These groups join together around shared interests or values and through organized activity impact the market and the state. The faith community, including churches, synagogues and mosques, the National Rifle Association, and anti-gun groups are all part of civil society. So is the Sierra Club, Ducks Forever, Parent-Teacher Organizations and Rotary Clubs. Civil society influences the market through forming consumer groups that can engage in information campaigns and boycotts. Civil society generally exerts influence based on deeply held values or desired future conditions.
Individuals relate to civil society when they become participants or members.
Groups in civil society are also in dispute. Since this is where the definition of the collective conscious is negotiated, groups struggle to gain participants and to co-opt other groups. The dynamism of this sector influences both the market and the state. We are part of the market as individual producers and consumers. These spheres are not one-dimensional, yet there are tendencies for one sphere to dominate the others.