Concept, Structure and Functions of Civil Society
| Author | L.N. Sharma |
| Published date | 01 October 2015 |
| Date | 01 October 2015 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0019556120150401 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
CONCEPT, STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONS OF CIVIL
SOCIETY
L.N.SHARMA
The article elucidates the concept
of
civil society as
it
first
emerged
in
Europe
and
then started being used elsewhere
since the 17th Century
in
the modern age. It exemplifies the
structures
of
the civil society with particular reference
to
India
and
delineates its function
of
mediation between citizens and
the government. It examines how
far
the civil society has been
successful
in
strengthening democracy and serving the public
causes with which its members are intimately concerned. It
also suggests how
far
the civil society can and should seek to
make people lead better lives and control their governments.
THE CIVJL society refers to a body
of
self-generated, self-propelled non-
State organisations which, on the one hand, regulate the conduct
of
citizens
so that they act as a collective according to their "general" i.e. "moral
will" keeping common good in mind; and, on the other hand, control the
government in consonance with it and give expression to that will. The
civil society performs the function
of
mediation between the citizens and
the government and acts as an intermedediary between the two, though
does not replicate either. The civil society does not represent particularistic
but normative ends and general interests like environment protection,
child welfare, women's development, care
of
the physically and mentally
handicapped, genuine representation and all-round time-bound development
of
the downtrodden and minorities, protection
of
human rights, etc
..
All
these activities may
be
the concern
of
the State and philanthropists
as
well
but the civil society extends yeomen service to sustain those humanitarian
and broad-based interests through civil (non-violent) means which do
not strictly include the written laws
of
the State and the writs listed in
the Constitution. Thomas Hobbes granted citizens the only right to revolt
against the Leviathan
if
the latter fails to provide security oflife;
T.
H.
Green
granted citizens right to resistance;
M.
K.
Gandhi practised Satyagraha and
inspired Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Aung San Suu Kyi in
leading struggles for civil rights in their respective countries.The recent
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