The aim of this article is to analyse the involvement of civil society in regional integration organizations through a comparative analysis of social/civil society channels in the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). We seek to analyse the level of openness and the trajectory of both blocs in relation to civil society participation. The instruments and strategies employed by civil society actors in both regions are contrasted, aiming to understand how prominent and successful they have been in terms of influencing the decision-making processes of Mercosur and the SADC, which have been traditionally marked by their intergovernmental and interpresidential characters. We argue that civil society involvement in regionalism is shaped by regional institutional design, member states’ support for societal participation and civil society resources. Thus, this article seeks to contribute to the comparative regionalism literature, setting out an analytical comparative framework for assessing the role of civil society in regional organizations from the Global South.

本文的目的是通过对南部共同市场（Mercosur）和南部非洲发展共同体（SADC）中的社会/公民社会渠道进行比较分析，分析民间社会在区域一体化组织中的参与。我们试图分析与民间社会参与有关的两个集团的开放程度和轨迹。对这两个地区的民间社会行动者所采用的手段和战略进行了对比，旨在了解它们在影响南方共同市场和南部非洲发展共同体的决策过程方面的杰出和成功，而传统上以它们为政府间和总统之间的标志是南方共同市场和南部非洲发展共同体人物。我们认为，公民社会对区域主义的参与是由区域制度设计所决定的，成员国对社会参与和民间社会资源的支持。因此，本文旨在为比较区域主义文献做出贡献，建立一个分析性比较框架，以评估全球南方地区民间社会在区域组织中的作用。