What is meant by the term "civil society"? Which role does civil society play in a democracy?

Résumé du document

According the European Commission, a Civil Society is the "community life which is exercised between the state and the market. The objectives of the participation of the Civil Society are to support the elaboration and the implementation of the policies using practical advices." This definition describes the Civil Society as a support for the State, helping it to implement policies and draft informative reports. It can then be said that one of the aims of the Civil Society is to establish the link between the state and the society while staying independent from the state. However, there are different definitions of the role of the Civil Society. The role depends on which organ gives this definition, whether it is the state, the European Union or an NGO. This paper provides answers to questions such as the nature of the civil society, its organization and role in the state.

Extraits

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[...] So, one of the aim of the Civil Society is to make the link between the state and the society but staying independent from the state. But there are different definitions of the role of the Civil Society, it depends on which organ gives this definition : the state, the European Union or an N.G.O. For instance, the definition of the N.G.O. by the Peace Corps is different from the one given by the European Commission : according to the Peace Corps, the role of the third sector, NGOs is provide services that the business and government sectors are unwilling or unable to provide, and they provide a venue for citizens to come together and be heard on issues that they feel are important” So, this definition shows more NGOs as a support for the citizens. [...]

[...] Those NGOs cover a large scope : Human Rights (Amnesty International), protection of the environment (Greenpeace), defense of democracy, economy, protection of animals health (the Red Cross) . In democracies, the NGOs have four main roles to play in the society. First, to fill in the gaps left by the State. Some NGOs have a social function, for instance to help poor peoples . The Civil Society is responsible for not left citizens died of starvation or because of the cold. [...]

[...] (Marshall, 1999) Moreover, according to Cekic, “Civil society is not an immaculate moral space free from the relations of domination and subordination, and power exercises.” (Cekic, 2005) Some authors also deny the fact that the civil society is representative of the society. Indeed, some NGOs present themselves as representatives of the entire society but of course, it cannot be the case and NGO are not legitimate to pretend to be the spokesperson of the whole society, of all the citizens. According to the European Economic and Social Committee, representativeness of European civil society organizations [ . ] is often called into question. [...]

[...] Of course, a lot of them have a larger popular support than the number of their official supporters but it is virtually impossible to measure it. Sometimes, the influence of some NGOs is disproportionate toward their reel support within the society. According to Pierre Calame, fact, for an NGO, to have millions of members does not allow it to pretend to speak in the name of people and like this to dispose of a legality of popular representation equivalent to an election”. [...]