Building the civil state: A study in foundation and requirements

Abstract

This study establishes the concept of the civil state, and deals with the research in its foundations and main components, in terms of the foundational texts in liberal thought that are necessary preludes for its emergence and the consolidation of its foundations and requirements in Western societies. The roots and emergence of the civil state in liberal political thought came in the context of the transformations and changes that began with the renaissance and enlightenment in Western thought, and through our research we try to analyze the foundational texts of the concept of the civil state and explain its foundations and requirements in this context. The study touched on the liberal democracy and the separation of religion from the state rule of law, as it represents the most important foundations of the civil state, in addition to talking about the civil society, citizenship and culture of pluralism as the main requirements of building the civil state. This was crystallized through multiple contributions by Enlightenment philosophers and thinkers as part of the Enlightenment process. The aim of it is to establish a modern state whose mission is to manage public affairs, based on the principles of equality, respect for rights and protection of freedoms, and based on moral values ​​in governance. In order to arrive at a presentation of our problem and prove the research hypothesis, we used the historical approach and the descriptive analytical method.