LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Demokratinė valstybė; Formavimasis; Pilietinė visuomenė; Ribos; Socialinė mobilizacija; Valstybės politika; Vyriausybė; Boundaries; Civil society; Democratic state; Formation; Government; Lithuania; Social mobilization; State policy.
ENThis chapter examines the formation of civil society’s power and its power boundaries in contemporary Lithuania. The author's analysis reveals that the government tends to dominate public affairs and that the civil society generally lacks proper instruments to exercise its power in Lithuania. Of particular note in this chapter is the conclusion regarding the relationship between institutionalization processes and the representation capacity of voluntary organizations, with the author stressing that levels of institutionalization do not necessarily translate into effective representation of public interests. Social mobilization and citizens' collective ability to represent and legitimize their interests, the author contends, are at the heart of civil society's power boundariesformation, and can happen within both formal and informal organizations. Additionally, several surveys presented by the author show that Lithuanian citizens tend to be skeptical about civil society and its activities, and that there is a low level of trust in civic institutions, echoing general conclusions elsewhere in this volume. If the low levels of trust in formal institutions continue to persist in the Eastern Europe, Russia, and Central Asia (EERCA) region, then, can informal institutions potentially provide an additional groundfor citizens’ associations to define and defend their interests?. [From the publication]