Civil society | Citizenship | High school civics | Khan Academy

Civil society is one of those terms that you might hear in a politician's speech, maybe in a line about the importance of maintaining a strong relationship between the government and civil society. But what does it actually mean? A society that's civilized? Or maybe the part of society run by civilians rather than government agents? In fact, civil society is a little hard to define.

Let's start with what it's not. It's not government or elected officials who are acting in their official capacity as representatives of the state or nation— that is the political sphere. It's also not businesses or corporations who exist primarily to make a profit— that's the economic sphere. And lastly, it's not purely private aspects of society such as family or home life. Civil society exists in between these three spheres and includes all of the non-governmental groups, associations, and institutions that citizens form and join.

If you and your friends decide to create a neighborhood cleanup club, picking up litter from the streets and planting trees in the park, congratulations! You've just joined civil society. Some other examples of civil society include religious organizations, professional associations, charitable groups, or interest groups. Non-governmental organizations, or NGOs, are some of the most notable actors in civil society. These include organizations like Doctors Without Borders.

Some organizations overlap a bit with other spheres. Labor unions, for example, are voluntary organizations, but they overlap with the economic sphere by petitioning businesses for better wages and working conditions. NGOs that have a humanitarian mission, like Amnesty International, may overlap with the political sphere since they petition governments to change how they treat their citizens. Some non-governmental actors are harder to classify, like the news media. Where does it fall in civil society?

It usually has some goal of making money, but it also helps inform citizens about the workings of government and helps hold politicians accountable to the public. So, the media plays a central role in civil society.

So, what's important about civil society? Well, all of these organizations help connect people to their communities, and many of them strive to improve society by influencing these spheres. Often they're in conflict with one another, but most importantly, they show us that there are many ways beyond voting or running for office to become involved in issues that you care about.