Definition
Civil Society is the sector of voluntary action within institutional forms that are distinct from those of the state, family and market. However in practice the boundaries between these sectors are complex and often blurred. Majority of the analysts reached the consensus that civil society is a broad range of institutions and organisation known variously as the non-for-profit, voluntary, the third sector and the non-state actors.
There is only one notion about the civil society, which is not contested: that civil society is non-official and nongovernmental. Civil society groups are not formally part of the state apparatus; nor do they seek to gain control of state office.
History
Origins
Civil society is a modern concept although, like many other political concepts, it has deep roots back in Western history. The modern idea of civil society emerged in the 18th century, influenced by different political theorists from Thomas Paine to George Hegel, who developed the notion of civil society as a domain parallel to but separate from those of the states.
Current Status
The 90s also saw a large increase in worldwide NGO activities. Especially trans-national NGOs and networks have placed globally important issues on the international agenda, launched international campaigns and thus advocated and spoken globally on behalf of people who were formerly neglected.
Role of Civil Society in Development
Recent years have witnessed a considerable upsurge of interest throughout the world in civil society organisations (CSOs), which are now recognized as strategically important participants but underutilized vehicle in the development process.
Basic Civil Society’s Functions
1. Protection of citizens
2. Monitoring for accountability
3. Advocacy and public communication
4. Socialisation
5. Building community
6. Intermediation and facilitation between citizens and state
7. Service delivery
Challenges
Authoritarian Political Control
One of the basic challenges toward the development of the third sector in many developing countries is the long history of authoritarian rule, where state have been too strong and civil society remained too weak. In these countries state intervene on one hand to create their desired civil society and on the other to let possibly little space for social organisation outside the control of the state.
Religion
Religion has a multiple impact on the development of the third sector. If on the one hand it supports the acts of charity, on the other hand crucial other facets of religion like; its posture toward individualism, its commitment to institution building, and its relationships with State authorities need to be taken into account. Indications are that while religions can share a positive orientation toward philanthropy, they may not generally be supportive of the emergence of CSOs.
Colonialism
In the least developing countries or as it called the “third world” the factor which hinders the growth of civil society is the recent history of colonial control. Colonialism has tended to undermine the independence of local social classes that might have provided the rallying point for civil society institutions.
Limited Resources
Funding constraints limit the scale and functioning of CSOs, significantly impairing their ability to deliver and maintain services. In some large NGOs, in particular, heavy reliance is frequently placed on funding from foreign donors. This is making CSOs more reflective of donor interests than those of their communities or designated target groups.
Legal treatment
In some developing countries the third sectors development has been impended by the legal environment within which non-profits must operate. Because the legal structure for civil society activity has been quite restrictive.
Development Paradigm in Developing Countries
One other factor which hindered the growth of civil society is the changing fashion in development policy and development policy and ideology. During the 1950s and 1960s, development thinking emphasized the importance of a State as the principal agent of modernizing reforms. But in 1980s, to the contrary, the structural adjustment paradigm of development merely replaced government with the private business.
Possibilities
Civil society has an important role in a range of areas, for example in business and economic development, democracy, social services, advocacy, conflict resolution and humanitarian relief.
International Cooperation
Global civil society can also play an important role by exerting pressure on donors in their home countries to address specific issues for international peace building, protect national civil society through international awareness or support their functioning through knowledge transfer and funding.
Advocacy
Civil society plays an essential role in policy analysis and advocacy. It strives to regulate and monitor state performance and the action and behaviour of public officials within a certain territory and global arena. Civil society also builds social capital and enables citizens to identify and articulate their values, beliefs, civic norms and democratic practices.
Peace Building
Civil society rarely has a seat at the negotiation table based on the assumption that the lower the number of actors involved in negotiations, the easier it is to reach agreement. However, there are number of places, where civil society has remarkable influence, for example, the communication process and engaging in bottom up policies.
Key Actors
Non-governmental Organisations (NGOs)
NGOs are the most institutionalized and rationalized form of the civil society actors. As such, NGOs formulate social problems through a specialized technical, intellectualized and systematic discourse that approximates the approaches of the academic world, think tanks and research institutes.
Social Movements
Social movements are constituted by pre-institutional networks of social relations. They can be more informal groups, extended family structures and religious associations than modern hierarchical institution. It is in this sense that they are often described as grassroots organisations.
Networks
There are three perceptions of Networks: 1) Network of social relations which is the pre-institutional relations of society formed and perpetuated through intersubjective, face-to-face interaction. 2) Network form which is the social form that emerges through the information technology revolution and the growing interconnectivity of the world, and 3) Network of civil society actors which is the information-age extensions of NGOs formed by linking civil society actors into segmented , flexible and polycentric organizations.
Plateaus
Networks are the information-age correlates of NGOs; plateaus are information-age correlates of social movements. Networks are in continuity with the institutional rationalization and specialized knowledge of NGOs. Plateaus, on the other hand, are in continuity with the preinstitutional logic and intuitive knowledge of social movements.
Transition to Globalisation
Humanitarian NGOs: Challenges and Trends
Non-governmental humanitarian organisations have evolved into a crucial pillar of the international humanitarian architecture. This briefing paper reviews the issues and trends affecting the humanitarian non-governmental-sector in the wake of sea-change in the geopolitical agenda after 11 September. Events since then threaten to change the landscape of non-governmental humanitarian action in important ways, and are likely to widen the rift between US and European NGOs.
Globalisation > Social > Humanitarian
Transition to Political Tools
Land Policies for Growth and Poverty Reduction
Strengthening poor people’s land rights and easing barriers to land transactions can set in motion a wide range of social and economic benefits including improved governance, empowerment of women and other marginalised people, increased private investment, and more rapid economic growth and poverty reduction, according to a 2003 World Bank report, Land Policies for Growth and Poverty Reduction.
Political Tools > Global > World Bank > Policies > Social
Transition to Political Actors
The Roles of NGOs in Rural Poverty Reduction: The case of Indonesia and India
The role of NGOs in reducing poverty is not a new issue. Especially since the post-World War II, NGO involvement in poverty reduction has become a mainstream. They have been engaged in relief, emergency or longer-term development work or the mixture of all three. Although the evidence on NGO performance in poverty alleviation is mixed, up to now, it is generally assumed that NGOs have the institutional capacity to reduce poverty.
Political Actors > Civil Society > NGOs > Social > Development > Poverty
