Civl society

Wolfgang Mazal / Bettina Rausch

Civil Society Today

Principles and Political Potential

edition noir

Disclaimer:

This is a joint publication of the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies and the Political Academy of the Austrian People ´s Party. This publication receives funding from the European Parliament. The Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies, the Political Academy of the Austrian People ´s Party, and the European Parliament assume no responsibility for facts or opinions expressed in this publication or any subsequent use of the information contained therein. Sole responsibility lies on the authors of the publication.

Reviewed by: Sandra Pasarić, WMCES (Brussels, Belgium) & Christian Moser-Sollmann, PA (Vienna, Austria)

edition noir

Imprint:

© 2021 Verlag noir, Vienna

Verlag noir, 1120 Wien, Tivoligasse 73

Editor: Christian Moser-Sollmann, Felix Ofner, Roman Schachenhofer, Lorenz Jahn

Art Direction: B. Könighofer

Translation: Robert McInnes

ISBN: 979-3-9504939-3-1

Cover

Title Page Wolfgang Mazal / Bettina Rausch Civil Society Today Principles and Political Potential edition noir

Copyright Page edition noir Imprint: © 2021 Verlag noir, Vienna Verlag noir, 1120 Wien, Tivoligasse 73 Editor: Christian Moser-Sollmann, Felix Ofner, Roman Schachenhofer, Lorenz Jahn Art Direction: B. Könighofer Translation: Robert McInnes ISBN: 979-3-9504939-3-1

Foreword

I. Fundamentals and theory of the civil society

From the Community of Citizens to the Civil Society Political Participation in Antiquity and Modern Times

Simon Varga

The Civil Society and the Bourgeoisie

Ernst Bruckmüller

Fundamental Principles of the Civil Society Which Trends Do We Need to Protect Ourselves Against?

Werner J. Patzelt

The Phenomenology of the Civil Society

Manfred Prisching

The Civil Society – A (neo-?) Liberal Project

Alexander Bogner

The Civil Society – Cure-All for Democracy or Just a Sweet Dream? A Plea for a Regulatory Policy for the Commitment Society

Michael Borchard

The Civil Society between the Poles of Security and Freedom

Peter Kampits

Missing: Bridge Builders – Considerations on the Polarisation of Western Societies and How This Can Be Overcome

Benjamin Hasselhorn

Participation, Codetermination, Moralisation: How Social Movements Have Changed

Christian Moser-Sollmann

The Sensitive “I” Thoughts on an Insecure Society Between Digitalisation and Hyper-Individualisation

Johannes Domsich

The State and the Civil Society – or the Citizen Society? Casting a Glance at Light and Shade

Till Kinzel

A Community of Free and Responsible People

Bettina Rausch

The Civil Society and Artificial Intelligence – Trends and Challenges for Dealing with AI in the European Union

Julia Juen / Verena Ringler

II. Civil virtues – case studies

Civil Society: Key Activities of the Political Academy

The Social Contract in Change

Michael Borchard / Ulrike Ackermann / Andreas Jankor

The “New Civil Society”: A State that Gives its Citizens Space to Breathe

Werner J. Patzelt / Günther Lutschinger

A Civil Society in Europe? Strong Impulses from the Regions Europe and Society Start at Home – on the Effective Power of Applied, Initiated Formats of Encounter and Dialogue in the Regional, as well as Cross-border, Context

Verena Ringler / Magdalena J. Schneider

Make Austria Flourish! The Role and Potential of Active Charitable Foundations for Society and the State

Ruth Williams / Christoph Robinson

“Cooperative?” “Nobody will come!” On the Rediscovery of an Often-Underestimated Legislation and Organisational Form

Justus Reichl

Social Entrepreneurship: Attempt at a Classification within the Civil Society

Elisabeth Mayerhofer

The Civil Society – the Family as a Learning Environment

Wolfgang Mazal

A Person with Courage Inspires Courage The Example of Kolping Austria

Christine Leopold

The Protection of Life in the Civil Society

Martina Kronthaler

Lived Civil Society Needs More Trust! On the Connection Between Civil-Society Commitment, Social Welfare, and Community Service as Reflected in Regulatory Policy

Elisabeth Anselm

Emmaus – From Paris to St. Pölten Social Work Concerns Us All

Karl Langer

Authors

In addition to the separation of powers and the liberal constitutional state, active citizens who help fashion the community are central pillars of our democracy. In this respect, citizens are not only the addressees of the state’s rules and norms, but also co-creators of precisely those norms. And, the community in a liberal state is more than government order; it is the interaction between people and their relationships to each other – in families and friendships, at work, and in organisations.

Active participation in the personal and public environment enriches many different facets of human life and, in doing so, makes our society more diverse and colourful. There can be no question that humans are political and social beings, and that their individuality can only fully develop within a community.

We find many different answers to how we want to organise our community, and our society, in democracies of the Western kind. Broadly speaking, the following differentiations can be made: Politics that are typically located on the left define themselves principally by way of the paternalistic state that monitors all spheres of life, and plans and regulates the way lives are led down to the smallest detail. In our eyes, although conservative politics relies on the state to set general parameters, it places individual freedom and responsibility at the core. It trusts the intrinsic drive in each and every citizen to want to make a contribution to a functioning community according to their abilities. This is the fundamental idea of the political concept of a “civil society” as a community of free and responsible people.

The Political Academy of the People’s Party and the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies have extensively discussed and studied just how varied and heterogeneous the concepts of the civil society are in theory and practice in its current focus of research.

The essential basis for this can be found in the image of man rooted in the Judeo-Christian-Greco-Roman tradition concept of humankind with the dignity of the individual person as its foundation. However, this also includes the obligation of actively making use of one’s abilities to benefit society, as expressed in the parable of the talents in the Bible. Or, to use Immanuel Kant’s words: “Man has an individual imperfect obligation – namely, that of developing one’s own talents – for oneself, as well as for others.”

In this publication, we requested that highly-respected scientists, publicists, and practicians give their fundamental thoughts on the potential and possibilities of the civil society in the 21 stcentury.