Definitions of Civil Society Click on the links for more information The Centre for Civil Society [Civil Society is] the set of organisations located between the market, the state and household institutions that are variously referred to as non-governmental, voluntary, non-profit, or third-sector organisations, foundations, and social enterprises. These institutions are part of a wider civil society and form a social economy of private organisations serving public purposes. Institute for Civil Society Civil society consists of those institutions, relationships, and cultural traditions which promote trust, a sense of community, and mutual obligation for building the common future. Civil society is that part of society which is not government and not business, but without which no peoples or nation can prosper or achieve democracy. The United States Agency for International Development The hallmark of a free society is the ability of individuals to associate with like-minded individuals, express their views publicly, openly debate public policy, and petition their government. "Civil society" is an increasingly accepted term which best describes the non-governmental, not-for-profit, independent nature of this segment of society. The Search for Civil Society by Benjamin R. Barber Can We Restore the Middle Ground Between Government and Markets? In the Age of Gingrich, no one cares much for government. Yet at the same time, the privatization of public policy-the dominant theme of Republicans since the Reagan revolution-does not and cannot satisfy Americans' longing for family values and a sense of community. Americans are being offered an unpalatable choice between an excessive, elephantine, and paternalistic government and a radically self-absorbed, nearly anarchic private market. No wonder they are outraged at politicians. Yet once upon a time, between the poles of government and market, there was a vast, vital middle ground known as civil society. Although in eclipse today, civil society was the key to America's early democratic energy and civic activism. Its great virtue was that it shared government's regard for the commonweal, yet unlike government made no claim to exercise a monopoly on legitimate coercion. Rather, it was a voluntary, "private" realm devoted to "public" goods. Civil society is the domain that can potentially mediate between the state and private sectors and offer women and men a space for activity that is simultaneously voluntary and public; a space that unites the virtue of the private sector- liberty-with the virtue of the public sector-concern for the general good. Civil society is a societal dwelling place that is neither a capitol building nor a shopping mall. It shares with the private sector the gift of liberty; it is voluntary and is constituted by freely associated individuals and groups. But unlike the private sector, it aims at common ground and consensual, integrative, and collaborative action. Civil society is thus public without being coercive, voluntary without being private. The best way to think about civil society is to envision the domains Americans occupy daily when they are engaged neither in government (voting, serving on juries, paying taxes) nor in commerce (working, producing, shopping, consuming). Such daily business includes attending church or synagogue, doing community service, participating in a voluntary or civic association, joining a fraternal organization, contributing to a charity, assuming responsibility in a PTA or a neighborhood watch or a hospital fundraising society. It is in this civil domain that such traditional institutions as foundations, schools, churches, public interest groups, voluntary associations, civic groups, and social movements belong. The media too, when they place their public responsibilities ahead of their commercial ambitions, are better understood as part of civil society and not the private sector. WHY CIVIL SOCIETY? WHY NOW? by E. J. Dionne, Jr. "CIVIL SOCIETY" SOUNDS SO NICE that few people can believe something serious lies behind the debate the idea has provoked. Sometimes, the word "civil" is given pride of place and the phrase is taken to mean a society where people treat each other with kindness and respect, avoiding the nastiness we have come to associate with 30-second political ads and a certain kind of televised brawl. More formally, civil society refers to an array of fine institutions that nobody can possibly be against: churches that run great teen pregnancy and after-school programs, neighborhood crime watch groups, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, Little Leagues, book clubs, veterans groups, Shriners and Elks. What's to fight about? Aside from bashing overly zealous parent-fans, how many people are prepared to take the negative side of The Little League Argument? And the phrase is further blessed by its association with the brave people in Eastern Europe who used it in their struggle against Communism. They discovered that while they lived under dictatorships, even the most efficient police states could not stamp out all vestiges of independent social life that survived in churches and cafes and workplaces and families. The Eastern European rebels used these enclaves of "civil society" to incubate free societies which ultimately triumphed.