The Reemergence of Civil Society as a Concept of Democratic Politics

Abstract

The renewed interest in civil society, a concept with a long history in political theory, has arisen over the past two decades in response to political changes around the world. The slogan of “state versus society” was heard from activists in both democratic opposition movements in Eastern Europe (as well as in Latin America, Africa, and Asia) and new social movements in Western Europe and the United States. While these movements faced very different kinds of challenges, i.e., in the East the question of the right to exist and in the West the question of how to be heard, they shared a common original insight that seems to have emerged independently in each case. This is the idea “that the task of social movements is not to capture state power, but rather to change the relationships of state to society so that the state is more responsive to social demands, to allow for wider participation in the political process—a sharing of state power.”1 The relationship between the state and society is a growing concern of citizens, politicians, and theorists across the political spectrum.