What is Civil Society?
At A More Perfect Union, we’re investing in and harnessing the power of Jewish civil society to strengthen a culture of democracy and active citizenship in the United States. But what do we mean by civil society? And what does it have to do with the Jewish community?
Let’s start here: Civil society is the network of formal and informal relationships through which people come together to build community, solve shared problems, and build and exert collective power. It’s often held up as distinct from and in relationship with government and business as the "third sector" of society.
The broad category of ‘civil society’ includes family and personal relationships, educational institutions, clubs, professional and religious associations, volunteer organizations, and any other kind of voluntary group. Under its umbrella are Girl Scout troops, NGOs, bible study groups, running clubs, and parent-teacher associations.
Jewish civil society includes religious centers like temples and synagogues, social communities like summer camps and youth groups, educational institutions like schools and universities, and even advocacy organizations that support important policy issues. Essentially, civil society is the name we give to the complex web of relationships and affiliations that help organize our lives and focus our attention.
‘Civil society,’ like business interests or a free press, is an essential element of a functioning democracy. Civil society is, in essence, a series of forums in which we learn to advocate for things we care about; negotiate with others who may not share our perspectives; navigate disagreements in a way that recognizes everyone’s right to participate; and arrive at meaningful decisions that – hopefully – everyone can live with. Think of civil society as a training ground for democratic citizenship, where our individual opinions may not always win the day, and the results may not always be perfect, but we still manage to engage in a deliberative process and come to a conclusion without losing our place in the community. And because civil society operates outside of government, it is also able to operate as an influence – or as a check – on ruling powers.
We’ve seen the impact and the importance of civil society in examples around the globe – especially in situations where democracy is threatened. When Spain began to transition toward democracy in the 1970s after the death of dictator Francisco Franco, neighborhood, family, and homemaker associations emerged as vital vehicles for civil society to grow and expand within local communities – allowing Spanish citizens to practice civic rites and democratic governance even before the adoption of a constitution.1 More recently, after Mali faced two military coups in 2020 and 2021, civil society organizations emerged as bulwarks against autocratic backsliding2 in the run-up to planned democratization, and have provided a backbone for democratic transition.
We’ve also seen how a lack of strong and organized civil society can leave even previously strong democracies vulnerable. During the post-Soviet democratic transition, Poland appeared to be a model case for strong, institutionalized democratization. In the decades following 1989, Poland joined NATO, the EU, and the OSCE, and flourished economically. Yet throughout the 1990s and 2000s, a passive and underdeveloped civil society left the door open to ultra-nationalists3 – and over the course of the last 10 years, this model democracy has experienced a significant degree of democratic backsliding and erosion in the quality of governance.
The good news is that, here in the United States, we have a relatively strong civil society. Indeed, it was Alexis de Toqueville’s famous observation that “Americans of all ages, conditions and dispositions constantly unite together…[and] if they wish to highlight a truth or develop an opinion…they form an association.” To quote a later thinker, [Daniel Stid], these associations “draw individuals out of their private concerns…and [enable] them to be part of something larger than the circumstances of their own existence.” This is part of the magic of what it means to be American. We are responsible for one another.
Jewish civil society is also relatively strong. This is no accident. In many ways, it is the tenets of America’s liberal democracy – like support for religious pluralism – that makes a thriving Jewish community possible. As a result, Jews have built a robust set of institutions that allow us to connect and convene, from schools to camps to social organizations and religious groups. And through this wide range of institutions, we are constantly building and reinforcing relationships, learning to advocate for ourselves and others, making compromises, winning, losing, and developing the muscles that help democracy thrive.
At A More Perfect Union, we’re working to engage these established relationships where they already exist; to show the connection between civil society and democracy; to build a culture of active citizenship; and to motivate the Jewish community to play a conscious and active part in strengthening democracy for the good of all. When we talk about mobilizing the Jewish community as part of civil society, this is what we’re talking about. It’s an effort to sharpen our common skills, to harness our shared institutions, and to employ them in the service of our democracy. Ultimately, it’s about applying the strength of our community to the democracy that makes it possible – so that it can remain possible for generations to come.
1 Radcliff, Pamela. Making democratic citizens in Spain: Civil society and the popular origins of the transition, 1960-78. Springer, 2011.
2Thera, Korotoumou. “In Mali, Civil Society Takes on New Role in the Democratic Transition.” United States Institute of Peace, April 5, 2023. https://www.usip.org/publications/2023/04/mali-civil-society-takes-new-role-democratic-transition.
3Barclay, Lindsay. “Civil Society and Democratic Decline: A Look at Poland.” Democratic Erosion, April 11, 2021. https://www.democratic-erosion.com/2021/04/11/civil-society-and-democratic-decline-a-look-at-poland/.
