Characteristics of Civil Society

Not all members of civil society are alike but they can be described using notable characteristics that are in
themselves common among the different groups of the civil society community.

The civil society, according to Bizusew Mersha (2009),

Takes the following characteristics:

1. Autonomy
Autonomy is common characteristic of all groups of the civil society.
but is the most important among the characteristic that are mentioned by Mersha.

Autonomy as Mersha described as

“Usually referred to as the freedom and independence of civil organizations to set their own agenda
without the direction intervention or dictation from external forces, especially the state.”

Civil society
- does not take any order from any external forces like the government as it can decide on its own.

-takes on something which in its opinion is worth delivering after all it exists to extend help to the
general public.

- will never be a part of the government but a partner in the delivery of basic services is always be a
possibility.

The autonomy that a social organization enjoys will always give it advantage of not being a puppet of
the public sector specifically when issues are at stake when the position of the group does not match
with the governments.

2. Voluntarism

Volunteerism
- Which lies at the centre of all non-governmental organizations.

-it is a common attribute of non-governmental organizations whose objective is to help the general public.

While several non-governmental organizations may exhibit this principle, most of them actually differ on
the extent of manifesting such characteristic.

The type of civil society organization spells the difference as how far a particular voluntary organization
may extend its service in the community. The author looks at the principle of voluntarism as something
which is a rarity nowadays. This principle is an extraordinary characteristic which separates a civil
society organization from other organizations whose existence is primarily intended to generate more
income.

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-In the same line, this characteristic identifies the civil society organization as unique in many ways from
any office or instrumentality of the government.
While both institutions may have the same objective of helping the public and delivering basic services, the
former is still different because it operates based on the premise that the nature of its organization is
voluntary.

The government is different the sense that it is created to help the public attain their individual
objective. In addition to this, the government is unique because the Constitution mandates its
instrumentalities to deliver basic services to the public. It is from the public where the Constitution
derives its spirit and authority.

3. Plurality
-plurality which presupposes the idea that it can be deduced further into separate entities or groups.
Plurality being an attribute of civil society organizations
“Indicates not only the large number and types of associations and organizations occupying the sphere
but also the diversity of interests, objectives, organizational forms and capacities.”

-Within the structure of the civil society organizations there are several social organizations that exist
whose nature is actually different from one another. These social organizations are normally divided
based on the following typologies have already been mentioned in the succeeding topic: formal and
structured organizations, interest group institutions, grass root or community based organizations, and
umbrella organizations and thematic networks.

The formal and structured organizations are bigger than that of the community based organizations whose
concerns are advocacy and delivery of some basic services.

On the other hand, the interest groups which emphasize policy advocacy at the national level are another
group which exists within the general civil society organizations.

The umbrella organizations and thematic networks function to maintain the cohesion of larger groups
within the civil society organizations. It concern is basically the defence of common interests and sharing
of information among its members.

4. Trust and solidarity

Another characteristics of the civil society organizations is trust and solidarity which is common attribute
of social organizations whose connections lie on the commonality of interests and objectives. As the
membership or numbers of these social organizations grow, the chance of becoming more plural is always
a big possibility.

The characteristic of trust and solidarity is all the more needed so as to maintain the cohesion of the civil
society organizations.

The notion of trust and solidarity “refers to the reciprocal mutuality and confidence individual members
place on the reliability of the behavior and actions of fellow members.
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 As most civic organizations grow in size and complexity, trust and solidarity become diluted and assume
more abstract and remote characteristics.” Mersha is absolute correct that trust and solidarity centers on
the reciprocity of confidence and faith that individual organizations place with one another. It is right for
social organizations to think that solidarity can exist with mutual trust as a precondition to everything. As
social organizations cultivate in numbers, the danger of disintegration will always be a possibility as trust
would shrink into doubt when solidarity among these social institutions become a failure. Without trust
and solidarity, the civil society disintegrates and the public will be placed at the losing end.

*deduced (conclude, comes to conclusion)

*Cohesion ( unity, togetherness)
*Reciprocity mutuality
Mutual respect, The social norm of reciprocity is the expectation that people will respond to each other in
similar ways—responding to gifts and kindnesses from others with similar benevolence of their own
*complexity, complexness(noun) the quality of being intricate (very complicated and detailed) and compounded.
*civic relating to a city or town, especially its administration; municipal.
*disintegrates (of a society, family, or other social group) weaken or break apart.
*Advocacy- support for, public support for or recommendation of a particular cause or policy.
*thematic-having or relating to subjects or a particular subject.
*An umbrella organization is an association of (often related, industry-specific) institutions, who work
together formally to coordinate activities or pool resources. In business, political, or other environments, one
group, the umbrella organization, provides resources and often an identity to the smaller organizations.