This talks about the civil society. What is the meaning, types and functions of civil society and what roles it plays in social, economic and political development of society.

1. Name: Mohammad Zameer
Enrolment no: GK9942
Roll no: 19ECB025
INTRODUCTION (BRIEF BACKGROUND)
The term 'civil society' can be traced through the works of Cicero and other Romans to the ancient
Greek philosophers’ classical usage of civil society was largely equated with the state. The modem idea
of civil society found expression in the Scottish and Continental Enlightenment of the late 18th
century.
Here a range of political philosophers, from Thomas Paine to George Hegel, developed the notion of
civil society as a domain parallel to but separate from the state where citizens associate according to
their own interests and wishes. Hegel's nineteenth- century notion of civil society included the market in
contrast to contemporary concepts of civil society as a non-profit sector. This new definition reflected
changing economic realities: the rise of private property, market competition and the bourgeoisie. It also
resulted in the mounting popular demand for liberty, as manifested in the American English and French
revolutions. The term, however, lost its concurrence in the mid- 19th century as political philosophers
and sociologists turned their attention to the social and political consequences of the industrial
revolution. It bounced back into fashion after World War II through the writings of the Marxist theorist
Antonio Gramsci who revived the term to portray civil society as a special nucleus of independent
political activity, a crucial sphere of struggle against tyranny. Although Gramsci was concerned about
dictatorships of the right, his books were influential in the 1970s and 1980s amongst persons fighting
against dictatorships of all political stripes in Eastern Europe and Latin America. Czech, Hungarian, and
Polish activists also wrapped themselves in the banner of civil society, endowing it with a heroic quality
when the Berlin Wall fell. Understanding the importance of the given concept, recently David Held tried
to give shape to the concept of 'civil society' through a sociological definition. In his words, "Civil
society retains a distinctive character to the extent that it is made up of areas of social life—the
domestic world, the economic sphere, cultural activities and political interaction— which are organised
by private or voluntary arrangements between individuals and groups outside the direct control of the
state.
Suddenly, in the 1990s, civil society became a mantra for everyone from presidents to social scientists.
The global trend toward democracy opened up space for civil society in formerly dictatorial countries
around the world. In the United States and Western Europe, public fatigue with tired party systems
sparked interest in civil society as a means of social renewal. Especially in the developing world,
privatisation and other market reforms offered civil society the chance to step in as governments
retracted their reach. And the information revolution provided new tools for forging connections and
empowering citizens. Civil society became a key element of the post-cold-war Zeitgeist.
MEANING & DEFINITIONS
Different scholars and philosophers have given different definitions for the civil society but their
attempts to define civil society have done little to mitigate the confusion. To give just a few examples.
 Some people consider the civil society as a presence of people out of private sphere means
their home and entering to the community and its functions.
 Some people believe that, a set of civil society is included active presence of people in different
communities in society which impact the society any way.
 Some people consider civil society as public institutions and organizations trade union etc., that
each of human includes a number of individuals in the general population and have a
corporate, political, social and cultural aspects of the society.

2. Although distinct, these definitions often tend to combine ideas about actors, functions, and positive
normative values into single conceptual package. According to the World Bank: “Civil society ...
refers to a wide array of organizations: community groups, non-governmental organizations [NGOs],
labour unions, indigenous groups, charitable organizations, faith-based organizations, professional
associations, and foundations”. By combing a bunch of different definition, we can conclude that “Civil
society” consists of a host of institutions that look after the activities, which are not taken up by the
state. These may relate to various religious, cultural, economic and other activities of society. The
medieval church of Europe, Hindu Maths, Sikh Gurdwaras, Muslim Mosques, and other religious
trusts in India, caste and kinship associations, business, sports, cultural associations, etc., represents
the civil society.
CIVIL SOCIETY AND THE STATE
In the analysis of the state-civil society relation. There is a general tendency to emphasize the
oppositional versus rather than the conjunctive and Even when the conjunctive and is used, the
tendency is to pitch the relationship as one of antagonism: the state as antagonist of civil society or civil
society as the antidote to the tyranny of the state. This tendency is evident in the general criticism of the
state and its apparatuses and in its extreme from in the wish for it to wans if not wither way (not in the
Marxian sense). It is also evident in the uncritical glorification of civil society and its institutions. This
lionization has perhaps something to do with the content of the rebirth of the concept. When the
European politics felt exasperated and help less under the communist tyranny, its intellectuals found in
the idea of civil society a programme of building independent forms of social life from below free from
state
FUNCTIONS OF CIVIL SOCIETY
Civil societies are found almost in each sphere of society. So, they perform hundreds of functions which
are not possible to mention here. That is why we will address here most important of them
 Filling gaps in services and providing services not provided adequately by government or
business, especially to marginalized or underserved groups.
 Watchdogs. Keeping an eye on government and business, ever alert for corruption, waste,
violations of rights, and inequalities.
 Ethical guardians. monitoring, detecting, reporting, and keeping a focus on ethical behaviour in
government and business.
 Advocating for transparency and accountability of both government and business.
 Advocating for the marginalized and disenfranchised.
 Raising awareness of public policy issues.
 Correcting democracy deficits. Countering corruption, weak legal structure and lack of clear and
consistent rule of law, lack of inclusiveness, and human rights violations.
ACTORS OF CIVIL SOCIETY
A civil society actor is any group or organization outside of government and business that seeks to
provide a service to fill gaps in government and commercial services or seeks to advocate for change in
governance are of the following.
 Work as a Think tanks, activist organizations, and other organized groups outside of
government and business effectively constitute civil society.
 Some groups may be informal and unorganized rather than formal organizations.

3.  Civil society actors differ from civil society organizations in that they may have a primary
purpose which is not civil society per se.
 Categories of civil society actors, which aren’t NGOs include:
 Religions
 Labor unions
 Philanthropic foundations, although they tend to give grants to NGOs
 Think tanks
 Professional organizations
 Trade associations
 Industry groups
 Standard setting organizations
 Political parties
 Youth organizations
 Clubs
 Sports leagues, associations, and teams
 Members-only service organizations
 Private schools, colleges, and universities (public education is a part of government)
CIVIL SOCIETY AND DEVELOPMENT
Civil societies played an important role in comprehensive development of countries where they are
allowed to perform Freely without any restriction. They contributed in economic, political and social
development of concerned countries. Since civil society is direct supervisory power of public on
authority's performance and it gains its power from the integration of public and their movement, they
can effectively contribute to the ground development of different sections of society. Guilds, parties,
media, trade unions and any other form of civil society who are engaged in giving service, turned in to
intervening group in government’s performance and decisions. So that if decision is harmful, they do
something like: demonstration, strike and other protesting civil activities to express their demands and
to avoid conflict and remain on their positions as far as being convinced. This process is more powerful
than controlling the different sings such as: parliamentary oversight, inspection organizations and
involve society to the participation in political and social affairs. In countries were the position of people
and civil society have been respected in the constitution in the framework of maintaining the legal
freedoms and people’s fundamental rights, the rate of development and reducing corruption is more
obvious than the countries were constitution hasn’t been respected. This guarantees one of the most
basic foundations of development.
NGO’S AND CIVIL SOCIETY
NGOs stand for Non-Governmental Organisation. In America they are known as not-for-profit
organization while in rest of the world they are well known as non-governmental organization. NGOs
are the indispensable part of civil society. They are strengthening the fabric of civil society especially in
emerging democracies like India, Pakistan and Bangladesh etc. They are essential partners for
government, the private sector, and development organizations in meeting people’s needs. NGOs are
an expression of people’s belief that through their own initiative, they can better fulfil them potential by
working together, and in so doing reduce the opportunity gap that exists between the advantaged and
disadvantaged in society. NGOs work through different platforms to meet the dire need of destitute and
disadvantaged people in the society. NGO activities include, but are not limited to, environmental,
social, advocacy and human rights work. They can work to promote social or political change on a

4. broad scale or very locally. NGOs play a critical part in developing society, improving communities, and
promoting citizen participation. Some of the major NGOs in India are Cry, Lepra society, Smile
Foundation, Zakat Foundation etc.
ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION
The cooperation of all stakeholders (for example, community, government, conservationists and foreign
donor agencies) is crucial for lasting success in environmental protection programs and this initiative
will require the adoption of conservation strategies that are proactive, mutually beneficial and
environmentally friendly and sustainable. Apart from service providing role (delivering services such as
education, health, food and other humanitarian/relief service), civil society can fully contribute to
sustainable environmental management process.
According to Uganda National Commission for UNESCO (2010), in the implementation of
Environmentally Sustainable Development (ESD), civil society can participate in: advocacy for policy
reform and legislation for the public’s engagement in education for sustainable development; adopting
popular participatory learning and action; promoting community involvement at all levels of the ESD
implementation; capacity building; research; networking and partnerships; and monitoring and
evaluation. Participation of civil society with government in environmental protection programs will bring
about ecological accountability, governmental transparency and democratic institutionalisms in public
and government level which in return facilitates the environment protection due to collective efforts,
made by both of them. Across India, various environmental NGOs, have been reasonably successful in
challenging urban environmental degradation through awareness campaign and judicial activism. A
working paper by Andrew pudephatte states that civil society have played major role in working toward
access to information in India, in various areas including environment protection.
CONCLUSION
Civil society is bulwark for democracy against the tyranny of state because it prevents the state from
turning into despotic holding protest and movement when required. It retains the participation of general
public in different sectors of government in the form of pressure group and regional political party. Civil
society like press prevents from growing the corruption and improve the country’s movement toward all-
round development. If the development is not based on national interests or its trend jeopardize the
national interests, independent civil society will prevent it by taking actions.
Civil societies take part in welfare activities according to emerging needs of people. Since they work
through regional members, they can efficiently comprehend the basic requirements of public in ground
level. Without the help of different NGOs, it is not possible for the government to work efficiently
especially in developing countries like India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
When it comes to importance of civil societies so we can not ignore the role which civil society performs
for the environment and wildlife protection through different NGOs. In European countries they are
promoted by the government and provided security so that they can work efficiently. Sometimes when
governments feel necessary they want NGOs to take part so that they can work together effectively. I
think civil societies should be motivated in India in political, economical and social spheres of society
and certain portion of budget should be allocated to promote them.