CIAO DATE: 01/02

Sustaining Media Pluralism in Democratizing Societies

Abstract

For the past quarter-century, many countries around the globe have been transitioning from governments with centralized control of authority to some form of democracy. There are several types of democracy, of course, and these transitioning countries have engaged various strains, stages, and ideals along the way. Nevertheless, many countries in Latin America, Eastern Europe, Africa, and Asia can be described as somewhere along the continuum from "transitioning" to "post-transition democratizing" societies.

One building block of democracy that has assumed heightened attention in recent years is the role of civil society. Civil society is the nongovernmental, non-business element of the public sphere, often informal, that many people believe is essential to a healthy democratic society. One amino acid of a strong civil society, at least in industrialized countries, is a pluralistic press. That diversity of views, sources, and ownership, the theory goes, enables a marketplace of ideas to emerge and democracy to flourish.

Sustaining Media Pluralism in Democratizing Societies (PDF File)