Civil Society: Adventures of the Concept before and after 1989

Abstract

Discusses three manifestations of civil society in the Czech Republic's formation, portraying the concept as a normative idea that has progressed from the academic to the socially practical. Civil society in the pre-1989 political dissidence was examplified by Vaclav Havel's notion of antipolitical citizenship's establishment of a social moral conduct outside of the authoritarian government. During the 1989-1991 development of the Czech nation's democracy, the notion of civil society evolved from an action against the state to a public participation in the power structure. With the current development in the mid-1990s of a successful competitive party system, civil society has shifted into mediating between the nonprofit sector, local administration, & unions & professional associations. This last form represents the most unresolved, problematic, yet potentially beneficial metamorphosis of civil society in today's Czech Republic.