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STRONG AND ACTIVE CIVIL SOCIETY - MECHANISM FOR SOCIAL CHANGES
Every society is a society of various opposite, even conflicting interests, where citizens as individuals are usually not in a position to make the desired change of general interest. In order to be heard, citizens must be organized around common problems and must have a way to jointly represent the idea of the change they want to achieve. Civil society provides this mechanism.
The term "civil society" implies organized citizens, gathered around common needs, interests, and values, who by their actions seek to bring in a qualitative change of common interest for citizens into their community. One of the key characteristics of civil society is its separation from the other two sectors of society: the state and the economy (the private profit sector). That is why it is widely recognized as the necessary "third" sector of the society.
Civil society organizations are voluntary and independent forms of citizen organization, which are not part of the government structure and which aim to protect the interests of a particular group of citizens or society as a whole.
Civil society organizations include: associations of citizens, foundations, endowments, trade unions, professional associations, religious organizations, larger national minorities, political parties, sports associations and informal groups.
There is a wide range of civil society roles. One of the important roles is that from the position of independence in relation to the state, it influences it through activities in the field of policy and regulation analysis, and then proposing and advocating various solutions for the purpose of improving public policies and regulations. In addition, civil society organizations monitor and regulate the state conduct in the context of the application of public policies and regulations, ie.the behavior of its employees and promote the principles of good governance such as transparency, efficiency, and effectiveness, openness, inclusiveness, reactivity and accountability.
Also, the role of civil society organizations is to influence the culture of thesociety in order to bring positive social changes to the daily life of citizens, apply improved policies and regulations, for the citizens to actively participate in the development of society. Organizations encourage civic activism by connecting citizens or individual groups of citizens and helping them to identify and articulate their values, beliefs, needs, and behaviors, or more fully participate in politics and social events.