be interested in assisting. And, among the groups that may be interested, they may not be aware of each other or have any prior experience working together. By its very nature, civil society cannot be coordinated through a body. Segments of civil society may be aligned and, by the use of nodal organisations, parts of it can be encouraged to organize themselves more efficiently for the purposes of a particular voter education event or programme.
Steps can be taken to inform and support civil society groups and even coordinate their efforts in support of elections. These include routine meetings to inform groups (for example about on-going developments in the election campaign such as the adoption of new regulations or new election procedures or technologies) and to facilitate cooperation and coordination; training sessions to help prepare those tasked with directly engaging voters; routine briefings from the election management authorities; boiler-plate scripts and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) distributed by fax and e-mail, and similar consensus building activities.
Stakeholders in Voter Education
Treating civil society as a stakeholder in developing the goals, objectives, and parameters of a voter education programme is essential. These organisations have the ability to provide quick and reliable information about the electorate. They may also have staff or volunteers with access to and experience working with local communities. They may also provide a relatively low cost option for reaching the grassroots and personally reinforcing mass mediated messages.
