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- There is increasing public dissatisfaction with the institutions of global governance
- There is increasing public disenchantment with traditional democracy
- The power and confidence of Southern voices have risen dramatically
- The major conferences have begun to level the North-South playing field
- Southern Civil Society Organizations gain protection from the UN in criticizing their governments
- Various new roles offered within the UN system have helped expand Civil Society Organization horizons
- The new political divides are very different from the old