CIVIL SOCIETY IN RUSSIA

Civil Society in Russia

[Name of the Institute]Civil Society in Russia

Introduction

The concept of "civil society" means a state of society in which conditions are created for the rights and freedoms, civil initiative and political activity, the actual participation of citizens in politics. Modern civil society is the result of a long historical development. Civil Society went hand in hand with the formation of law. Civil society and the rule of law, cooperating with each other, form a sphere of public policy.

Discussion

During the post communist transformations of the late 1980s - early 1990s slogan of "civil society" generalized requirement for termination of the merger of all aspects of life into a coherent whole, i.e., shared state and society. This problem remains one of the most important at the present stage of the reform of Russian society. In this sense, civil society and the social order, which largely determine the main path of development in Russia. This means finding of a minimum of sociality, which would not fall under the total nationalization. D.Bouz American researcher writes: "In civil society, decisions about your life, you are taking. In political society, these decisions are made for you. And because people naturally resist that vital issues are resolved without their participation, the political system will inevitably be based on coercion."

In the political science literature, there is no unambiguous understanding of civil society. But in general, the prevailing view that civil society is nonpolitical relations in society, manifested through the associations and organizations of citizens, legally safe from the direct intervention of the state. American political scientist O.Enkarnason believes that civil society encompasses a vast and diverse world of organizations created by private individuals to defend their interests and values. This world is free by grassroots citizens' organizations, such as associations of people living in the neighborhood, as well as hierarchically organized groups such as the national unions and ethnic associations considering the formation of civil society as the process of structuring the contemporary Russian society which is governed by a set of legal rules, and some common values and informal rules.

Various forms of citizens carry the huge reserves of social, economic and cultural development of Russia. Civil society grows out of a sense of social responsibility, and the desire of a citizen on their own or in cooperation with other citizens to take responsibility for solving their common problems and not blaming them for the state. Social progress in Russia is impossible without a responsible civil society, able to criticize and control the power, forcing her to work to their advantage. The state should not "manage" the voluntary associations of citizens, and to support them, empowering them to participate in public affairs (Devlin, 1995, pp. 95).

In a developed civil society, human dignity and respect for the individual and the family as approved by the unshakable foundation of socio-political and state system." Great to civil society is the happiness of individuals: for how can a society prosper if each of its constituent members is unhappy?" ...