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Relation Between Democracy and Civil Society

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262 views10 pages

Relation Between Democracy and Civil Society

Uploaded by

Hina Jadoon
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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RELATION BETWEEN DEMOCRACY

AND CIVIL SOCIETY

Prof Bilal Yousaf


Department of Political Science
GPGC NO.1 Abbottabad
INTRODUCTION
• Civil society occupies a central position in the tapestry of democratic
governance, serving as a vibrant arena for citizen engagement, advocacy, and
collective action.
• Rooted in the principles of voluntarism and civic association, civil society
encompasses a diverse array of non-governmental organizations, community
groups, and grassroots movements that play instrumental roles in shaping
political processes and advancing democratic ideals.
• At its core, civil society embodies the aspirations of citizens to actively
participate in public affairs, hold governments accountable, and foster social
cohesion within pluralistic societies.
DEFINITION
• Civil society, as Larry Diamond defines it, is “the realm of organized social life that is
open, voluntary, bound by a legal order or set of shared rules.”
• Civil society involves private citizens acting collectively to make demands to the state
or to express in the public sphere their interests, preferences and ideas or to check
the authority of the state and make it accountable.
• With this in mind, civil society may encompass a wide range of organizations
concerned with public matters. They include civic, issue-oriented, religious, and
educational interest groups and associations. Some are known as nongovernmental
organizations, or NGOs; some are informal and loosely structured.
• Harry Blair says that “civil society organizations increase citizens’ participation in the
policy-making process, enhance the state’s accountability to its citizenry, and provide
civic education in democratic politics”.
WHAT ARE THE FUNCTIONS OF
CIVIL SOCIETY?
• The function of civil society is to act as a link between the state and its society.
• In any society, there are needs that the state is unable or unwilling to meet, so
civil society steps in and provides necessary aid such as food distribution,
medical services, legal advice, and disaster relief.

• Civil society also provides ways to mediate between different, sometimes


contradictory, interests that arise in the public arena.

• Finally, it provides ordinary citizens to volunteer and help their communities.


WHAT DOES CIVIL SOCIETY MEAN?
• Civil Society denotes the sphere of action that lies between
the state and society that is made up civic groups, civil
society organizations, and non-governmental organizations.
• These all work to represent and promote certain special
interests or raise public awareness of civic duties and
political rights.
• Civil society provides ways for people to help society
through volunteerism.
WHAT ARE EXAMPLES OF CIVIL SOCIETY?
• A civil society contains small civic groups like the Rotarians and
the Optimist Club that promote service to the community.
• At the same time, large non-governmental organizations like
the Red Cross or the United Way fall within the definition of
civil society.
• In the past decades, global civil society (GCS) has emerged
that works beyond the state in the transnational realm.
Greenpeace, UNICEF, and World Vision are examples of GCS.
FUNCTIONS OF CIVIL SOCIETY
Civil society can maintain or establish a democracy in a country that is based
on its function, namely:
1. Democracy will run well if there are groups of people who control the
Government, civil society always monitor how public officials in power, using
its strength in making policy, demanding the freedom of access to
information laws or regulations such as the eradication of corruption.
2. Civil society can expose events that exist within the Government, lobbying
to reform the existing policy. Democracies make their role more effectively.
FUNCTIONS OF CIVIL SOCIETY
3. Civil society may encourage the life of Westernization in everyday life, such as
tolerance, moderation, compromise, and respect for differences of opinion.
Without such attitudes, then democracy will not run stable.

4. Civil society can promote democratic political participation with the fight for their
rights as citizens, aspires at the voice, solving together and argue about public
issues.

5. Civil society can provide the education of democracy, with the cultivation of the
values, concepts, along with training that relates to democracy.
FUNCTIONS OF CIVIL SOCIETY
6.Civil society acts as an arena to express, lobbying, which can then be
strengthened democracy because of the formation of new interests and
form solidarity so that democracy can be stable.

7.Civil society can provide information and monitor the elections as


well as the resolution of a conflict. Some of these functions can make
democracies can be effective and legitimate, because of the positive
relationship between civil society and democracy.
THANK YOU…!

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