In the United States, social institutions from church organizations to sports leagues occupy key roles in shaping political life, with unions perhaps the most familiar player, affecting change in realms from protest movements to elections. But while these civil society institutions draw little notice in a democracy, they turn heads in settings where political life is more constrained. Elizabeth “Biff” Parker-Magyar, a sixth-year doctoral student in political science at MIT, is investigating this phenomenon. “It’s quite puzzling when some organizations manage to form and exert influence…
