Abstract
The operation of strong Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) within a given country helps make the state democratic: CSOs struggle for justice, the respect of rights, equality, and freedom, and advocating changes against repression. This is especially true for CSOs in African countries lacking democratic practices. However, due to the repressive regulations passed by governing parties, CSOs have not fully played their role in the continent’s democratization process. The number of countries adopting legislationto curtails the potential roles of CSOs in promoting democracy and has increased. ls. The legal system of each country strongly determines the degree of involvement of CSOs in promoting democracy. The challenges CSOs are facing might deviate depending on the nature and content of legislation. Accordingly, this study mainly focused on investigating the challenges of imposing restrictive legislation on CSOs in promoting democracy, taking the lesson from Ethiopia.