Civil Society Politics

Centre for Civil Society

Civil Society Politics
- Power to the People
The Politics We Are Yearning for
in the 21st Century


What is the problem?

Around the world politics is in disrepute.

 It has become detached from society,
unresponsive to its needs.
 It seems incapable of solving the big economic,
social and environmental challenges.

Public leadership remains important, but
politics is everywhere discredited.


 In western societies – politics no longer
inspires, cynicism rules, citizens feel powerless.
 In post-communist societies – initial
enthusiasm for democracy has given way to
detachment, citizens feel powerless.
 In emerging democracies - citizenship is
fragile, institutions are weak, corruption abounds,
citizens feel powerless.


Is there an alternative to failed
politics and citizen detachment?


Civil Society comprises the relationships and
activities that constitute our lives, the things we do
as civilians, freely and voluntarily, in association with
others, outside the state and the market.

Social well-being is largely determined in and
through our relationships in civil society. Our
experience of care and belonging is formed by these
relationships.


ut …
for more than a century, political
movements, governments and public
policy have focussed almost
exclusively on states and markets, and
ignored civil society (the sphere of life
that is most important for most of us
most of the time).


ivil society relationships are horizontal,
relational and voluntary.

tate-citizen interactions are vertical and coercive.

usiness-customer interactions are monetary
exchanges.

When political movements, governments and public
policy focussed exclusively on states and markets for
a century, they focussed only on state-citizen and


hy was civil society marginalised for a
century?
istorically - the 20th century was the century of concentrated
power (Communism, Fascism, World Wars, Big Business). Civil
society is dispersed, localised, small in scale.

deologically - the philosophies of the 20th century were
individualist-collectivist (Fordism, Marxism, Nazism,
Existentialism, Scientific Management, Neo-Liberalism).

rganisationally - labour unions and corporations were easy


20th Century Politics…

 If you didn’t like the focus on the market
and commercial interactions, you were on
the Left.
 If you didn’t like the focus on the state and
the public sector, you were on the Right.
 Left and Right formed a stable linear
structure for politics without civil society.


Notions of Left and Right in the
20th Century felt like the natural
order of things, the natural way
of thinking about politics…
without civil society.


Left and Right 1.0

 Focus exclusively on states and markets.
 See the public sector or the private sector
as the solution to every problem.
 See the imposition of state or market
solutions on society as the proper business
of government.


Left and Right 2.0

 See only individuals and governments as
social actors.
 Can not see associations of citizens and
their interactions.
 Do not see individualism and collectivism
as flip sides of the same coin.


Left and Right 3.0

 Serve core public and private sector
constituencies (public employees for the Left;
corporates and certain professional groups for the Right).

 Ignore the third sector (households, associations,
clubs, charities, social enterprises, cooperatives) .

 Ignore family and small-businesses and the
self-employed (a vast and growing sector but one
which does not fit the management goals of Left or Right).


Left and Right 4.0

 See politics as ‘management’, the execution
of top-down, corporate-style administration.
 Use political parties as their instruments of
management, based on top-down,
command-and-control cultures.
 These parties no longer need citizens, and
now comprise professional operatives,
‘career politicians’, a ‘political class’.


This is the politics that we
have inherited from the 20th
century, which is now in
disrepute around the world…

What comes next?


Civil Society Politics is:

 A response to the marginalisation of civil
society in the political arena.
 A response to the invisibility of civil society
in policy making.
 A response to the exclusion of civil society
from public decision-making.


Civil Society Politics seeks:

 Representation of civil society in politics.
 Policy making that strengthens civil
society.
 Transfer of power from states and markets
to civil society.
 Renewal of democracy by placing citizens
and civil society at the centre.


A common voice for civil society?

Amidst its vastness and diversity, civil society has
three common features:

Relational – defined by relationships
Associational – driven by formal or informal bonds
Voluntary – formed without coercion

These three features link the 10 threads of civil
society:


The 10 threads of civil society
Family, kinship and friendship
Household or domestic economy
Neighbourhoods and informal social supports
Voluntary associations
NGOs and charities
Self-help and support groups
Cooperatives and mutuals
Social enterprises
Self-employment, family-enterprises, small businesses
Religion, faith and spirituality


an these threads of civil society be
represented in politics?
They constitute:

ast social constituencies anchored in communities

eep pools of cultural and intellectual resources

xtensive networks of networks


ivil Society Politics has 3 major
advantages over 20th Century Politics:

t is anchored in communities.

t aims to capture power not for itself but for civil
society.

t has cultural and intellectual resources with which to
reform politics.


ivil Society Politics has 3 major
advantages over other political reform
movements:

t is anchored in communities.

t aims to capture power not for itself but for civil
society.

t has a built-in safeguard against extremism and the


ivil Society Politics is made viable by
new technology:

ndividuals and groups can connect and organise
online, locally, nationally and globally.

he financial cost of political organising and electoral
activity can be reduced by
low-cost networking and crowdsourcing.


ivil Society Politics is the only practical
way to devolve Power to the People:

n 20th Century Politics, Power to the People
movements invariably ended up transferring power to
the state or to markets (from Fidel Castro to Steve
Jobs).

e can’t allow another century to go by without
transferring Power to the People.


So, then, how can Civil Society Politics
take the world by storm?


Civil Society Politics is:

 A movement - which individuals may join.
 Global in scope - civil society is global, and
a new political movement is needed in
every country.
 Open to members of existing parties and
members of none, including those who
seek new parties based on civil society
politics.


First Steps:
 An online tool will be created through which
individuals and groups in every country can join
Civil Society Politics.
 Members in each country can network with each
other and take initiatives as they see fit (including
those who are members of the same political party,
and those who seek to form a new party).
 An international coordinating council will be
established.


What you can do:

 Discuss this paper and its ideas.
 Send your feedback to
info@civilsociety.org.au
 Express your interest in participating in an
international coordinating council to


Contact:
Vern Hughes
vern@civilsociety.org.au


Civil Society Politics

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