Jargalsaikhany Mendee

Civil Society in a Non-western Setting: Mongolian Civil Society Jargalsaikhany Mendee

This work examines Mongolian civil society, which is often described by scholars, politicians, and civil society practitioners as ?vibrant? and ?strong?. It concludes that while civil society space does exist in Mongolia, it is neither fully institutionalized nor respected by the state, by politicians, by business or by other actors. Moreover, democratic values and norms are not internalized because internalization is something that takes several generations to accomplish. The widespread reliance on informal networks undermines efforts to promote democratic values and norms as well as trust in democratic institutions. Mongolian civil society is therefore vulnerable.