  civil society is the "aggregate of non-governmental organizations and institutions that manifest interests and will of citizens."http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/civil+society?r=66 civil society includes the family and the private sphere, referred to as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business.what is civil society civilsoc.org dictionary.com's 21st century lexicon defines civil society as 1) the aggregate of non-governmental organizations and institutions that manifest interests and will of citizens or 2) individuals and organizations in a society which are independent of the government. sometimes the term civil society is used in the more general sense of "the elements such as freedom of speech, an independent judiciary, etc, that make up a democratic society" (collins english dictionary)."civil society". collins english dictionary - complete and unabridged 11th edition. retrieved 2 august 2012 from collinsdictionary.com website: http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/civil-society especially in the discussions among thinkers of eastern and central europe, civil society is seen also as a concept of civic values. one widely known representative of this concept is the polish former dissident adam michnik. volunteering is often considered a defining characteristic of the organizations that constitute civil society, which in turn are often called "ngos", or "npos". most authorities have in mind the realm of public participation in voluntary associations, trade unions and the like,concise oxford dictionary of sociology, 1994:55-56 but it is not necessary to belong to all of these to be a part of civil society. ==etymology== the term civil society goes back to aristotle's phrase koinÅnÃ­a politiká¸ (ÎºÎ¿Î¹Î½ÏÎ½Î¯Î± ÏÎ¿Î»Î¹ÏÎ¹ÎºÎ®), occurring in his politics, where it refers to a âcommunityâ, commensurate with the greek city-state (polis) characterized by a shared set of norms and ethos, in which free citizens on an equal footing lived under the rule of law. the telos or end of civil society, thus defined, was common wellbeing (Ïá½¸ Îµá½ Î¶á¿Î½ tÃ² eu zÄn), in as man was defined as a âpolitical (social) animalâ (Î¶á¿·Î¿Î½ ÏÎ¿Î»Î¹ÏÎ¹ÎºÏÎ½ zÅon politikÃ³n).aristotle, politics, bk. 1 passim, esp. 1252a1â6jean l. cohen,civil society and political theory, mit press, 1994 pp. 84â85.bruno blumenfeld the political paul: democracy and kingship in paul's thought, sheffield academic press, 2001 pp. 45â83michael davis,the politics of philosophy: a commentary on aristotle's politics, rowman &a
Civil_society Community_building Democracy Social_economy Society