|
Zaire Interest Groups
Political scientists frequently characterize Zaire and
other
African states as "corporatist," manifesting a system in
which
interest groups are officially sanctioned and
noncompetitive.
Although corporatism has not been a dominant theme in
official
Zairian discourse, it is present, notably in the
oft-repeated
phrase, "toutes les forces vives" (all the vital forces).
When a
new policy is to be launched, "toutes les forces vives" of
the
nation or of the region, as appropriate, are called
together--
representatives of the employers, employees, churches, and
other
pertinent groups.
In 1991, as Zaire initiated a national conference on
the model
of those held in Benin, Congo, and other French-speaking
African
states, a new expression arose to refer to interest
groups: civil
society (la société civile), a sociological
expression that
originated in the writings of nineteenth-century German
philosopher
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel.
Data as of December 1993
|
