Abstract
1989 was the springtime of societies aspiring to be civil. As Garton Ash puts it, one of the major challenges regarding the transition from the communist rule to democracy, was the development of a civil society. Citizens of Eastern Europe had been deprived of the possibility to freely organize themselves into associations. The state was everywhere, controlling almost every aspect of the lives of its citizens. It lacked the fundamental rights which allow for a democratic civil society to exist, such as free press, freedom of association or freedom of speech. Therefore, in 1989, the development of a democratic civil society was crucial, as it was an element which was seen as a way to reinforce the newly created democratic institutions. Civil society refers to those free associations located between the intimate sphere of the family and outside the political control of the state. It can be defined more precisely as Pickvance puts it, as the realm of political protest and civil activities, which is extra-parliamentary and which does not seek to gain power but to limit it.
