Civil society and the rule of law in modern Russia

Send your good work in the knowledge base is simple. Use the form below

Students, graduate students, young scientists who use the knowledge base in their studies and work will be very grateful to you.

Posted on http://www.allbest.ru/

Introduction

1. General idea of civil society

1.1 Concept " Civil society»

1.2 Structure of civil society

1.3 Main features of civil society

1.4 Functions of civil society

2. Interaction between civil society and the rule of law

3. Formation of civil society in the Russian Federation

Conclusion

List of used literature

INTRODUCTION

The concept of “civil society” is one of the most key concepts in modern political science.

The relevance of the theoretical and practical aspects of the concept of “civil society” is due to the obvious increase in the role of citizens and their voluntary associations in all spheres of life human society- economic, political, social and spiritual. In the works of scientists of the past and present, for more than two millennia, civil society has been considered, analyzed and described more and more specifically and reliably. Accordingly, the concept of “civil society”, incorporating various universal human values, is acquiring increasing semantic variation. History of political and legal doctrines. Textbook for universities. Ed. 2nd, Stereotype. Under general hands Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Law, Professor V. S. Nekrsesyants. - M.: INFRA M-Norma Publishing Group, 1997. - 736 p.

Recently, problems of civil society related to the relationship of the individual have social groups, social forms countries and states are the focus of attention of our scientists, journalists and politicians. And this is understandable, since the formation of civil society is associated with the development of democracy, a market economy and the establishment of the rule of law - in other words, with a global social reorganization, during which structures of public control should arise that guarantee feedback between man and society.

The relevance of the topic is explained by the fact that for a long time the citizens of our country lived in a totalitarian state and were largely deprived of protection from the authorities. Currently, a civil society based on the freedom of citizens and a new role of the state, recognizing the priority of human rights, are being formed in Russia.

Civil society is a satellite of the rule of law, i.e. a legal state appears in a country in which there is not just a society of people, but a civil society.

Civil society and the state complement each other and depend on one another. Without a mature civil society, it is not possible to build a legal democratic state, since it is conscious free citizens who are able to create the most rational forms of human coexistence.

The object of study of the course work is civil society in the Russian Federation.

The subject of the research is the features of civil society of the Russian Federation.

The purpose of this work is to study the essence of civil society in the Russian Federation and the trends in the mutual functioning of civil society and the rule of law and to draw conclusions based on this.

The following tasks were set during the study:

· Explore the structure, main features and functions of civil society;

· Explore the interaction between civil society and the state

· Consider the process of formation of civil society in the Russian Federation. Theory of State and Law: Textbook / Pigolkin A.S., Golovistikova A.N., Dmitriev Yu.A., Saidov A.Kh. / Ed. A.S. Pigolkina. - M.: Yurait - Publishing House, 2005 Alkhimenko V.V. Constitutional law. Textbook / Editor-in-Chief A.E. Kozlov. M.: BEK, 2008.

When writing the course work, the works of leading domestic experts on the problem used were used, such as Alkhimenko V.V., Nersesyants V.S., Matuzov N.I., Komarov S.A.,

Perevalov V.D., Korelsky V.M., Malko A.V. and others, as well as normative and methodological materials (Constitution of the Russian Federation). Full list The literature used includes 21 titles, as well as a list of normative legal acts. The introduction provides all the necessary characteristics of the course work.

The structure of the work consists of an introduction, three chapters and a conclusion.

The introduction reveals the relevance, object, subject, purpose and objectives of the study. The first chapter examines the general idea of civil society - its concept, structure, features and functions. The second chapter shows the interaction of civil society and the rule of law in the Russian Federation. The third chapter indicates the formation of civil society in the Russian Federation. In conclusion, a general summary of the topic under consideration is summed up.

CHAPTER 1. GENERAL VIEW OF CIVIL SOCIETY

Modern concepts of the structure of society consider “the totality of relations in the economic, cultural and other spheres developing within the framework of a democratic society, regardless of the state,” as the most important basis for the life of society.

The most well-known manifestation of civil society is the activities of various public organizations, clubs, trade unions, etc. In our country, everyday ideas assign such activity the role of a leisure filler. There is an everyday stereotype: direct relationships between people are possible only within the family and a small circle of relatives, sometimes neighbors and friends. Outside this circle, a single, impersonal force reigns - the state, on which everything depends. As a rule, the state is expected to provide and regulate all spheres of human life. This view is a consequence of the superposition of the communist myth of the “welfare state” on archaic, ancient myths and stereotypes. In reality, all “prosperous” countries in the modern world are examples of a different social structure - where the forces of civil society perform the most important functions of a social regulator and control the state. Rechitsky V. Freedom and State. 1998

1.1 THE CONCEPT OF “CIVIL SOCIETY”

The concept of “civil society” arose in the era of the completion of the formation of capitalist production relations and the bourgeois revolutions that consolidated them in the political and legal spheres (English 1640 and French 1789-1794). This era, called by historians the New Time, was marked by the creation of the most developed form private property- capitalist private property, i.e. such property relations, which, according to Marx, have already been freed from fusion with political and social relations. It is this circumstance that has determined the increased attention of historians to the sphere of real, material life of people. If previously, when studying history, they saw in it only great people and great events, then French and English writers, notes K. Marx, “made the first attempts to give historiography a materialistic basis, writing for the first time the histories of civil society, trade and industry.”

However, among philosophers and historians of the 17th-18th centuries. There was not yet a clear distinction between civil society and the state (it was outlined for the first time in Locke). Only Hegel is responsible for a detailed development of the question of the opposition of the state and civil society, of the separateness of civil and political life.

G. Hegel understood civil society as a set of corporations, communities, classes, which are based on special needs and the work that mediates them. This is primarily the world of private property and material interests. Hegel contrasted the private (civil) life of man with his general (political) life, which finds its highest manifestation in the state. At the same time, the state was seen as determining in relation to civil society.

In Marxism, “civil society” is understood as the sphere of “real” ones, i.e. material relations of people, generated by a certain method of production. These are primarily economic and property relations, but not only. If F. Engels defined civil society as the kingdom of economic relations, and directly declared political economy to be the science of civil society, then for K. Marx civil society is always a “social organization” that developed directly from production and communication, a “social state”, “ a certain way of joint activity”, determined by the totality of productive forces, “a certain social system”, determined by production relations. Therefore, Marx’s interpretation of the role of political economy - “the anatomy of civil society should be sought in political economy” - emphasizes the key role of the mode of production, in particular production relations, that determines civil society, but does not reduce civil society itself to them.

Civil society is, according to Marx, a “social system” as opposed to a political one, i.e. practically the entire non-political life of society (“a person as a member of civil society is a non-political person”), starting from the very general forms the existence of society and ending with the private existence of individuals. Therefore, the structure of civil society is very complex. As “simple” components of civil society, K. Marx identifies, on the one hand, individuals, and on the other, the material and spiritual elements that form the life content of these individuals, their civil status. The world of civil society is, first of all, the world of property and property relations, the world of private interests and needs, the world of labor, private law, religion, family, estates or classes.

Thus, defining civil society as “material life relationships”, as “all material communication of individuals”, K. Marx means not only economic relations. It proceeds from the “society - state” dilemma, posed by previous social thought and solved by it in an idealistic spirit. Marx uses the concept of “civil society,” introduced by early bourgeois thinkers, to emphasize the primacy of material life (i.e., society) in relation to politics and the state. F. Engels later noted that he and K. Marx both came to the conclusion that “civil society is not determined and determined by the state, but the state is determined and determined by civil society, which, therefore, politics and its history must be explained by economic relations and their development , and not vice versa".

Thus, K. Marx formulates a new, materialist understanding of history, and the concept of “civil society” is included in the philosophical and historical concept of Marxism: “Take a certain stage of development of the productive forces of people, and you will get a certain form of exchange and consumption. Take a certain stage of development of production, exchange and consumption, and you get a certain social system, a certain civil society. Take a certain civil society, and you get a certain political order, which is only the official expression of civil society." Marx K., Engels F. Op. T. 27. P. 402. 113.

The two main points of view on understanding civil society that exist in modern Russian literature stem from this Marxist tradition.

According to one of them, civil society is a set of extra-state relations and institutions. The concept of “civil society” is considered as opposite to the concept of “state”. Together they form a dichotomous division of society, i.e. dividing into two without a remainder. In this case, each of these concepts can be defined only through its opposite; thus, civil society is everything that is not the state.

With this approach, political non-state institutions are also included in the sphere of civil society. In this regard, researchers pose the problem of the “political dimension” of civil society.

The political component of civil society includes:

1) activity political parties;

2) activities of trade unions and other public organizations;

3) free independent press;

4) various forms of expression of public opinion;

According to another point of view, civil society is a set of non-political relations and institutions. In this case, the opposite of the concept of “civil society” is the concept of “politics”. With this approach, all forms of political initiative of citizens are actually “removed” from the sphere of civil society, which seems incorrect.

The first approach is more common in domestic political science literature. Civil society in this case can be defined as a set of relations and institutions independent from the state that express the will and protect the interests of citizens. It's important to note that this definition contains an indication of the functions of civil society, which frees us from special consideration of this issue.

These include the following:

Firstly, civil society is all relations in society that are determined by the individuals themselves, and not by the state. This is the sphere of freedom of the individual (within the framework of the law determined by the state), the sphere of his initiative in various areas of life, the sphere of private life of individuals. The sphere of private life is the sphere of an individual’s beliefs, his values, cultural preferences, religious affiliation, etc., i.e. the sphere in which an individual makes this or that choice, sets and achieves goals, satisfies his needs.3 3 Alkhimenko V.V. Constitutional law. Textbook / Editor-in-Chief A.E. Kozlov. M.: BEK, 2008.

Secondly, civil society is the relationships that arise between people as representatives of certain social groups, as bearers of certain roles and functions (teacher - student, seller - buyer, employer - employee, etc.).

Finally, civil society is the activity of various associations and organizations created on the initiative of individuals themselves to express and protect their interests. Moreover, a sign of civil society is not just the presence of public organizations (they existed in our country during the totalitarian regime, but were created on the initiative of the party and the state and performed mainly ideological and political functions - pioneer organization, Komsomol, trade unions, veteran organizations), namely, the nature of their creation and the functions they perform.

Civil society cannot be reduced to any one of these characteristics, but represents a unity, i.e. simultaneous coexistence of these manifestations. From this point of view, civil society can be defined as a set of independent individuals pursuing their own goals and their voluntary associations. Educational and methodological project "Anthology on cultural studies" E.A. Atmanskikh, Yu.A. Tolkachev. - 2009. Matuzov N.I. Civil society: essence and basic principles. // Jurisprudence.- 2005. No. 3. Nersesyants V.S. General theory Law and State: Textbook. - M.: Norma, Infra-M, 2008. P. 284.

1.2 STRUCTURE OF CIVIL SOCIETY

The structure of civil society is internal structure society, reflecting the diversity and interaction of its components, ensuring the integrity and dynamism of development.

The system-forming principle that generates the intellectual and volitional energy of society is a person with his natural needs and interests, externally expressed in legal rights and obligations. The constituent parts (elements) of the structure are various communities and associations of people and stable relationships (relationships) between them.1 15 Rumyantsev O.G. Fundamentals of the constitutional system of Russia. M.: Lawyer, 2004.5

The structure of modern civil society can be represented in the form of five main systems that reflect the relevant spheres of its life activity - these are social, economic, political, spiritual and information systems. Fundamentals of sociology and political science / G.I. Kozyrev, 2008.

In the social sphere, the institutions of civil society are the family and various groups of people: labor, service, groups based on mutual friendship, interest groups (clubs, hunting, fishing groups, gardening partnerships, etc.), children's, youth organizations, not those of a political nature (for example, Boy Scout organizations). In this case, the social sphere is the sphere of the entire public life, including economic, political, spiritual, information spheres.

IN economic sphere institutions of civil society are organizations, enterprises, institutions engaged in the production of material goods, the provision of various types of services, both material and intangible in nature (banking and credit institutions, travel companies, industrial firms, organizations providing various legal services).

In the political sphere, the institutions of civil society are political parties, public organizations, movements of various political orientations (right, left, centrist, religious), pursuing political goals participating in the struggle for state or municipal (public power), youth political organizations (for example, communist youth unions).

The most important institution of civil society in the political sphere is local government, whose bodies, together with state bodies, represent the system of public power and are the link between civil society and the state. All of the above institutions, together with the state, constitute the political system of society. The civil society institution known as trade unions is unique. They operate in both the political and economic spheres.

In the spiritual sphere, the institutions of civil society are cultural institutions, creative organizations and unions, educational institutions, physical education and sports clubs, churches and religious (confessional) organizations that are not political in nature.

The basis in this area is relations related to education. Education is the basis in the process of human personality development. Its condition characterizes the development prospects of a particular society. Without education, not only the spiritual sphere, but also the social system as a whole cannot function normally. Relationships that determine the emergence and development of science, culture, and religion are vital for man and society. The ways of forming these relationships are varied, their impact on a person is ambiguous, but the consolidating factors are their focus on preserving historical experience, general humanistic traditions, accumulation and development of scientific, moral, spiritual, and cultural values.

In the information sphere, the institutions of civil society are the media (newspapers and magazines, radio and television, the Internet).

We can conclude that when characterizing the structure of civil society, three circumstances should be kept in mind.

Firstly, the classification presented is for educational purposes and is of a conditional nature. In fact, the named structural parts, reflecting the spheres of life of society, are closely interconnected and interpenetrated. The unifying factor, the epicenter of the diverse connections between them, is the person (citizen) as the totality of social relations and the measure of all things.

Secondly, when studying social, economic and other systems as relatively independent phenomena, other structural components (ideas, norms, traditions) cannot be underestimated.

Thirdly, we must see that the connecting, ordering factor in the structure and process of life of a social organism is law with its natural, general humanistic nature, supported by progressive, democratic legislation, that the logic of the development of civil society inevitably leads to the idea of legal statehood, a legal democratic society. Komarov S.A. General theory of state and law: Textbook. -- 4th ed., revised and expanded. - M.: Yurait, 1998. Theory of state and law Alekseev S.S., Arkhipov S.I. and others. M.: Norma, 2005. [The Constitution of the Russian Federation, adopted by popular vote on December 12, 1993/ Rossiyskaya Gazeta. 1993. No. 237.1]

1.3 MAIN FEATURES OF CIVIL SOCIETY

The modern understanding of civil society presupposes the presence of a complex of essential features. The absence or underdevelopment of some of them allows us to determine the state of “health” social organism and the necessary directions for his self-improvement. Let's look at these signs in more detail.

Civil society is a community of free individuals. In economic terms, this means that each individual is an owner. He actually possesses the means that a person needs for his normal existence. General theory of law and state./Ed. V.V. Lazarev. - M.: Filin, 2004. He is free to choose forms of ownership, determine the profession and type of work, and dispose of the results of his work. Socially, an individual’s belonging to a particular social community (family, clan, class, nation) is not absolute. He can exist independently and has the right to autonomous self-organization to satisfy his needs and interests. The political aspect of the freedom of an individual as a citizen lies in his independence from the state, i.e., in the opportunity, for example, to be a member of a political party or association that criticizes the existing government, the right to participate or not to participate in elections of state authorities and local self-government . Freedom is considered to be secured when an individual, through certain mechanisms (court, etc.) can limit the willfulness of state or other structures in relation to himself.

Civil society is an open social entity. It ensures freedom of speech, including freedom of criticism, openness, access to various types of information, the right of free entry and exit, wide and constant exchange of information and educational technologies with other countries, cultural and scientific cooperation with foreign government and public organizations, assistance in the activities of international and foreign associations in accordance with the principles and norms of international law. It is committed to general humanistic principles and is open to interaction with similar entities on a planetary scale.

Civil society is a complex structured pluralistic system. Of course, any social organism has a certain set of systemic qualities, but civil society is characterized by their completeness, stability and reproducibility. The presence of diverse social forms and institutions (trade unions, parties, associations of entrepreneurs, consumer societies, clubs, etc.) makes it possible to express and realize the most diverse needs and interests of individuals, to reveal all the originality of the human being. Pluralism as a feature characterizing the structure and functioning of a social system is manifested in all its spheres: in the economic sphere it is a variety of forms of ownership (private, joint-stock, cooperative, public and state); in the social and political - the presence of a wide and developed network of public formations in which an individual can express and protect himself; in the spiritual - ensuring ideological freedom, excluding discrimination on ideological grounds, tolerant attitude towards different religions and opposing views.

Civil society is a self-developing and self-governing system. Individuals, uniting in various organizations, establishing various relationships among themselves, realizing their sometimes opposing interests, thereby ensure the harmonious, purposeful development of society without the intervention of the state as a political power. Civil society has its own internal sources of self-development, independent of the state. Moreover, thanks to this, it is able to limit the power activities of the state. One of the important characteristics of the dynamics of society is civil initiative as a conscious and active activity for the benefit of society. In combination with such moral categories as civic duty, civic conscience, it serves as a reliable means of further progressive development civil society. Abdulaev M.I., Komarov S.A. Problems of the theory of state and law. - St. Petersburg: Peter, 2003.

Civil society is a legal democratic society, where the connecting factor is the recognition, provision and protection of natural and acquired human and civil rights. The ideas of the priority of law, the unity of law and law, and the legal delimitation of the activities of various branches of government correspond to the ideas of civil society about the rationality and fairness of power, about freedom, and the well-being of the individual. Civil society on the way to legal society develops together with the state. The rule of law can be considered the result of the development of civil society and a condition for its further improvement.

The modern civilized view of these problems is that the rule of law does not oppose civil society, but creates the most favorable conditions for its normal functioning and development. Such interaction contains a guarantee of resolving emerging contradictions in a legal, civilized way, a guarantee of the exclusion of social cataclysms and a guarantee of non-violent progressive development of society.

Civil society is a free democratic legal society, focused on a specific person, creating an atmosphere of respect for legal traditions and laws, general humanistic ideals, ensuring freedom of creative and entrepreneurial activity, creating the opportunity to achieve well-being and realize human and civil rights, organically developing mechanisms of limitation and control behind the activities of the state.

We can conclude that the main features of civil society are:

The most complete provision of human and civil rights and freedoms;

Self-control;

Competition between the structures that form it and various groups of people;

Freely forming public opinion and pluralism;

General awareness, and, above all, the real implementation of the human right to information;

Life activities in civil society are based on the principle of coordination. In contrast to the state apparatus, which is built on the principle of subordination, i.e. a system of strict subordination of “younger people to elders”.

Diversity of the economy;

Legitimacy and democratic nature of government;

Constitutional state.

The existence of civil society is based on certain rational norms, for the preservation and maintenance of which institutions and mechanisms are specially created, unknown traditional society. We can say that civil society arises on a certain basis, which is built from material unknown to society, although some of its components may be developed in the conditions of this society. In turn, civil society strives to ensure that everyone independently decides on the choice of life goals and values. But at the same time, in achieving this goal, in civil society it is not always possible to reach agreement among themselves and avoid conflicts, since most of us want basically the same thing - to achieve everything only for ourselves and to do it in our own way. However, civil society strives to protect people from all kinds of clashes, thereby avoiding various conflicts. All this gradually leads to the identification of the civil rights and freedoms of each individual as an independent value in society. We are talking about such rights as the right to life, to personal integrity, to free expression of one’s thoughts, to private property, and the right to freely associate in unions and parties. It has already been said that society is not created on purpose, it arises on a certain basis, but in turn we must not lose sight of the fact that some institutions of civil society are created in the interests of society itself as a whole, for public benefit and benefits for state expediency.

Based on the above, the following can be added to the characteristics of civil society:

The emergence of civil society on certain grounds, not excluding the fact that some institutions of civil society are created in the interests of society itself as a whole and state rationalization;

Civil society's inadmissibility of conflicts between members of society themselves. Theory of State and Law: Textbook for Universities / Ed. Prof.V. M. Karelsky and prof. V. D. Perevalova. -- 2nd ed., rev. and additional -- M.: Publishing house NORMA (Publishing group NORMA--INFRA * M), 2002. Rumyantsev O.G. Fundamentals of the constitutional system of Russia. M.: Lawyer, 2004.

1.4 FUNCTIONS OF CIVIL SOCIETY

The main function of civil society is the most complete satisfaction of the material, social and spiritual needs of its members. Various economic, ethnic, regional, professional, religious associations of citizens are designed to facilitate the individual’s full realization of his interests, aspirations, goals, etc.

As part of this basic function, civil society performs a number of important social functions:

1.On the basis of legality, it ensures the protection of the private spheres of human and citizen life from unreasonable strict regulation of the state and other political structures.

2.Mechanisms of public self-government are created and developed on the basis of civil society associations.

3. Civil society is one of the most important and powerful levers in the system of “checks and balances”, aspirations political power to absolute dominance. It protects citizens and their associations from illegal interference in their activities by state power and thereby contributes to the formation and strengthening of the democratic bodies of the state and its entire political system. To perform this function, he has a lot of means: active participation in election campaigns and referendums, protests or support of certain demands, great opportunities in shaping public opinion, in particular, with the help of independent media and communications.

4. Civil society institutions and organizations are called upon to provide real guarantees of human rights and freedoms, equal access to participation in state and public affairs.

5. Civil society also performs the function of social control in relation to its members. Regardless of the state, it has the means and sanctions with which it can force individuals to comply with social norms and ensure socialization and education of citizens.

6. Civil society also performs a communication function. In a democratic society there is a diversity of interests. The widest range of these interests is the result of the freedoms that a citizen has in a democracy. A democratic state is called upon to satisfy the interests and needs of its citizens as much as possible. However, in conditions of economic pluralism, these interests are so numerous, so diverse and differentiated that state power has practically no channels of information about all these interests. The task of institutions and civil society organizations is to inform the state about the specific interests of citizens, the satisfaction of which is possible only through the efforts of the state.

7. Civil society performs a stabilizing function through its institutions and organizations. It creates strong structures on which all social life rests. In difficult historical periods (wars, crises, depressions), when the state begins to waver, it “lenders its shoulder” - the strong structures of civil society.

One of the functions of civil society is also to ensure a certain minimum level of necessary funds to the existence of all members of society, especially those who cannot achieve this themselves (disabled, elderly, sick, etc.) Political system of society (Tutorial): M.I. Dobrynina. - 2002. A.V. Chernysheva. POLITICAL SCIENCE. Tutorial. (lecture notes). Moscow 2008.

CHAPTER 2. INTERACTION OF CIVIL SOCIETY AND THE RULE OF LAW STATE

A rule-of-law state is an interaction between state and law, where the state, relying on law, regulates internal legal relations, at the center of which are the rights and freedoms of man and citizen. That is, people, citizens - society is the central link in a rule of law state. And hence the complementary and mutually affirming relationship between the rule of law and civil society.

Civil society is a society with developed economic, political, legal, cultural relations between its members, independent of the state, but interacting with it; this is a union of individuals with a developed, integral, active personality, high human qualities (freedom, right, duty, morality, property, etc.).

According to Hegel, the fundamental theorist of the idea of civil society and the rule of law (in his bourgeois vision), “civil society was created, however, only in the modern world, which gives all definitions of the idea their right.” Civil society is the sphere of realization of special, private goals and interests of an individual. From the point of view of the development of the concept of law, this is a necessary stage, since it demonstrates the interconnection and interdependence of the particular and the universal.

Civil society and the rule of law logically presuppose each other - one is unthinkable without the other. At the same time, civil society is primary: it is a decisive socio-economic prerequisite for the rule of law.

It is generally accepted that in a rule-of-law state, developed institutions of civil society must function, which traditionally include, first of all, political parties, trade unions, non-governmental organizations, the media, as well as family, school, church, business, etc. including even apartment owners' cooperatives. Through these institutions, citizens independently resolve most issues related to their daily life, without the direct participation of the state, its bodies and officials. And the more democratic the state, the less citizens should need to turn to the state to solve their problems. That is, civil society works as a self-regulating organization that does not need outside intervention.

The extreme importance of the existence of developed institutions of civil society is due to the fact that they represent social basis legal state, without which the latter cannot exist. The creation of a civil society is becoming one of the necessary conditions for Russia’s advancement along the path of major socio-political, economic and legal reforms, one of the goals of modernizing Russian society.

Civil society in the broad sense and the term “civil society” itself appeared when ideas about citizenship and the citizen were formed and the concept of society as a collection of citizens arose. This happened back in Ancient Greece and Rome. However, at that time there was no distinction between civil society and the state. Thus, Aristotle believed that “the state is nothing more than a collection of citizens, civil society,” that is, he used the terms “civil society” and “state” as synonyms. And this approach, in which the state and society were considered as a single whole, persisted until the 18th century, that is, until the period when civil society in its strict (narrow), modern understanding began to take shape in its main features.

Civil society in its modern understanding and meaning is a society capable of resisting the state, controlling its activities, capable of showing the state its place, and keeping it “in check.” In other words, civil society is a society capable of making its state legal. However, this does not mean that civil society is only engaged in fighting the state. Within the framework of the principle of sociality, that is, the social state, civil society allows the state to actively intervene in socio-economic processes. Another thing is that it does not allow the state to crush itself and make the social system totalitarian.

Such a society’s ability to political self-organization is possible only if there are certain economic conditions, namely, economic freedom, diversity of forms of ownership, market relations. The basis of civil society is private property. It is precisely this that allows members of civil society to maintain economic dignity.

So, civil society and its relationship with the state are characterized by the following points:

The formation and development of civil society is associated with the formation of bourgeois social relations, the establishment of the principle of formal equality;

Civil society is based on private and other forms of property, market economy, political pluralism;

Civil society exists along with the state as a relatively independent and opposing force, which is in a contradictory unity with it;

Civil society is a system that is built on the basis of horizontal connections between subjects (the principle of coordination) and which is characterized by self-organization and self-government;

Civil society is a community of free citizen-owners who perceive themselves precisely in this capacity, and therefore are ready to take upon themselves the fullness of economic and political responsibility for the state of society;

With the development of civil society and the establishment of a legal state, a rapprochement of society and the state occurs, their interpenetration: in essence, a legal state is a way of organizing civil society, its political form;

The interaction of civil society and the rule of law is aimed at the formation of a legal democratic society, the creation of a democratic social and legal state.

Thus, the concept of “civil society” characterizes a certain level of development of society, its condition, the degree of socio-economic, political and legal maturity.

It is possible to indicate a number of general ideas and principles that underlie any civil society, regardless of the specifics of a particular country. These include:

Economic freedom, diversity of forms of ownership, market relations;

Unconditional recognition and protection of the natural rights of man and citizen;

Legitimacy and democratic nature of government;

Equality of all before the law and justice, reliable legal protection of the individual;

A legal state based on the principle of separation and interaction of powers;

Political and ideological pluralism, the presence of legal opposition;

Freedom of opinion, speech and press, independence of the media;

Non-interference of the state in the private life of citizens, their mutual duties and responsibilities;

Class peace, partnership and national harmony;

Effective social policy that ensures a decent standard of living for people.

Civil society is not a state-political, but mainly an economic and personal, private sphere of people’s life, the real relationships between them. This is a free democratic legal civilized society, where there is no place for a regime of personal power, class hatred, totalitarianism, violence against people, where law and morality, the principles of humanism and justice are respected. This is a market competitive society with a mixed economy, a society of proactive entrepreneurship, a reasonable balance of interests of various social strata.

The role of the state is, first of all, to maintain law and order, fight crime, create the necessary conditions for the unhindered activities of individual and collective owners, their exercise of their rights and freedoms, activity and entrepreneurship. Theory of state and law: textbook. Matuzov N.I., Malko A.V. ed. "lawyer", 2004

The state in civil society is characterized by the separation of powers into legislative, executive and judicial, the rule of law in all areas state life, the rule of law, as well as the social orientation of state policy, the cornerstone of which is, first of all, the interests of the citizen.

Thus, the rule of law in civil society provides ample opportunities for the citizen to demonstrate creative initiative in his activities for the benefit of himself and society as a whole. Regulating in detail the legal status of the individual, legal system state provides the citizen with the principle of “everything that is not prohibited is permitted,” which allows the individual to exercise a wide range of social activity. At the same time, civil society, together with the rule of law, provides the citizen with legal protection to the maximum extent from the state’s encroachments on his rights and freedoms.

This lies in the fact that in a rule-of-law state there is a principle for government agencies and their employees “are permitted what is permitted by law.”

Consequently, an individual in civil society can manifest himself not only within the framework defined by law, but also in public life. For example, a citizen can participate in local government bodies, political parties and public political movements, in public organizations.

However, the freedom of a citizen in a civil society is limited by the law. The investigator and the citizen and the state mutually limit themselves.

This leads to the conclusion that civil society presupposes balanced, mutually limited cooperation between government and non-governmental organizations. government agencies- public organizations and movements. Civil society excludes any confrontation between the state and non-governmental organizations.

In the spiritual sphere, civil society is characterized by the priority of universal human values and a constant focus on freedom, equality of all before the law, justice, which excludes any privileged position in accordance with social status, position held, nationality, religion, etc. Thus, civil society provides citizens with equal starting opportunities for all people. Protasov V.N. Theory of law and state. Problems of the theory of law and state: Questions and answers. - M.: New Lawyer, 1999.

CHAPTER 3. FORMATION OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE RF

Russia embarked on the path of building a civil society much later than Western Europe and the USA.

The beginnings of civil society in Russia began to take shape in the second half of the 19th century, as a result of the reforms of Alexander II (abolition of serfdom, local government reform, judicial, administrative and other reforms). All this accelerated the necessary processes of modernization of Russian society. With the development of bourgeois relations, large industrial enterprises, banks and other subjects of capitalist relations, which created economic basis civil society. Various educational, medical, charitable and other public organizations received a new impetus for development, which accordingly stimulated the growth of various institutions of social self-organization and helped stabilize Russian society.

A significant step towards civil society was the formation of elected bodies of local self-government that were relatively independent from the state. Self-government bodies were in charge of local affairs. Some of the rights were transferred from the government department to self-government bodies, which became the most important structural element of civil society.

The judicial reform of 1864 proclaimed such principles as equality of all before the law, separation of judicial and administrative powers, irremovability of judges, independence of the legal profession, openness and competitiveness of the process, and the creation of a jury. New liberal judicial statutes were introduced. After the reforms of the 60s. In the 19th century, the process of formation of the middle class, the social base of civil society, intensified. However, all this can only be considered as the first steps on the path to civil society. After the assassination of the reformer Tsar Alexander II, the new emperor Alexander III promulgated the manifesto “On the Inviolability of Autocracy” (1881). The era of reaction has begun, a sharp slowdown in the processes of liberalization in the social system.

The next period in the development of civil society institutions falls on 1900-1914. During these years, a multi-party system was emerging in the country, in which political parties were subjects of civil society, as they existed independently of state power and sought to realize their political goals. The first Russian revolution of 1905 forced tsarism to make serious changes in the country's political system. Thanks to the activities of four State Dumas(1906-1917), elected legislative institutions and a multi-party system, Russia acquired its first experience of parliamentarism.

First World War exacerbated all contradictions and led to a revolutionary change in the political system.

The February Revolution of 1917 gave a powerful impetus to the development of civil society. As a result, democratic institutions of freedom of speech, assembly, organization, and religion began to develop in Russia. A mass of political and non-political organizations emerged. The enormous growth in social activity of the masses contributed to the development of institutions of public self-government. However, weak state power was unable to streamline this process. The threat of anarchy loomed over the country.

The October Revolution of 1917 radically changed the situation in the country. A brutal centralization of power was established, and authoritarian methods of managing the economy and public life were used. Private property, the basis for the economic independence of citizens, was eliminated. Political institutions and organizations lost their importance for civil society as they operated under strict political and ideological state control. A totalitarian regime emerged in the country, which blocked the very possibility of the development of civil society. Under totalitarianism there is no place for civil society. The ruling class was made up of the party nomenklatura, which simultaneously became the de facto owner of the means of production. The rest of the population turned into state-dependent workers. There was a grandiose equalization of all members of society before the all-powerful state machine. As for the term “civil society,” it was expelled from the Soviet state, legal and political lexicon. Organizations such as trade unions, Komsomol, cooperation, creative unions, which in other conditions could serve as a basis for the development of civil society, were largely deprived of their independence during the Soviet period, entering the official structures of the party-state machine.

The term “civil society” became relevant again in the 1980s. XX century The transformations that began in 1985 in Russia were aimed at creating the preconditions for civil society.

Under the influence of socio-economic and political reforms in the second half of the 80s. Great changes have taken place in Russia. The place of the party nomenklatura was taken by numerous elite groups. The elite itself has lost a significant part of the levers of power inherent in the old ruling class. This led to a gradual transition from political and ideological methods of management to economic ones.

The transformation of the institutions of Russian society has seriously affected its social structure. The relations of property and power changed, new social groups emerged (“entrepreneurial structure”, etc.), the level and quality of life of each social group changed, and the mechanism of social stratification was rebuilt. All this stimulated the creation of the foundations of civil society in Russia and reflected the diversity of interests of representatives of various groups and strata of society.

The redistribution of property through privatization opened up opportunities for the formation of a middle class in Russia. Privatization allowed private individuals to acquire ownership of part of state property. Work collectives received the right to rent state-owned enterprises and acquire industrial, commercial, and service facilities on a joint-stock basis.

After the collapse of the USSR in 1991, a new positive period in the formation of civil society began for Russia. Modern Russia at the end of the 20th century began the path of modernization of society, the essence of which is the country’s transition from a totalitarian to a rule of law state, to a civil society.

After a huge break in the development of civil society in Russia (from October 1917 to the 1990s), a period of rapid reforms began in all areas of the country's life.

Over the course of several years of reform, numerous political parties, popular fronts, organizations, unions, associations, centers, unions, foundations, and movements have emerged in our state, meeting all the characteristics of civil society. They appeared in all spheres of public life: economic, social, political, spiritual, etc. These include: the Association of Russian Banks, the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, the Congress of Russian Business Circles, the Union of Entrepreneurs and Tenants, the Interregional Exchange Union, etc.

All of the listed organizations belong to civil society entities in the economic sphere. In other spheres of public life, for example in social life, even more of them arose. Thus, at present in the Russian Federation there are various funds for the social protection of citizens and culture: the Fund for the Social Protection of Motherhood and Childhood, the Union of Soldiers' Mothers, the Spiritual Heritage Fund; Pension Fund, charitable foundation“No to alcoholism and drug addiction” (NAS Foundation), etc.

The areas and areas of activity of civil organizations in Russia are extremely diverse. The panorama of public volunteer activities of institutions and civil society organizations is extremely broad. Here there is the protection of citizens' rights and legal education, nature conservation and environmental protection, voluntary rescue teams, assistance to the disabled, sick children, lonely old people, vital device graduates of orphanages, consumer protection, working with children and adolescents from disadvantaged families, searching for missing persons during the Great Patriotic War and much more.

...

1. Content of the concept “civil society” »

The concept of “civil society” is usually used in comparison with the concept of the state. According to I. Izensee, “the state exists in the form of something that opposes society.” The concepts of “state” and “civil society” reflect different aspects of social life that oppose each other. Civil society constitutes the sphere of absolute freedom of private individuals in their relations with each other. It appears as a social, economic and cultural space in which free individuals interact, realizing private interests and making individual choices. According to the definition of J.-L. Kermonna, “civil society is made up of plurality interpersonal relationships and social forces that unite the components this society men and women without direct intervention and assistance from the state.” The state, on the contrary, is a space of totally regulated relationships between politically organized subjects: state structures and political parties, pressure groups, etc. that get used to them.

Civil society and the state complement each other and depend on one another. Without a mature civil society, it is impossible to build a legal democratic state, since it is conscious free citizens who are able to create the most rational forms of human coexistence. If civil society acts as a strong mediating link between a free individual and the centralized state will, then the state is called upon to counteract disintegration, chaos, crisis, decline and provide conditions for the realization of the rights and freedoms of an autonomous individual. In the real life of society, the division of civil society and the state is quite arbitrary, but in science it is necessary in order to understand the mechanisms of social life, the degree of freedom and non-freedom of individuals, and the level of political development.

Thus, civil society is a set of interpersonal relationships and family, social, economic, cultural, religious and other structures that develop in society outside the framework and without government intervention. A system of interpersonal relations independent of the state creates conditions for the self-realization of individuals and groups, to satisfy their everyday needs.

2. Specifics of the formation of civil society in modern Russia

The transformations that began in 1985 were aimed at creating the preconditions for civil society. The redistribution of property through privatization created the opportunity for the emergence of a middle class. At the same time, although property ceased to be state property, it remained mainly in the hands of the new bureaucracy as private property. The nomenklatura bureaucracy, having subjugated the state and taken possession of property, moved the real centers of development and adoption of political decisions to presidential structures and thereby largely protected them from public control.

Relations between the state and society are developing on the basis of imaginary constitutionalism, which is a consequence of the lack of formation of stable interest groups of citizens, on the one hand, and on the other hand, the inability or unwillingness of the ruling elite to create new “rules of the game” as mandatory for all groups, including themselves. So far the state, represented by the bureaucracy, does not strive for self-restraint and encouragement of citizens’ initiative. This is manifested in the ongoing economic, social, and cultural policies.

In the field economic policy the implementation of the idea of individual freedom and encouragement of creative initiative reveals antisocial forms when criminal business plays a significant role in the economy. The majority of the population was not included in the active economic activity, since the government decisions necessary for this were not made in a timely manner. Providing cash deposits from the population due to inflation, the lack of opportunity to invest in land, burdensome tax policies and some other negative aspects do not contribute to the formation of a mature citizen with inalienable rights and responsibilities. There are other difficulties on the way to forming a civil society in Russia. First of all, stable stereotypes, a system of values formed by the communist regime, which largely affect the economic, social and cultural preconditions of civil society. First of all, psychological discomfort is caused by values such as private property, inequality, competition, and the market. As a result of mistakes and miscalculations in the first years of reforms, which led to a sharp drop in the standard of living of the majority of the population, the introduction of these universal values is extremely difficult.

The process of an individual’s entry into new social connections, its inclusion and isolation is accompanied by recognition of the positive and negative directions of the actions of other individuals, clarification of the degree of proximity or distance of their social positions from the one that is recognized as their own. This is how the individual establishes his political identity and masters his own political position. Based on this position, she interacts with society and the state. IN Russian society the positions of the majority remain blurred and do not go beyond the boundaries of primary connections in the family, with relatives. Other social interactions are unstable. Modern society can adapt to changing conditions and develop progressively only if people do not proceed from the belief that any stranger for them it is an enemy. A society with a low level of interpersonal trust cannot be called modern; its sustainability is unsecured and problematic. The very possibility of modern economic and political organizations depends crucially on the predictability and reliability of social ties between complete strangers. As noted above, this phenomenon J. Coleman called "social capital". In his opinion, “social capital is the potential for possible trust and mutual assistance, purposefully formed in the interpersonal space.” In the 80s, nepotism, clientelism, lawlessness, ineffective government, and economic stagnation undermined the population's trust in communist regimes, but even after the fall of Soviet power in Russia, the situation changed little. If in Western countries in the mid-80s 85-95% of respondents agreed with the statement that “people can be trusted” (the exception was Italy - about 70%, including in Sicily - more than 50%), then in Russia the first in the mid-90s, no more than 30% of respondents thought so.

The accelerated nature of the process leaves a significant imprint on the process of formation of civil society Russian modernization, when tasks inherited from different historical stages. Changes in the financial situation of various groups of the population lead to too rapid and radical transformation of the previous social structure. This circumstance gives rise to conflicts between the state and various professional and social groups, which is expressed in mass strikes. The process of crystallization of an autonomous personality is complicated by the fact that the creation of market relations and the transition from totalitarianism to democracy coincided in time with the processes of national self-determination of ethnic groups and social stratification based on property relations. The coincidence of these trends makes the process of formation of civil society unstable and recurrent.

In real life, various, sometimes opposite in orientation, interests and needs of social groups are contradictorily intertwined. This circumstance reduces the ability to manage the processes of formation of normal economic, social, national and other interests. The most negative consequence of the decline in the regulatory function of the state is the formation of a significant gap in the income level of a small group of people in power or close to it and the majority of the poor population. The bipolar social structure is being reproduced again. Thus, the ratio of the wages of 10% of the highest paid strata to the wages of the rest of the population in 1992 was 16:1, in 1993 26:1, in 1995 – 29:1. For comparison, in different countries this ratio ranges from 5:1 to 8:1, and in Sweden it is 4:1.

In these conditions, only a strong state could become the initiator and guarantor of the progressive process of the formation of civil society, creating legal, economic, political and cultural prerequisites for the self-realization of individuals and groups, satisfying their everyday needs. The state itself must, in practice, increasingly acquire the signs of a legal constitutional state.

It is obvious that the process of formation of civil society has a natural pace that cannot be accelerated by any push. After all, a mature citizen begins with developed self-awareness, arising from the individual principles of the individual. They can be developed primarily through the efforts of the individual himself, his desire for constant self-improvement

Russian society once again found itself faced with a divisible dilemma: either to find a coordinated model of the interaction of individual freedom, activity and initiative of the individual with the principle of limited government, or to take the path of another modification of the sovereign model of power while alienating the people from it. There are cases of the nomenklatura bureaucracy using power in their corporate interests, which further alienates society from power and does not serve the inviolability of individual rights.

3. Prospects for the development of civil society

How quickly can the process of forming a civil society in our country be completed? In conditions of a low level of civic culture and the absence for a long time of Russians of the opportunity to play a decisive role in socio-political life, a sharp transition from a totalitarian-authoritarian society to a democratic one would inevitably lead to ochlocracy, the collapse of the state and would paralyze the activities of an emerging civil society (in many ways we have the opportunity to observe this today).

Therefore, for a long time, a transitional period of close, often contradictory interaction and mutual influence of democratically formed bodies of the rule of law state and institutions of civil society is inevitable. Gradually, as their cultural level increases, they acquire management skills, and competence in judging the most important social and state problems, citizens, through the institutions of civil society, will take on more and more functions of state power and move on to self-government. In the meantime, during the political reform, members of society should have the opportunity, guaranteed by law and provided by the entire mechanism of the reformed state structure, to freely express their political will and improve the level of their civic culture.

The process of forming a civil society in our country has its own characteristics and difficulties. In the country, especially in its central regions, in last decades The organic, centuries-old connections of social life have been destroyed, and folk traditions have been largely lost. At the same time, horizontal connections of a different type of civil society) are just beginning to take shape. State structures, permeating the entire society from top to bottom, turned out to be the only foundation connecting it in this situation. In such conditions, a forced restructuring of the economy on a market basis, a weakening of the vertical regulatory role of state structures, democratization, federalization and decentralization of public administration can create (and is already creating) a social vacuum, inevitably leading to serious economic and socio-political upheavals. . Therefore, a cautious approach to the destruction of vertical structures of state regulation and the choice of the correct strategy for the gradual collapse of vertical structures and the parallel development of horizontal relationships is necessary. Their genesis (horizontal market, political and legal relationships) will be the process of formation of civil society.

It is impossible not to take into account that alienation from property, from power, the psychology of social dependency, which became widespread during the years of egalitarian “socialism,” led to the emergence of significant social strata that had a negative attitude towards the period of transition to the market. In a society where the motivation to work has been undermined for a long time, the level and quality of life have been largely divorced from the final results of people’s labor, the fear of these social strata of the market is to a certain extent natural. A market economy inevitably leads to increased competition between workers, which many fear. But fear also arises from the fact that, as the experience of the 90s in Russia and Eastern European countries showed, the process of transition to a market often becomes uncontrollable, leads to the emergence of a “wild” market, is fraught with a sharp increase in prices, weakening the social protection of ordinary people. workers, the growth of significant property differentiation between various social strata of society and other negative phenomena. In these conditions, the problems of social security and social justice, regardless of anyone’s will, come to the fore, at least in our country.

It’s not just the process of forming numerous new public organizations and movements. Added to the natural difficulties of their formation is the conscious desire to give them semi-state status and thereby preserve the old system under the guise of renewal. An example here is the Peasant Union created back in the USSR, which actually united many heads of collective and state farms, and not ordinary rural workers. At the same time, the desire of some independent trade unions (for example, miners' trade unions) to achieve, by organizing numerous strikes rather than dialogue with the government, more and more concessions without infringing on the rights and interests of workers in other industries is not always justified. In the absence of a normal tax system, pressure tactics on any government will have serious negative consequences for our economy.

A serious obstacle to the formation of civil society is the Russian bureaucracy. In the course of long historical development, it has turned into a powerful social entity, functioning not only as an intrastate, but also a social structure, replacing real public entities of economic and social order. Having appropriated public functions, the state bureaucracy thereby usurped their role as a counterparty to the highest state power. Without eliminating this unnatural state of affairs, the development of civil society will be impossible.

Taking into account all of the above, we can assume that the process of forming a civil society in our country will be long and in many ways painful. From world practice, the main directions of its development are known: the formation of a democratic mechanism of political power based on a clear division of its functions, expressing the interests of various layers of the population; creating the necessary conditions for the transition to a market economy as the basis of civil society; subordination of all state, economic bodies, structures of all political parties to the law, ensuring its supremacy; denationalization of property in a variety of forms and the formation of equal various economic entities; achieving the required level of civic culture, the gradual formation of skills for socio-political activity in democratic living conditions. Without the latter, it seems, the bulk of the country’s population will be unable to perceive the values of civil society and will not understand the need for its formation and development.

Collapse of the old totalitarian system public administration gave rise to many negative phenomena, such as nationalism, separatism, extremism, corporatism and groupism (which occurred before, but in the context of reforming the social system of Russia recent years this trend has intensified), which become a serious obstacle to the establishment of civil society. In conditions of a non-market economy and low civic culture, new corporations (concerns, socio-political associations, etc.), with their often encountered maximalism and intolerance, can lead society to confrontation and aggravation of social conflicts. In order to make them the least painful for society (if it is not possible to avoid them altogether), it is necessary to come to civil agreement, based on those social ideals that have been put forward and defended by more than one generation of people from all countries of the world. Having passed the long test of time, they remain imperishable today. We are talking about such concepts as “humanism”, “democracy”, “justice”, which in modern conditions should be understood as the equality of all citizens in rights and opportunities, and not at all as equalization in everything. Despite the widest pluralism of opinions, positions and views on the prospects for our further social development that exist among Russian citizens, such an interpretation and practical implementation of the idea of justice can unite the bulk of the Russian population. Thus, civil peace will be established, which is so necessary for the formation of civil society in our country. Considering the inevitable resistance to this process on the part of various political forces during the transition period from a totalitarian-authoritarian to a civil society, the most acceptable model may be a strong state-liberal regime, which would gradually open the way to true democracy and ensure would be the irreversibility of our country's movement towards civil society. Its main task will be to create the necessary conditions under which the processes taking place in society could return to normal and be amenable to democratic management and regulation.

Conclusion

Civil society in many respects is the most mysterious category of political science.

Civil society is a human community that is emerging and developing in democratic states, represented by 1) a network of voluntarily formed non-state structures (associations, organizations, associations, unions, centers, clubs, foundations, etc.) in all spheres of society and 2) the totality of non-state relations - economic, political, social, spiritual, religious and others.

Civil society is the environment in which modern man legally satisfies his needs, develops his individuality, and comes to realize the value of group actions and social solidarity.

Civil society is often identified with the sphere of private interests and needs. Man by nature has the desire to live in a community of people, but at the same time he also has the tendency to do things his own way. It goes without saying that in realizing his inclination he encounters opposition from other individuals who also strive to do everything in their own way. But in order not to destroy the vital foundations of society, human civilization created civil society and the state with their most important institutions, defining them as the goal of achieving harmony between various interests, which, as historical experience shows, has always remained an unattainable ideal, a dream, but often realized into a concrete historical compromise that saves societies from mutual destruction.

Bibliography

1. Alekseev S.S. State and law. - M.: INFRA-M. 2002. - 376 p. 1996.

2. Kochetkov A.P. Civil society: research problems and development prospects. – M.: Business, 2003. -342 p.

3. Lazarev V.V., General theory of law and state. – M.: UNITY, 2000. – 359 p.

4. Migranyan A.M. Current problems in law. - M.: INFRA-DANA, 2002. - 564 p.

5. Protasov V. N. Theory of state and law. – M.: Logos, 2001. – 280 p..

6. Khropanyuk V. N. Theory of state and law. - M.: Delo, 2002. - 376 p.

Civil society of the Western type, formed by a long process of development after the English bourgeois revolution, has today become truly the basic element of the new social organism. It is enough to look at the uniting Europe to understand: today a new family of nations is being born.

At the same time, Russia, located on the border of this process, once again faces the choice of a strategy for its own development. Both power structures and society, sometimes together, sometimes separately, but so far not very successfully, are trying to find answers to questions regarding the future of our country. On the one hand, the unification of various political forces that are involved in the process of developing Russia's strategy in the 21st century gives hope that this will not be a monochromatic strategy: red or white. On the other hand, it is important to determine from the very beginning that this strategy in our paternalistic society should focus not so much on the state, but on society, since not a single reform of power structures will give an effective result if it is not in demand by society.

Despite the controversy of the last ten to fifteen years, the term “civil society” remains for us more theoretical than practical. Even many well-known liberals continue to regret that “the state was unable to nurture civil society.” This is not only a low level of understanding of the process of growth of social institutions, it is also an indicator of the stability of an ineffective system of social development.

In Russia at the end of the 20th century, civil society on the Western model is absent both for deep social reasons (long-term domination of the state over society) and by definition, since we do not have the opportunity for the independent existence of civil society institutions. True, it is still necessary to determine whether civil society is universal for all countries. However, there is no doubt that almost all Russian institutions of civil society that formally exist live both thanks to a strong state that suppresses everything around it, and thanks to the low social literacy of the population infected with the dependency virus. Public organizations either line up to work for the state, or line up to act against it. Our public structures have not become real partners of the state, capable of fully working together with it for one goal - the well-being of citizens. One of the reasons is that we have never developed a highly developed capitalist society. But we still have an environment for the emergence of a full-fledged civil society. What kind of environment is this?

At the personal level, first of all, these are representatives of the new middle class (managers, executives, highly qualified specialists, knowledge workers who have adapted to the new situation), who, by their position in the social structure, are most prone to non-political and non-commercial activity. Adjacent to the representatives of the middle class are a certain number of the new economic elite and, on the other hand, from below, the former representatives of the technical and industrial sector, who were never able to integrate into the new life, but have not yet lost hope of doing so, especially in connection with the latest political changes.

At the problem level, there are many special areas that require the participation of civil society institutions. This is charity, education, new technologies, media, culture, the whole spectrum" humanitarian operations", etc. Indicative in this regard is the example of the anti-terrorist operation in Chechnya, during which the problem of the work of non-state organizations is extremely acute. If not only state, but also public organizations could confirm with specific examples the essence of the terrorist regime operating in the republic, if If they could carry out work among the civilian population of Chechnya, then public opinion in the West would be more loyal to Russia.

Finally, and most importantly, there is the Western model of civil society. A significant number of our citizens could already personally compare the lifestyle in the West and in Russia. But they have not yet been able to understand the process of achieving a high standard of living. At the same time, there is a positive aspect - our citizens now know that it is possible to live better and that we can, on the one hand, focus on the Western model, and on the other, using all the shortcomings of its work and its historical formation, make a choice in favor of civil society with Russian specifics. Moreover, such social institutions have always existed in Russia. Suffice it to recall the institution of the “rural community,” or “peace,” which was destroyed only during Stalin’s collectivization, and even then not completely. After all, such an important element as the individual’s orientation towards the opinion of society has been preserved - to confirm this, it is enough to visit the Russian outback.

In this regard, it seems correct to raise the question of developing the environment for the existence of civil society, of achieving full-fledged harmonious relations between its institutions and government bodies. Only in this way will the state not only be able to free itself from functions that are not typical for it, but will also be able to support public initiative, make it multifunctional, diverse, and self-sufficient. If the state does not take upon itself the courage to go in this direction, then it has no other way than to once again turn into a mechanism for regulating “everything and everything,” which modern Russia cannot agree to - we have too few resources, we have too many problems. The future lies with independent public initiative. Relying exclusively on the state will leave our country in the 20th century and make it an anachronism.

However, I would like to remind you of the other side of the problem of relations between the state and society. Civil society still exists in the presence of state borders, and, consequently, state interests. And society must take these interests into account, since the state as a mechanism works for this society too. You can’t chop the branch you’re sitting on. Civil society has no national borders and therefore must, through its own institutions, promote the positive foreign policy of the state through strong bonds and promote the economic, cultural and other ties of our country in the international arena. Our country will become a full-fledged member of the world community only when the opinion of our society is heard throughout the world.

In order to achieve a developed state, it is also necessary to identify the main difficulties on this path, the main problems of the environment of the emerging civil society in Russia, which will have to be solved in the new century. We will have to do without clear deadlines.

The environment for the development of civil society in our country is not self-perpetuating. The new Russia, the new social community - Russians are barely 10 years old. Only in 7-10 years, when the generation formed in the era of reforms and freedom enters active life, if by this time capitalism in Russia does not die, it will be possible to say that this environment has become self-reproducing and just like that, by itself, it will not die. Now there are no such guarantees. And the point here is not the traditional suppression of public institutions by the state. Rather, on the contrary, the state is forced to support society’s desire for self-organization. Otherwise, all the most important shoots of social initiative can be ruined. So, we have always been proud of Russian entrepreneurs from the beginning of the century. However, people rarely thought about why Russian entrepreneurship as an institution turned out to be so weak. But now a similar process is happening - the weakening of new Russian business. Then, at the beginning of the century, already the second or third generation of businessmen abandoned business and went into culture and philanthropy (because they were embarrassed by how their fathers made money). And even now such cases are not uncommon. Meanwhile, look: the largest Western countries are examples of long-term development of the largest corporations from father to son, from son to grandchildren, etc. So what's good for Ford is good for America. Until there are such companies in Russia, the real responsibility of business to society will not be created.

The civil society environment in Russia is territorially fragmented. This environment exists only in a dozen megacities, and already in most regional centers (where there are 3-5 capitalists, 50-100 shopkeepers and the same number of intellectuals for the entire city) it does not exist. Not to mention the fact that numerically this environment makes up a maximum of 10% of the country's population. Our task is to create conditions for the formation of a civil society environment in the outback of Russia.

The existing institutions of civil society are very poorly oriented inward to Russia. They focus on the Western middle class, and compatriots from “greater Russia” are perceived as relics of the “difficult present.” Plus to this is the lack of serious political activity. As a result, it is unclear whether this environment will be engaged in creating conditions for its existence and development in Russia (that is, adapting “big Russia” to itself, investing money, time and effort in it in order to gain a foothold in it) or at the first “frost” “will be ready to leave their perch and emigrate, like a significant part of the intelligentsia in the 20s.

Only when society fights for itself not only against the state, but also against ignorance, lack of initiative, and the desire to grab more at the expense of others - only then will civil society be able to function fully. The revival of society must begin with improving its culture, and not with attempts to disown people who do not see opportunities for development.

Today, civil society in Russia faces three paths, three scenarios.

Destruction scenario. Under this scenario, we will be hit by a resource crisis in a couple of years (that is, after a gas shortage, we will discover that we do not have enough oil, and then something else). In this case, the state must sharply strengthen itself to fulfill its own social functions, and at the expense of social development. There is no other way here. In this case, civil society in Russia is doomed, along with the entire environment in which it is born.

Reform scenario. It is represented by the well-known modernist model: development impulses coming from megacities reach their goals and creatively transform the entire country, or at least a large part of it (relatively speaking, Russia is repeating the path of post-war South Korea or Japan).

Stabilization scenario. Slow progress through the difficult process of gradually growing new Russian institutions that would take into account national traditions and already established methods of cooperation between society and the state.

Our choice, caused rather by general reasons for development, is an inertial scenario. That is, today it is necessary to support institutions that are beginning to grow, to ensure that we are on the right path. At the same time, it should be understood that we need to work more actively, establish dialogue and interaction, support new forms, etc. It is impossible to grow a civil society in twenty or thirty years; this process is too long.

The new generation has a great historical chance - to build a Russia that they will not be ashamed to pass on to their children. The strategy of state and social development of Russia in the 21st century should include such important guidelines as achieving sustainable development of society and the state. In this case, it is necessary to take into account the mandatory achievement of harmonious development of all three sides in the triangle “man-society-state”. Without understanding the close relationship, there will be no full development of any of these links. Only in this way will we be able to create the necessary conditions for the further development of a full-fledged civil society in Russia. It is on this foundation that a new national ideology, or a consolidating national idea, should be based, the need for which has been talked about for many years, but which Russian society is not yet able to formulate. If we take into account the mistakes that were made in previous years and try to look into the future - into the 21st century and the new millennium based on our common interests, we can formulate it as the ideology of a strong society of strong people.

Plan

Introduction

1. Concept, characteristics and institutions of civil society

2. The idea of civil society in Russian political and legal thought

3. Problems of formation of civil society in the Russian Federation

Conclusion

List of used literature

Introduction

The concept of “civil society” is one of the key concepts of modern political science. The relevance of the theoretical and practical aspects of this concept is due to the obvious increase in the role of ordinary citizens and their voluntary associations in all spheres of human society - economic, political, social, spiritual. In the works of scientists of the past and present, for more than two millennia, civil society has been considered, analyzed and described in an increasingly comprehensive, concrete and reliable manner. Soot Accordingly, the concept of “civil society”, incorporating various universal human values, is acquiring increasing semantic diversity.

Recently, problems of civil society related to the relationship between individuals, social groups, public formations and the state have been the focus of attention of our scientists, journalists and politicians. And this is understandable, since the formation of civil society is associated with the development of democracy, a market economy and the establishment of the rule of law - in other words, with a global social reorganization, during which structures of public control should arise that guarantee feedback between individuals and society.

The relevance of the topic is due to the fact that for a long time the citizens of our country lived in a totalitarian state and were largely deprived of protection from the authorities. Currently, a civil society based on the freedom of citizens and a new role of the state, recognizing the priority of human rights, are being formed in Russia.

Civil society is a satellite of the rule of law, i.e. a legal state appears in a country in which there is not just a society of people, but a civil society.

The purpose of this work is to study the trend of mutual functioning of civil society and the rule of law and draw conclusions based on this.

· carefully examine the structure and characteristics of civil society;

· consider the idea of civil society in Russia and the problems of its formation.

Also in this study, an attempt is made to trace the development of the doctrine of civil society, from ancient times to the present.

1. Concept, characteristics and institutions of civil society

Civil society is usually called the highest form of community, consisting of individuals, classes, groups and institutions that are not directly dependent on the political state. The essential characteristics of civil society are that it can control the state and resist it. In the history of mankind, civil society has defeated the state more than once (Great Britain, USA). Or helped the state when it was experiencing difficulties. In the East, on the contrary, civil society was in an amorphous state, and the state was everything.

In Russia, the state usually defeated civil society, subjugated it and “trampled it down.” And the monstrous experiment on it, carried out by a totalitarian state for 70 years, led to a dead end in historical development. This is why there has been a renewed interest in civil society as a political ideal.

Civil society can also be considered as a society in which there are developed economic, cultural, legal, political relations between its constituent individuals, and these relations are not mediated by the state. In such a situation, mass movements, parties, groups based on interests, beliefs, as well as other characteristics are active (transfer of power to self-government bodies, personal security from violence and abuse of state power; people are subjects of law, they are protected by civil society, which is concerned with the common good, and the state is barely noticeable).

If in statics civil society is the totality of its structures (institutions, organizations, groups), then in dynamics it is a kind of social space in which people are connected and interact with each other as individuals independent both from each other and from the state. Hegel believed that for the independence of people, private property, equality, freedom of choice (economic, political, etc.), and the availability of alternative sources of livelihood are fundamental. S. Frank supplemented this list with the division of property and power. If economic power is not in the same hands as political power, it can serve as a limiting counterbalance to political power.

E. Geller defines civil society as pluralistic. He's writing: " The simplest formula civil society is, on the one hand, complete centralization, ensured by reporting and turnover mechanisms, providing for relatively small salaries for officials, and on the other, economic pluralism.” He defines civil society as a system of pluralistic associations and economic institutions that balance the state, which, however, do not enslave people. It is no coincidence that civil society is considered synonymous with bourgeois society, for it emerges only with the creation of modern bourgeois society. Only in this way does space open up for the individual, his independence and initiative.

Primitive times were characterized by the natural state of society. According to Hobbes, it is characterized by general lawlessness. Not only the fear of animals and the need to fight them forced people to help each other, but also the consciousness of their own benefit and the desire for communication led to natural connections, the manifestation of brotherly feelings, and a taste for community life.

However, until the Middle Ages, the state and civil society were understood as synonyms. Aristotle defined the state as a collection of citizens, civil society. And only later did Hegel, and then K. Marx and F. Engels write about the independent existence of civil society along with the state and outside it as a result of the narrowing of the role of the latter. This distinction between the state and civil society occurred due to the liberation of private property, which, in turn, gave rise to ideas about the freedom of the individual and citizen. Later, K. Marx contrasted the separation of civil society and the state with the idea of revolution, the destruction of the old regime and the formation of a new state, moving into self-government. The withering away of the state was declared to be a bright prospect for humanity; in fact, all this served to justify inattention to man. This is how they “covered up” the absorption of society by a totalitarian state. The collapse of Marxism and the communist system renewed interest in civil society.

It is possible to note a number of essential features of civil society mentioned in the definitions of civil society.

This highest form generalities:

– with developed economic, cultural, legal, political relations between its constituent individuals;

– capable of controlling the state;

– self-govern and self-regulate;

– having a pluralistic nature (many forms of ownership, parties, movements, etc., phenomena opposing monocentrism);

- lack of enslavement of a person. On the contrary, people interacting with other members of society have become the basis of civil society.

Civil society takes away high role to an individual, understanding it not as a means of building a bright future, but as an end in itself. A high level of generality is achieved by the fact that a person is seen not as an object of control, but as a subject.

Civil society recognizes the sovereignty of the individual as a derivative of the sovereignty of the people and the primacy of the individual before the state and society (the organization is always secondary to the individual).

The very name “civil society” comes from the concept of citizen. It arises with the emergence of an independent individual, endowed with a certain set of rights and freedoms and at the same time bearing moral and other responsibility for his actions to society. The most important prerequisite for the formation of civil society is the elimination of class privileges and the increasing importance of the individual. The individual is transformed from a subject, obligated to be personally loyal to the monarch, into a citizen with legal rights equal to all other citizens.

People and their associations (economic, political, religious, professional, cultural, etc.) constitute civil society.

Society precedes the state, but the state is formed on the basis of social relations existing in a natural state. With the fall of governments, society is preserved, and with the emergence of the state, the sovereignty of society passes to it, along with the responsibility to protect society. F. von Humboldt wrote that the state tends to forget about the needs of the people. Therefore, he considered it necessary to limit the power of the state in favor of civil society.

Popular

Methods for brewing pu-erh or how to brew it Pu-erh tea brewing method

« Question: “How to brew pu-erh? " - appears more and more often in search engines, as recently it has been gaining great popularity among... »

Compatibility of Aries and Virgo He is Virgo Aries compatibility of signs

« It's quite complicated, let's try to figure it out. Those born in these signs are under the protection of the planets Mars and Mercury, partners Aries and... »

Jasmine: beneficial properties, its use

« Jasmine is a fragrant shrub of the olive family. The plant is distinguished by large white or yellow flowers (see photo), the aroma of which... »