Clientelism is, of course, nothing new. In the 19th<\/sup> century, for instance, clientelism was so strong in the United States that the political party which won the election used to divvy up the public service between their clientele groups. It is even said that President James Garfield was assassinated because a promised appointment was not made. This led to the passing of a law that ensured the embedding of merit-based principles in the American public service and intended to protect the government from selling positions. In the 20th<\/sup> century, Austria saw their two political parties divvy up all government positions, starting with kindergarten and school headmasters. These examples demonstrate that today\u2019s highly developed democracies have also gone through a time when clientelism was status quo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In our case,\u2018rent-seeking\u2019 and \u2018clientelism\u2019 are the fundamental causes that have been keeping Mongolia\u2019s public governance weak for the last 30 years. In the same vein, political parties and media are both supposed to be a channel that helps shape the public opinion by expressing views in a more organised and transparent manner. However, over 70 per cent of Mongolia\u2019s media are controlled by politicians today, while our political parties are prone to clientelism and unlikely to contribute to the formation of an educated and informed public opinion. Under these circumstances, civil society is the platform to keep public governance healthy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pillar of democracy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n French political scientist Alexis de Tocqueville has provided a very simple definition of civil society in his book \u2018Democracy in America\u2019. According to him, civil society is a prerequisite of democracy and a platform where people unite at their own free will and collectively find solutions to common issues by sharing their time, knowledge, and information. In modern terms, civil society is a politically independent, open platform that allows to exercise the right to unite, hold a peaceful demonstration, and voice opinions (to exercise the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association). <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n When transitioning to a new society, we ratified the basic rights of civil society in our constitution. In 1997, a law was passed on non-governmental organizations, which is the key institution that represents civil society. Between then and now, over 20,000 NGOs have been established, which shows that people have been exercising their right to unite. Despite the formation of a plethora of civil society organizations, their quality and maturity remain questionable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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