State–Civil Society Relations

Although the global political context can affect state–civil society relations, in general the relations between civil society and state are between two sets of empirically identifiable institutions that exist within national boundaries of particular countries at a particular time. Specifically, the civil society sector (CSS) denotes a set of legally registered and informal civil society organizations (CSOs) that are institutionally separate from government, do not distribute profits, and whose membership is not legally mandated. The state denotes a set of agencies and branches of national and subnational governments.

The concept of civil society has been used in political philosophy to denote social norms, collective interest, public and interpersonal relations, rules of conduct, and social and economic institutions in a complex society. Although there is no single agreed-on definition, most understandings assume a certain level of free-willing participation of human actors, absence of pecuniary motives, and institutional separation from government.

State–CSS relations can be characterized by the attitude of the respective parties toward each other and, given unequal power of these two parties, the effects of that attitude on the CSS. The attitude ranges from adversarial, to competitive, to accommodating, to symbiotic. Adversarial attitude entails the state actively preventing CSOs from performing all or some of their functions, whereas competitive attitude implies CSOs performing functions that the state is unwilling or unable to perform. Accommodating attitude means generally favorable disposition without interference, whereas symbiotic also entails mutual support. The effects range from decline to neutral and to growth of the CSS as a whole or some of its functions.

Adversarial relations typically result in stagnation or decline of the CSS or some of its functions, but other attitudes may result in either growth or decline or have a neutral effect, depending on specific political circumstances and function. Therefore, the state–CSS relation must be examined in the context of the country's governance type and be sensitive to the level of aggregation, that is, focus on individual organizations, types of organizations, or the CSS as a whole.