The role of civil society organizations in the consolidation of democracy : cases from Cameroon and South Africa

dc.contributor.advisorFerim, Valeryen
dc.contributor.advisorCreator e.g. Surname, Name (no title or punctuation)en
dc.contributor.authorAyuk, Enu Reneen
dc.date.accessioned2026-08-19T00:21:52Z
dc.date.available2026-08-19T00:21:52Z
dc.date.issued2018en
dc.description.abstractThis study investigates the role played by civil society organizations in the consolidation of democracy. It is a comparative study between South Africa and Cameroon. This study utilizes the Habermasian critical theory of civil society which emanates from the liberal ideology of democracy. The objectives of the study were to look at the legislations regulating the operation of NGOs, the activities carried out to consolidate democracy and the challenges faced by these organizations in both South Africa and Cameroon. The qualitative method was used for data collection for the study. Interviews were carried out with NGOs officials and the data was analyzed using thematic analyses. The research found out that there is a liberal legislative framework governing the activities of NGOs in South Africa. On the other hand, though Cameroon laws on association seem liberal, a careful study of these laws revealed a concerted effort from the state to constrain the operation of NGOs. NGOs in South Africa carryout activities such as picketing, publicity stunts, human rights awareness campaigns, anti-corruption campaigns, lobbying of parliament, protests, mass mobilization and public interest litigation to consolidate democracy.In Cameroon, NGOs are involved in activities like strike actions, public protest, human rights and anti-corruption campaign as well as public interest litigation to consolidate democracy. However, South African NGOs face challenges like administrative bottlenecks, legal draws backs, sporadic hostility from the state, inadequate funding and lack of staff capacity. In Cameroon, NGOs faced the following challenges; restrictive legal framework, arbitrary arrests and detention of activists, financial constraints, lack of staff capacity, lack of infrastructure, corruption and internal divisions.en
dc.format107 leavesen
dc.formatpdfen
dc.identifier.citationAyuk, Enu Rene. 2018en
dc.identifier.othervital:34321en
dc.identifier.otherhttp://hdl.handle.net/10353/9319en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11837/4835
dc.language.isoEnglishen
dc.publisherUniversity of Fort Hareen
dc.publisherFaculty of Social Science and Humanitiesen
dc.rightsUniversity of Fort Hareen
dc.subjectCivil Society Organization -- South Africa Social movements Democracy -- Africaen
dc.subjectLCSHen
dc.subjectCivil Society Organization -- South Africaen
dc.subjectSocial movementsen
dc.subjectDemocracy -- Africaen
dc.titleThe role of civil society organizations in the consolidation of democracy : cases from Cameroon and South Africaen
dc.title.alternativeThe role of civil society organizations in the consolidation of democracy : cases from Cameroon and South Africaen
dc.typeThesisen
dc.typeMastersen
dc.typeM. Soc. Scen

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