Civil society/Debate Guide

A guide to controversial and debatable issues surrounding Civil Society.

• One of the most basic issues in the social sciences (perhaps ranking up there with nature-nurture) is the question of the relation of state and society. Which is more fundamental? Which precedes which logically? Empirically? Historically? Can the two terms be defined separately?

• Some U.S. political theorists have suggested that the U.S. (as a "government of the people" does not (or cannot) have a political state distinguishable from U.S. society.

• A related question which has intrigued many recent investigators is the relation between civil society and the third (voluntary or nonprofit) sector.

• Another related question is the relation between state and government.

• Is U.S. civil society experiencing genuine declines in civic participation and deteriorating civil society as Robert Putnam's research suggests? The experts disagree.