Mahadeep Singh Jamwal
The principle of self esteemed souls should be “loyalty to country always” but “loyalty to government, when it deserves it”. I predict future happiness for the State if civil society can prevent the government from wasting the public exchequer under the pretence of development and taking care of common mass and trespassing the luxuries they are entitled and deserve. The state’s relationship with civil society is the key issue in political sociology. There are, at bottom, basically two ways to order social affairs, coercively, through the mechanisms of the State — what we can call political society. And voluntarily, through the private interaction of individuals and associations, what we can call civil society. In a civil society, you make the decision. In a political society, someone else does. Civil society is based on reason, eloquence, and persuasion, which is to say voluntarism. Political society, on the other hand, is based on force.
It is an admitted fact that the political party forming the government profess to provide, the medium to channelise political aspirations more than to think in a right perspective for over all development of the human population of the State. As it is the large human population which votes the party to the power seats, thus it lacks accountability to a large extent. We should admit the facts that the government or political representation is not the whole voice of all the voters as it does not represent the voice of dissent, an essential of democracy. Moreover when we find people who are rejected by the electorate are accommodated in the State structures which are supposed to be representative. So these people who are not representative of people but of political myths are thrown over the head of same people who have rejected them and they assume that they are not accountable to public. So here comes the role of civil society true character of an amorphous entity called the people.
The concept of civil society in its pre – modern classical republican understanding is usually connected to the early-modern thought of age of enlightenment in the 18th century. However, it has much older history in the realm of political thought. Generally, civil society has been referred to as a political association governing social conflict through the imposition of rules that restrain citizens from harming one another. A civil society is comprised of groups or organisations working in the interest of the citizens but operating outside of the governmental and for-profit sectors. Civil society is the aggregate of non-governmental organisations and institutions that manifest interests and will of citizens. The relationship between the civil society and government can cement the democratic character of State but the political myths view it often as opposition to the state. The reassertion by the civil society is seen as the panacea for the crises in the political society. The claim usually is that if civil society were stronger then these political societies democracy would not exist. Some go to the extent of posing the civil society as an alternative to political parties, but it should be remembered that voluntaristic civil society networks are not by definition just Non-Government Organisations, which are working for development goals of the society. These networks also include coercive, hierarchical and exclusive collective formations whose goals might be any such as; sectarian, ethnocentric and/or communal. Without the presence of an overall democratic framework, such organisations can easily become instruments of coercion and oppression in the name of effectiveness, efficiency and a claim of having a better grasp of the problems of that inchoate entity of the people.
The role of civil society; in a democracy, civil society groups have respect for the law, for the rights of individuals and the rights of other groups and express their interests and opinions. Think about the nation/State that we live in – what does it take to make that nation/State operate smoothly? The government takes care of law and order and businesses offer goods and services in exchange for money, which both help to keep a society moving, but what about other groups who actually play a very big part and fall into a category known as civil society. The civil society is very diverse and can take various shapes. We distinguish three main types of human population that are very diverse and can take various shapes. We distinguish three main societies such as; civil society, political society and religious society. This classification is not exclusive. It is only meant to understand the human population by categorisation based on different ideologies, followings and thoughts.
Civil society groups may establish ties to political parties and the states, but they must retain their independence and they do not seek political power for themselves. The first and most role of civil society are to limit and control the power of the states. Society actors could watch how State officials use their power. They should raise public concern about any abuse of power; expose corrupt conduct of public officials. It can promote political participation by educating people about their rights and obligations as democratic citizens. The civil societies can help to develop the other values of democratic life; tolerance, moderation, compromise and respect for opposing points of view. Civil society role in mediating and helping to restore conflicts is very important one. Civil society must be involved as a construction partner and advocate for democracy and human rights. The civil societies has to play a very important role in keeping the political associations in check and balance form so that they could not encroach upon the civil rights of the common man.
Political society; the word comes from the ‘Greek’ word ‘politiks’, which means ‘affair of cities’ and it came as politics in modern English. Politics is the process of making decisions applying to all members of each group of human population. It refers to achieving and exercising positions of governance. It is the studying of or practice of the distribution of power and resources within a community. But a variety of methods are developed in politics, which include promoting or forcing one’s own political views among people. The political society comprises of the human population having their own interests in this game and of views, thoughts and vision. It is very often said that politics is about power. A political system is a frame work which defines acceptable position and methods within a given society. Formal politics refers to the operation of a constitutional system of government and publicly defined institutions and procedures. On the other hand, includes political parties, interest groups, and political movements.
Religious societies; these do not necessarily promote the worship of a given religion and most of the time their primary objective is not the promotion of the latter. However they are more or less linked to a given religion and act following a religious precept.
Concluding, in the present time where community involvement and partnerships with civil society are increasingly being recognised as indispensable, there is clearly a growing potential for cooperative development and renewal worldwide. The harmonious relations between political, religious and civil society are bound to take the State to new heights of horizon but all the three segments have to understand the intra and inter relations.