![]() The second objective relates to the decay of our nation’s moral core. ![]() Only a devolution of federal power and the simultaneous rejuvenation of civil society can restore the proper alignment, the Republicans argue. One can be seen in the Republicans’ political agenda, which holds that government has taken on too much power it has assumed tasks that it cannot do well and compromised the strength and spirit of those nongovernmental institutions that can do them well. Politicians of all stripes now argue that we must renew civil society in order to renew American society. Intractable problems of crime, drugs and the underclass escalating violence in the media and our streets a shrill and belligerent political climate rising tensions between races and classes the evaporation of even the most basic social courtesies-all these examples of our unraveling social fabric ostensibly result from a collapsed civil society. Many therefore conclude that the collapse of civil society is largely responsible for the sorry state of American society. In the past generation, families have disintegrated and participation has fallen dramatically in neighborhood groups, civic and political clubs, churches, PTAs and volunteer organizations. But America’s civil society is not what it used to be. Historically, a vital civil society accounted for our nation’s exceptionalism and much of our strength. For centuries, social thinkers have argued that a vibrant civil society is a good thing and, for a democracy, even a necessary thing, for it helps us to achieve two essential social objectives: Citizens coming together as groups help temper the power and reach of the state and, while these groups have their own identities and aims, they also help cultivate the norms of the larger society, including the habits of good citizenship. Examples include families, civic and religious associations, unions, political parties and so on. But while strengthening civil society is certainly part of the answer, there is more to our cultural and moral devastation than even a vibrant society can solve.Ĭivil society refers to those aspects of society that are independent of both the state and the market. Whatever the problem, from fragmenting families to declining voter turnout, Democrats and Republicans increasingly point to civil society as the solution. Now quite suddenly, the term has taken on political importance. For decades, the idea of civil society was of interest mainly to scholars.
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