Defining Characteristics of Civil Society

By Timothy J. Peterson and Jon Van Til*

Civil society has become a central theme in contemporary thought about philanthropy and civic
activity, yet it is difficult to define, inherently complex, and resistant to being categorized or
interpreted through a singular theoretical lens. The term is increasingly used to suggest how public life
should function within and between societies; at the same time, it provides a way of describing the
social action that occurs within the context of voluntary associations or intermediary bodies (Riesman
and Glazer, 1950; Van Til, 2000).
Nonprofit organizations, like other groups and institutions in modern societies, operate within and are
conditioned by three types of systems: economic, political, and social. Nonprofits themselves, in turn,
give group members the opportunity to exercise three fundamental civic principles: participatory
engagement, constitutional authority, and moral responsibility. Matrices (such as the one included in
this article) are helpful tools for considering terms such as civil society that contain multiple facets of
meaning, characteristics, and relationships. This particular matrix illustrates the unique and specific
meaning contained within each characteristic--and the interrelationships that exist between
characteristics--of this complex concept.
These systems and principles produce a matrix of nine civil society characteristics that can be used to
evaluate and guide the work of various agencies, groups, and organizations. A careful assessment of
these characteristics can be useful to nonprofit organizations in identifying the presence of civil society
and gauging its strength within a particular social context, and helpful in matching organizational goals
to specific civic actions that will encourage positive social change. Widespread and legitimate citizen
involvement in this civic context remains a foundation for nurturing and sustaining healthy and
productive societies, especially in urban settings.

Systems of Civil Society

All societies, whether civil or otherwise, contain similar patterns of organized systems of collective
human experience, including economic exchange, political governance, and social relationships.
Systems of economic exchange that promote patterns of civil society depend on the sustainable
availability and equitable use of natural and social resources necessary for constructing a satisfying
and "satisficing" life by present and future generations.[i]Sustainable economic development is
necessary for the health and longevity of any society. It requires a mutually supportive, symbiotic
relationship between the natural economy of ecosystems and human social economies, with a
particular concern for the poor.
The formation of civil society usually partners with an identifiable system of political governance,
characterized by open, public decision-making for all community members through governmental
structures that (1) permit legitimate access to and use of civic space and resources, and (2) maintain
fairness within the existing political and judicial systems by promoting and protecting the welfare of
the people, with particular concern for the disenfranchised.
Social relationships within a civil society are characterized by strong, active, vibrant, diverse
community-based groups and networks that (1) facilitate open, voluntary participation; (2) enable
community stakeholders to hold economic and political actors accountable for outcomes of policy
decisions; (3) provide a context for mutual benefit and exchange; and (4) seek to promote the
common good, with a particular concern for inclusion of those currently marginalized.

Principles of Civil Society

The literature suggests that the three principles--participatory engagement, constitutional authority,
and moral responsibility--are found in all civil societies regardless of cultural context.
Participatory engagement indicates that members of the society (1) enjoy access to and governance of
resources used for the common good, (2) are free to be involved in civic action and social change, and
(3) are free to participate in group affiliations that provide a sense of belonging on a community level.
Constitutional authority protects the rights and privileges of citizens in a civil society. Under the rule of
law, citizens and social groups are constitutionally legitimized and empowered to hold economic and
political actors accountable for their work as community servants and trustees. Local and national
decision-makers, motivated by the common good rather than self-interest, are expected to design and
implement public policies that strengthen the vitality and welfare of the community.
Within this social context, all community members have moral responsibility to use their civil liberties
in ways that do not violate the human rights of others. The practice of equity, justice, and reciprocity
produces social order and stability.
Characteristics of Civil Society
These three systems and three principles combine to articulate nine measurable characteristics of civil
society.
The Commons
Civil society is advanced when citizens share a social right of access to the commonwealth of
resources produced, used, and exchanged through natural and social economies in a community and
through a society. Access, in this context, includes the abilities both to contribute to the resources and
to benefit from them. Broad, community-based civic engagement in economic activities occurs in the
arena of what is historically called the Commons, as in the Greek agora and the English market. As
citizens participate in the open exchange of commonwealth resources, they can form and strengthen
social connections and networks with others.
Office
Civil society is advanced when citizens can exercise their civic duty of self-governance by participating
in political structures that exhibit decentralized power and authority. Community-based civic
engagement in political governance exists when community members have the opportunity to hold
positions or offices of public decision-making and leadership.
Associations
Civil society is advanced when citizens can openly and voluntarily participate in diverse social
affiliations, groups, networks, and structures for self-governance and social transformation.
Association refers to those social places where people gather and interact with others to exchange
ideas, offer support, and receive a sense of belonging. Community-based civic engagement in systems
of social exchange exists when diverse social groups and gatherings are present and permeable.
Trusteeship
Civil society is advanced when citizens hold decision-making power, work to strengthen and improve
local and regional economies, and exercise sustainable and socially transparent stewardship of societal
resources (e.g., human, social, material, and ecological) on behalf of the common good. Community-

based activities of civic responsibility in systems of economic development exist when citizens enjoy
the legitimate authority of resource trusteeship.
Sovereignty
Civil society is advanced when citizens have the right to be involved in all aspects of political
governance and the authority to make decisions and perform actions affecting all levels of public life,
without the institutions of public life being captured by the interests of specific groups or individuals.
The presence and legitimacy of community-based civic authority through systems of political
governance increase the ability of citizens to exercise sovereignty over policies and programs that can
positively affect their lives and the quality of life in their community.
Accountability
Civil society is advanced when citizens, acting through community-based groups and associations, are
able to use basic civic freedoms and rights (e.g., fair elections, free speech, a free press providing
access to information, freedom to organize in groups) to hold economic and political actors responsible
for the outcomes of policies, programs and patterns of resource distribution, and the exercise of
political power.
Equity
Civil society is advanced when each citizen is given equitable access to and use of resources required
for constructing a satisfying and satisficing life. A moral condition of equity forms the foundation of
activities that expand and strengthen economic conditions for all community members. Economic
equity of resources is necessary for producing and sustaining an improved quality of life for all people,
especially the poor.
Justice
Civil society is advanced when citizens pursue social justice by (1) consistently and compassionately
using the rule of law in fulfillment of their civic obligations, and (2) advocating for those excluded
from the political process and harmed by unjust laws.
In classical Greek thought, justice was accomplished by having people serve the city-state according
to their status by birth. Gender, merit, rank, and wealth all were criteria for the role one was expected
to play in the society, whether citizen or non-citizen. If the social order became disrupted, "justice"
was accomplished by restoring people to their former positions of power and status. Unfortunately, the
practice of justice according to this particular "rule of law" allowed previous inequalities to continue.
The disenfranchised remained excluded after the work of justice.
Contemporary views of citizenship and justice reflect these classical ideas in their adherence to a rule
of law that is based on the ethical norms of society, but the particular ethical norms have largely
shifted. In the United States, the bases of citizenship and political participation have changed.
Heredity, wealth, and social position have given way to the unalienable right of common citizenship
legitimized by the Constitution. A law or policy is considered unjust if it is unconstitutional or contrary
to the democratically formed rule of law.
Reciprocity
Civil society is advanced when citizens (1) pursue social transformation through reciprocal, mutually
dependent collaboration with others, and (2) negotiate, mediate, and resolve conflict through
peaceful, nonviolent means. The nature of civic environments requires that social relationships in
communities be limited and conditional. Not everyone in a society is invariably viewed as a legitimate
member and given equal access to its resources. The term reciprocity highlights two interrelated moral

issues of social relationships: how people to treat one another, especially when conflict exists; and
how group boundaries are defined and transcended.
Conclusion
As we continue through the 21st century, the principles and systems of civil society must move
beyond the nation-state to include a global political economy of relations and groups. Everyone is to
be viewed as one another's neighbor; we are mutually responsible for everyone's opportunity to
experience a satisfying and satisficing life. Our global economy, having brought us together, pushes us
to develop appropriate political and social systems through which participation, authority, and
responsibility can be just, equitable, and nonviolent--responding with concern for the disenfranchised,
marginalized, and impoverished.

The essential characteristics of civil society

Aaro Harju

The essence of civil society differs from the public and the private sectors. While the public sector is
characterized by the concepts of power, authority, legitimacy and democracy, the concepts typical of
the private sector are the markets, competition, profits, customership and consumerism. Civil society
is, for its part, characterized by citizens spontaneity and activeness, participation and doing, public
utility and autonomy, voluntariness and optionality, laymanship and professionalism, flexibility and
independence,
communality and locality, ethics and solidarity.

In civil society, citizens organize activities and services for themselves and other people out of their
own hopes and premises. Fundamentally, civil society has no requirements from the outside, as is the
case with the private sector. The actors of civil society decide for themselves what kind of activities
they engage in, although the financiers have begun to participate in the defining process more in the
last few years. Project and targeted funding has become more popular and outsourcing services have
increased. These developments have tightened the grip of the public administration and financial
quarters on civil society, and thus the traditional autonomy and independence of civil society have
narrowed.

In civil society people are at the same time actors and objects of the action. The members use
decision-making power in defining the domain of civil society. Civil society is not stamped by
customership or consumerism.

The spontaneity and activeness of citizens stem first and foremost from the willingness to participate
and act. People are motivated by an interest in some subject matter. The willingness to participate, to
take part and to obtain experiences brings substance to peoples lives. Spontaneous activity acts as a
good counterbalance to work and brings variety to ones life. Through participation the person can
make new friends and break the circle of loneliness. The desire to learn but also to help others
encourages many people to be active and participate in the activities of civil society.

Participation offers the opportunity and ability to have an influence. Civil society provides numerous
occasions for influencing, especially in the spheres of political and trade union activity. The possibility
to have an influence offers an important dimension to citizens spontaneous activities within the
contexts of civil society.

In civil society activities are provided and services produced for members and customers in a non-profit
making ethos. One ideological cornerstone of civil society is the charitable nature of its activities. It is
on this basis that the actors of civil society receive public financial support.

The government has regulated the operations of Finnish civil society in a reasonable manner.
Organizations have received their funding as general grants, which has left room for their own
deliberation and decision-making power. Also non-formal adult education has been moderately
regulated. In the last years, however, there has been a change in this practice. Project specific grants
have increased and the authorities have more control over the sphere of non-formal adult education.
Despite all this, autonomy remains as an essential characteristic of civil society.

In the public and the private sectors, there is no voluntary work. Voluntariness is one of the most
central characteristics and strengths of the Finnish civil society. The willingness to help and to use
ones free time in a productive manner motivates Finns to participate in voluntary activities. (Yeung
2004)

Civil society is based on an individuals freedom of choice. Force or sanctions do not characterize civil
society.

The special feature of civil society is in the combination of laypersons and professionals. The peer
support of those with similar life experiences forms an important part of the activities in organizations.
This is unique to the sector of civil society. The know-how of the members and volunteers is at use
alongside the know-how of paid professionals. The soft and hard knowledge, the empirical and
professional knowledge complement one another. Laypersons and professionals, voluntariness and paid
work coexist in civil society.

Civil society is able to adjust to the hopes, needs and desires of people as well as the changes of the
surrounding environment. The lack of official duties and responsibilities eases adjustment and makes
room for reactions. Neither can the heavy investments or the profit responsibilities of shareholders
dictate the activities of civil society. There is room for creativity and new innovations. Many ways of
action have in fact emerged in the sphere of civil society and have consequently become general
working practises or responsibilities of the public sector. In Finland, civil society has also had a role in
patching up the gaps between the public and private sector. Ultimately the actors of civil society can
decide for themselves whether to act, to what end, and how.

Civil society operates in a communal context. The activity can take place in status-based, operational,
or mental (symbolic) communities. The erosion of the traditional communality which was based on
qualities such as status and descent, has not served to diminish the communal essence of civil society,
because new kind of symbolic communality has emerged alongside the status-based communality.

Most of the activities of civil society take place locally and at grass roots. Locality characterizes civil
society, not only its activities but its essence, too.

Civil society is generally seen to include the dimension of ethics and solidarity, although the goodness
of civil society should not be overemphasized. Like in any human activity, problems exist in civil
society, too. Nevertheless, the starting point is the equality between individuals and the goal is the
public good.

Quoting Jrgen Habermas, one can state that civil society represents a living world where communality

and mutual understanding is built with language and communication. The public and the private
sectors, on the other hand, represent the world of systems governed by a strategic and calculating
logic. (Habermas 1986, 1416; Hautamki 2004)