Many students of the new democracies that have emerged over the past decade and a half have
emphasized the importance of a strong and active civil society to the consolidation of democracy.
Especially with regard to the postcommunist countries, scholars and democratic activists alike have
lamented the absence or obliteration of traditions of independent civic engagement and a widespread
tendency toward passive reliance on the state. To those concerned with the weakness of civil societies
in the developing or postcommunist world, the advanced Western democracies and above all the
United States have typically been taken as models to be emulated. There is striking evidence,
however, that the vibrancy of American civil society has notably declined over the past several
decades.