Read the passage on civil society and answer: (1) How does the author characterize the concept of civil society? (2) Why does civil society strive towards better socialization driven by tolerance? (3) What do you understand by the term "social capital" used in this passage? (4) Why does a civil society assume the role of a public stakeholder? (5) What impact is feared by the weakening state of civil society?

The passage

Civil society refers to all of the places where individuals gather together to have conversations, pursue common interests and, occasionally, try to influence public opinion or public policy. In many respects, civil society is where people spend their time when they are not at work or at home. For example, a group of people gather at a local park every Thursday afternoon for a game of football. Most of them arrive well before the game begins and stay for some time after it ends. Some of them go out for dinner or a drink after the game. In the course of their meetings they talk about a wide range of topics, including football but also extending to include issues such as work, family, relationships, community events, racial issues and politics. This kind of solidarity can be found in a variety of other places in civil society – such as sports clubs, bowling leagues, reading groups and social movements – where individuals get together to associate on the basis of some shared interest fostering more effective forms of citizenship. Even though people may come together on the basis of an interest they all share in common, they eventually have to develop productive strategies for dealing with conflicts and differences that emerge within the association. Team mates in a bowling league discover, on certain issues, significant differences of opinion. And yet, because they value the association and look forward to participating in its activities, they do not respond to these differences by exiting the scene. Instead, they search for the ways of interacting that will not threaten the solidarity of the group. In the process, they learn to appreciate and to tolerate social differences, a valuable skill to have in an increasingly multicultural nation. They also develop a general sense of social trust and mutual obligation, which makes society function more efficiently (this is what political scientists and sociologists are talking about when they refer to the importance of social capital). Gathering together in an association, people begin to think about their shared private interest as a collective public interest, and they try to make sure that this public interest is safe and secured. For example, the group that gets together for a weekly football game begins to talk about the park as an important community resource; if feel that the park is being mistreated or mismanaged, will organize a ‘save the park’ campaign to try to influence their local politicians and the other residents of the community. Recently, there has been growing concern that civil society is weaker than it used to be, because people are losing interest in joining associations. As citizens become increasingly disconnected from voluntary associations, they will experience less trust and less social connection, and as a result political institutions will function less efficiently. However, some scholars opine that many people are simply choosing to participate in different kinds of associations with fewer face-to-face meetings but supplemented with ‘virtual’ interactions facilitated by resources.

1. How does the author characterize the concept of civil society?

The author describes civil society as "all of the places where individuals gather together to have conversations, pursue common interests and, occasionally, try to influence public opinion or public policy". It is the space people occupy outside work and home: a weekly football game in the park, sports clubs, bowling leagues, reading groups and social movements. Although such groups form around a shared interest, they become places where people discuss everything from family to politics, learn to live with differences and develop "more effective forms of citizenship".

2. Why does civil society strive towards better socialization driven by tolerance?

Members of an association value it and look forward to its activities, so when differences of opinion appear, they do not leave. Instead, they "search for the ways of interacting that will not threaten the solidarity of the group". In doing so they learn "to appreciate and to tolerate social differences", which the author calls a valuable skill in "an increasingly multicultural nation". Tolerance is therefore the condition for keeping the group together, and the habits it builds carry over into society at large.

3. What do you understand by the term "social capital" used in this passage?

In the passage, social capital is "a general sense of social trust and mutual obligation" that people develop by taking part in associations, and that "makes society function more efficiently". Like financial capital, it is a resource: people who trust one another and feel obliged to help one another cooperate more easily, which benefits communities and political institutions. (The mention of bowling leagues echoes the political scientist Robert Putnam, whose book Bowling Alone popularized the idea.)

4. Why does a civil society assume the role of a public stakeholder?

When people gather in an association, "they begin to think about their shared private interest as a collective public interest", and they take steps to keep that interest "safe and secured". The football group, for instance, comes to see the park as a community resource; if it is mistreated or mismanaged, they organize a "save the park" campaign to influence local politicians and residents. Civil society thus becomes a stakeholder in public affairs because its members' interests are bound up with shared public goods.

5. What impact is feared by the weakening state of civil society?

There is concern that people are losing interest in joining associations. As citizens become "increasingly disconnected from voluntary associations", they will experience "less trust and less social connection", and as a result "political institutions will function less efficiently". The author notes a counter-view: some scholars believe people are not abandoning associations but joining different kinds, with fewer face-to-face meetings and more "virtual" interaction.

Tips

For definition questions such as Q1 and Q3, start with the passage's own definition, then explain it with the passage's example. Mention the counter-view in Q5; it shows you have read to the end.