Insights from Part III

Abstract

In this part, the normative framework for legitimate partner NGOs has taken shape and made evident the distinctive advantages of the deliberative over the liberal model when conceptualizing the role of NGOs as political actors in the postnational constellation. By ascribing to the public sphere and civil society mutually enabling, constitutive roles and by widening the scope of the public sphere from the political to the civil sphere, the deliberative model posits a normative horizon for a society in which NGOs assume an important role as political actors. In fact, NGOs assume the role of a driving force in public debates.