Recently, civil society has been celebrated as a solution to political apathy and cynicism towards representative democracy. This however, argues that the role of associations in and for democracy is only properly understood if we take the context into account.

The authors collected in this volume critically examine the crucial link between the associative sector and the health of democracy. Focusing on the role of context and using diverse approaches and empirical material, they explore whether there association in differing socio-political contexts can sometimes undermine rather than reinvigorate democracy.

The book features empirical and comparative studies on the effects of associative democracy focusing on Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Northern Ireland, European Union institutions and South America. It will interest student and researchers of social capital, civil society and associative democracy.