Bad civil society and the state: a complicated relationship (original) (raw)

Civil Society in the Crosshairs

Civil Society in the Crosshairs, 2023

As a result of permanent crises, changing political circumstances, rise of populism and overwhelming socio-cultural conflicts, recently liberal democracy is on the decline. This process strongly affects the civil sector, which in the 21 st century is still considered one of the main defenders of democracy and human rights. Civil sector also performs a couple of functions that help them try to monitor the state (watchdog function), protect citizens, minorities, human rights, environment, animals etc. and provide a normative behavioural attitude. Nowadays in many countries the activities of civil organizations are restricted, displaced or terminated. Focusing on those countries where democratic backsliding process can be clearly observed, this study examines the background and forms of the process by which civils turned from partners to "enemies" in the last decade.

Relationship between State and Civil Society: Theoretical Review

2020

Relationship between state and civil society has been of great interest in the field of social sciences especially in the field of sociology and political science. There have been several theorist that tries to look into this relationship. The aim of this paper is to review the theoretical approaches of Marxist, Elites, and Neo-Consensualist on the relations between state and civil society in nowadays societies. Research are based on literature studies, on conflict perspectives in sociology. These theories are very prominent when talking about state-civil society relationship in sociology. Marxist looks the relationship between the two as conflictual, meaning dominant civil society use the state as an instrument in exploiting the weak economic class. Elites argue the relationship differently from that of Marxist and liberals, as for them, state is run by few individuals at the expense of the mass. In the eye of Neo-Consensualist is entirely a different story, as that of Parson view ...

The State and civil society. Traditions and new forms of governing

"In Civil Society and the State, Emil Brix, Jürgen Nautz, Werner Wutscher, Rita Trattnigg, eds. Vienna: Passagen Verlag, 2007, pp. 33-52. This chapter attracts quite a few readers. Please see my chapter in Aronoff and Kubik, Anthropology and Political Science. A Convergent Approach. The chapter called WHAT CAN POLITICAL SCIENTISTS LEARN ABOUT CIVIL SOCIETY FROM ANTHROPOLOGISTS? is a much more developed and detailed exposition of my views civil society. I provide there a detailed definition and examine the relationship between civil society and the state. I also analyze the role of civil society in various types of political regimes.

Approaches to the Analysis of Civil Society and the State (First Draft)

This paper presents a short methodological account of an analytical procedure for studying the concept of civil society and its appropriation in different theoretical and practical contexts. It was initially conceived as a briefing note for the joint ECPR/JPSA project on 'civil society' in Europe and Asia (especially Japan). It has since been elaborated for wider consumption but it still remains an essentially methodological note rather than a substantive contribution to the discussion of civil society. In this sense it may also serve readers interested in other concepts and theories in political science. In its present form the paper has four main parts: (a) a general analysis of modes of philosophical enquiry and their relevance to political theory; (b) an application of this model to the case of civil society; (c) a brief critique of possible meanings of civil society and their utility in social and political analysis; and (d) some recommendations for further work. Most Negative Most Positive Name Koza ha Ro-No ha Civil Society Liberalism (Symposium)

The state and the reconstruction of civil society

International Review of Administrative Sciences, 2015

The current relationship between the state and civil society in Europe is a curious and historically unique one. This is no longer a situation in which participation and association prepare citizens for the offices of the state; rather, it is the state urging a sometimes-reluctant citizenry to engage actively in civil society. This phenomenon stems from a combination of changes in prevailing governance paradigms and of the more general process of social liquefaction. In the article, we analyse these two intertwining trends and discuss the new type of relationship between the state and civil society that may be emerging. Points for practitioners The article puts the current vogue for renewed state–civil society relationships in a larger context. It shows that, however commendable many initiatives may be, there is the risk that the desire on the part of governments for their citizens to participate and self-organize may lead the state to take over such initiatives, leading to a manufa...

Features of Interaction Between the State and Civil Society in the Context of the Philosophy of Law

2021

The article explores the notion and peculiarities of the concept of “civil society” in the modern, legal state. In the given research, the author implements a holistic, systematical (methodical) analysis of peculiarities of the relationship between the state and society. Therefore, the theoretical and practical research of problems of development of the relationship between civil society and the state gives an opportunity to find new solutions in problems of cooperation of individual and shared interests. Moreover, the study is also focusing on various approaches of well-known jurists on the essence, content and legislative consolidation of civil society. The author concludes that in recent decades, the philosophy of law took under its active protection the civil society, where the harmonious combination of rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of the person should correspond to public interests. Therefore, the theoretical and practical analysis of interactions between the state...

Relation Between “Civil” and “Inclusive” Society from a Theoretical Perspective

2018

The past few decades offer the evidence of the expansion of civil society organizations arising from the inability of states to, due to political or administrative constraints, cover the whole spectrum of citizens’ needs. In view of this, the paper will elaborate on the main theoretical perspectives of the concepts of “civil” and “inclusive” society, as well as the significance of civil society organizations for the social development, democratic values and an inclusive society. The introductory part of paper shows a brief overview of the history of the concept of civil society. On the one hand, it will present the main postulates of neo-liberal pluralist paradigm and contextualization of civil society by Jürgen Habermas, Robert Putnam, Francis Fukuyama and Jeffrey Alexander and on the other side we are going to consider Gramsci’s paradigm and its importance in this context. In addition, paper will present the modern conceptualization and possible perspectives of civil society organ...