This is where Civil Society comes into play. Civil society functions in the areas between home and family and the formal structures of state and business. Civil Society involves the social skills required to function in a society which relies on a sense of trust and norms of reciprocal behavior , such as returning favors between friends. Social Capital describes what develops in these interactions. Trust between people and institutions develops across time in concepts like good will and reputation .
Social capital resides in people.
Yet, like other forms of capital , such as intellectual capital, or human and economic capital, it is a resource that can be developed and utilized. One successful example of Civil Society in action is well known in public broadcasting. When Federal funding for public broadcasting was threatened, people wrote their congressmen or senators to protest. That was social capital in operation. TRAC Media Services has been working to introduce and develop an understanding of Civil Society and its relationship to public broadcasting.