The Starting Point: Citizen Participation
In recent normative theory, the concept of citizenship7 often has been used to define
the idea of individuals belonging to a political community. In turn, a citizen is called a member of a political community, because the latter recognizes him/her as such (Posas, 2003). The aggregate of citizens makes up what is called the civil society. The concept is often used to contrast a society’s state or government with the people who make up that society. Civil society groups include families, religious and cultural groups, and advocacy groups.
8 The actions (or lack thereof) of civil society are critical to the development of any democratic community and to the achievement of desirable social change.