What is Civil Society

A community that embraces shared norms and ethical standards to collectively manage problems without coercion and through peaceful and democratic procedures for decision making aimed at improving human welfare.

Refer to a wide of array of organizations: community groups, non-governmental organizations, labour unions, indigenous groups, charitable organizations, faith-based organizations, professional associations, and foundations” World Bank (2010) AU100: The in-text citation "World Bank (2010)" is not in the reference list. Please correct the citation, add the reference to the list, or delete the citation. ( http://go.worldbank.org/4CE7W046K0 ).

The organized non-state, non-market sector.

According to the definition provided by The World Bank, civil society refers to a variety of not-for-profit and non-governmental organizations that enable the expression of the interests and values of the public as well as their members for cultural, ethical, political, philanthropic, scientific, and religious concerns. Civil society organizations refer to charitable organizations, community groups, faith-based organizations, foundations, labor unions, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), labor unions, and professional associations.

A community that embraces shared norms and ethical standards to collectively manage problems without coercion and through peaceful and democratic procedures for decision-making aimed at improving human welfare.

Refers to the sector that is different from business and government, which is constituted by voluntary associations including religious groups, labor organizations, citizens’ groups and more.

A community that embraces shared norms and ethical standards to collectively manage problems without coercion and through peaceful and democratic procedures for decision making aimed at improving human welfare.

A community that embraces shared norms and ethical standards to collectively manage problems without coercion and through peaceful and democratic procedures for decision-making aimed at improving human welfare.

Comprises the totality of voluntary civic and social organizations and institutions that form the basis of a functioning society and is contrasted with the formal structures of the state and commercial/market institutions

Civil society is an organized state of society. Civil society is an essential element of democracy and it is an important social actor in the welfare and progress of society.

A community of citizens, linked by a common interest and having the same activity. This community comprises organizations which are non-governmental and non-profit in nature, and which work for the interest of citizens. Examples of civil society organizations include churches, labor unions, NGOs, and other non-profit organizations which work for the common good, providing very important services in a society; this for very little or nothing in return.

The term, civil society, refers to a range of not-for-profit and non-governmental organizations that enable the expression of the interests and values of the public as well as their members for cultural, ethical, political, philanthropic, scientific, and religious considerations. Civil society organizations refer to charitable organizations, community groups, faith-based organizations, foundations, labor unions, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), labor unions, and professional associations.

A community that embraces shared norms and ethical standards to collectively manage problems without coercion and through peaceful and democratic procedures for decision-making aimed at improving human welfare.

Those social practices and institutions which operate outside the government and its agencies, apparently manifesting the interests and attitudes of the citizenry.

Non-governmental, non-profit organizations, networks and voluntary associations.

The community of NGOs and citizen institutions with collective activities and common interests.

The term, civil society, refers to a variety of not-for-profit and non-governmental organizations that enable the expression of the interests and values of the public as well as their members for cultural, ethical, political, philanthropic, scientific, and religious considerations.

There is no general consensus on the definition of civil society. But civil society can be defined as an arena in which people take common actions to pursue common objectives without reward of profit or political power. These organizations range from associations, unions, and mass organizations, networks, social organizations, to social movements. Civil society is both a way of describing aspects of modern society and an aspiration, as well as an ideal of what a good society should be like. The idea of civil society also represents one version of the democratic ideal, that is, the aspiration toward a form of social life in which individuals, by acting together, would set the patterns of social life on the basis of reasoned discussion and responsible choice. Nonetheless, the core of the concept of civil society is the recognition that human societies are grounded in and held together by shared norms and moral understandings.

The connections that exist between different individuals and institutions. A narrower concept of civil society would be the set of organizations that provide the infrastructure for those connections, from charities to trade to social enterprises.

A community that embraces shared norms and ethical standards to collectively manage problems without coercion and through peaceful and democratic procedures for decision making aimed at improving human welfare.

The emerging third sector of society as it is seen in a democratic system and the basic rule of law. It is this emerging third sector that must be organized in advocacy practice.