Hegemony Needs Society; Gramsci, the Ford Foundation and Democracy in Poland, 1980 to 1994

Abstract

Non-state actors have always participated in public policy processes. Viewed through a Gramscian lens, a key dimension to the struggle for power in state-society relations concerns the role of ideas. In contrast to statist, Marxist, and liberalist models of politics, the Gramscian view merges economic arguments with cultural concepts, and develops the notion of „cultural hegemony‟. Foregrounding the operation of cultural hegemony, this paper traces the activities of the Ford Foundation in Poland from 1980-1994. The main argument is that Ford significantly contributed to the empowerment of the Polish civil society and therefore to the democratization process in Poland. The paper concludes with reflections on the essential role of non-state actors in the politics of public policy making.