The participation of civil society in the development process has intensively increased in recent years. Not surprisingly, this dynamism has led to new notions of public administration and governance. Civil society groups have come to discard the established belief that citizens are mere recipients of government programs and services. They advocate the concept of participatory governance which views governance as a dynamic interaction between the State, the market, the citizens and civil society organizations in promoting and practicing good governance is given emphasis. The authors show how civil society can be instrumental in key reform areas and directions like decentralization and electoral reforms.
