There is a good reason (actually, there are seven good reasons).
At a recent gathering of AmPhil’s staff, a panel on the importance of civil society provided me with an opportunity to contemplate this term, “civil society,” about which we hear so much—or at least, we used to. We certainly still use the term every day at AmPhil, since our tagline is “strengthening civil society.”
But what, exactly, are we talking about when we talk about civil society? And what’s so special about it? I realized, in prepping for this panel, that we had never really taken the time to answer those questions. So, inadequate as they are, here are the answers I have come up with.
First, the definition. I consider civil society to consist in the social space that lies between the individual household, on the one hand, and the state (that is, the government—the people with the law, the prisons, the guns behind them), on the other. In this social space one finds both commercial and non-commercial institutions.
The broadest conception of civil society includes both types of entities. More narrowly, however, and perhaps more typically, when we think about civil society we are thinking about the non-commercial realm of voluntary associations. Churches, schools, social clubs, fraternal societies, youth sports leagues, homeless shelters, botanical gardens, advocacy groups, and all the other various means by which humans come together to secure shared or common goods that are not readily yielded by commercial activities alone.
In short, civil society is most characteristically populated by nonprofit organizations. As America approaches its 250th birthday, is “civil society” a quaint concept to be relegated to the pages of Democracy in America, or does it still matter—even matter profoundly—for the United States in 2026?
Needless to say, I think civil society still matters—profoundly. Here, very briefly, are seven reasons why:
- Civil society is where we learn the art of self-government.
This was one of the features of civil society observed by Alexis de Tocqueville in his travels to the United States. Americans were always coming together to form associations for this or that purpose, he noticed, and those associations helped school them in the practices and habits of self-government that were needed for American democracy to succeed. This is still the case today. In our associations, we learn to deal, negotiate, compromise, build consensus, and ultimately move forward with others in such a way that the goods of the association can be procured. These habits and practices build up the muscles of democracy, as it were. Self-government, in other words, isn’t instinctive. It is an art that must be learned, practiced, honed.
- Civil society is where we create institutions that protect us from both anarchy and tyranny.
Our participation in the associations of civil society not only schools us for democracy; those associations themselves form the bulwark for democratic freedom. On the one hand, by acting as agents of social order, they protect us from anarchy. And on the other, by distributing power and authority throughout the social body, and by providing various overlapping sources of identity and meaning for individuals, they protect us from tyranny. It is no accident that every modern totalitarian regime has acted explicitly and intentionally to destroy civil society.
- Civil society is where we procure goods that can’t be procured through commercial or governmental activity.
Commercial activity—though it can procure many other goods—is first and foremost aimed at the procuring the good of financial profit. The purpose of government—though it also can procure many other goods—is first and foremost to procure the goods of justice and security. These goods—profit, justice, and security—are fundamental, but they are not exhaustive. It is primarily through the institutions of civil society that we typically seek to procure the goods of religion, charity, mercy, high culture, health, and education, for example. Yes, governmental and commercial institutions may be involved in procuring these goods, but both reason and history show that their work must be accompanied by the work of civil society in these arenas.
- Civil society is where we experience the life-giving ties of community.
Participation in civil society binds us together with others and characteristically gives us the sense that life is rich, meaningful, and worth living. Participation in civil society empowers us to know others—and to be known, ourselves. In other words, it confers a sense of identity and belonging. Not surprisingly, active participation in civil society is associated with a variety of positive outcomes, from physical health markers to mental health to sheer happiness.
- Civil society is where we generate social capital.
Just as the commercial sector is where financial capital is generated, so is the civil-society sector where social capital is generated. And social capital is not less necessary for a nation’s flourishing—in fact, it is even more foundational than financial capital. For social capital consists of intangible but all-important components like social trust, social solidarity, and social responsibility. Social capital throws off social profit, in the form of lower crime, higher rates of education, and even beauty. And, as with financial capital, in the civil-society sector the seed money that ultimately yields social profit is provided by investors—that is, by donors.
- Civil society is where we learn to grow in virtue as givers and servers.
Civil society isn’t just the sector where we procure social goods, it’s also where we become better, more virtuous individuals. It is in the arena of civil society where we can serve those outside our own families by engaging in the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. It is where we give our time, talent, and treasure. When we engage in service and financial charity with the right spirit, we grow in various virtues—humility, detachment, and selflessness.
- Civil society is where we work out our salvation.
We are saved by grace, but both Protestants and Catholics agree that faith without works is dead. Good works, done in faith, aid, by God’s grace, in our sanctification. Many of those good works by necessity happen in the arena of civil society. Civil society provides us with manifold opportunities to work out our faith with fear and trembling, to witness to our beliefs, and ultimately to share the love of Christ.
