Civil Society Organizations and Democratic Transition

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed in-depth to identify the reality of civil society organizations and institutions, and to determine their pivotal role in the democratic transition process in Libya. The study also sought to accurately identify the most important problems and obstacles (legal, political, and subjective) that hinder the progress of these institutions, in order to search for practical mechanisms and models that reduce apathy and activate their role to be able to lead the development process and modernize Libyan society. Methodology: To ensure the comprehensiveness of the research, the researcher relied on the integration of three scientific approaches; the historical approach to track the roots and development of the civil society movement in Libya across different eras, the case study approach to focus on the phenomenon and analyze it accurately, and the descriptive-analytical approach to understand the complex network of relations between social and political phenomena and their impact on civil behavior. Results: The results revealed severe suffering of civil society institutions in Libya from a lack of independence, due to the heavy legacy of restrictive legislative laws (such as Law No. 111 of 1970 and Law No. 19 of 2001) that grant executive agencies the right to intervene, dissolve, and merge. The results also showed a weakness in organizational structures and self-funding, and a profound negative impact by the state of acute political polarization, the prioritization of the language of weapons, and tribal and regional affiliations over the national interest. Conclusions: The study concluded that the success of the democratic transition path inevitably requires establishing a balanced partnership between the state and civil society institutions, and immediate action to issue new legislation that guarantees freedom of work and complete independence from the dominance of the executive authority.