The International Journal
of Not-for-Profit Law

Volume 13, Issue 3, June 2011

This issue of the International Journal of Not-for-Profit Law focuses on democracy and civil society, with four articles addressing the topic from varying perspectives. First, Helen James of the Australian National University asks whether responsible membership in civil society sometimes requires citizens to dissent from the actions of their governments or from the dominant opinion of the moment. Tara McKelvey, a journalist, author, and Guggenheim fellow, then considers a different sort of duty, one at the national level: the obligation to promote democracy around the world. Next, we present two features focusing on activists who work on the relationship between democracy and civil society: Frank van Lierde of Cordaid profiles Babloo Loitongbam of India, the founder and director of Human Rights Alert; and Susan Appe of Andean University Simón Bolivar interviews Orazio Bellettini Cadeño of Ecuador, the Executive Director of Grupo FARO.

We also feature three additional articles. Lorenzo Fioramonti and Ekkehard Thümler of the University of Heidelberg’s Centre for Social Investment consider the potential role of philanthropic foundations in backing the creation of a watchdog organization covering international finance. Mahammad Guluzade and Natalia Bourjaily of the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law assess a European Court of Human Rights case that ruled against Azerbaijan. Finally, Uttam Uprety, an active member of the Nepal Participatory Action Network (NEPAN) and a former research fellow at the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law, provides a comprehensive evaluation of the legal framework for civil society in Nepal.

We are grateful to USAID for supporting the Nepal study and to all of our authors for their timely and important articles.

Stephen Bates
Editor
International Journal of Not-for-Profit Law
sbates@icnl.org