To Point to the "Third Sector"

For decades now, Americans have turned either to government or to the economic marketplace for solutions to public problems. In this search for an elixir, we have largely ignored the so-called "third sector" - the realm of civil society - which, according to numerous studies has weakened in recent decades. The Civil Society Project aims to reverse this trend by promoting a recovery of the non-governmental institutions of American society as the indispensable foundation of public virtue and democratic competence.

From the very beginning of the American experiment until the present, citizens have served public purposes in hundreds of ways through private initiative and voluntary organizations.

To Renew Voluntary Social Institutions

The mission of the Civil Society Project as established by its governing board is: “to promote the renewal of voluntary social institutions and social ethics, through broad-based public initiatives and educational programs.” The intended audience includes “concerned citizens and leaders from the policy, civic, academic and religious sectors who are concerned about social health and who want to promote positive social change.

The distinguishing greatness of American society is the strength and vitality of the non-governmental sector, commonly referred to as civil society, which includes voluntary associations and such local institutions as charities, congregations and civic enterprises too numerous to mention. The Frenchman Alexis de Tocqueville, in his visit to the United States in the 1840s, concluded that America’s rich diversity of voluntary societies and associations were truly the basis of national greatness. Americans of all dispositions and stations in life, he said, were forever forming or joining associations, “of a thousands kinds” – moral, religious, social, or educational. Some were large, he said, some small; some serious, some futile. But all of them collectively formed a thick, durable web of civic association which enriched life for all.

To Advance Democratic Practices and Habits

The voluntary sector of civil society has carried an importance in our democracy well beyond the thousands of community activities and tasks its performs: civil society is the well-spring of democratic practices and habits. In a divided country and fractured culture, participation by citizens in civic enterprise may be the surest path to restoring a robust citizenship characterized by trust and collaboration.

Voluntary associations are the seedbeds of civic virtue. For those who seek a more morally fit society, voluntary societies have always been in the forefront of reform. Community-based organizations do more than provide services; they are
the value-generating, value-maintaining centers of society. The path to moral uplift in history has not been found exclusively or even generally through the collective action of political parties and the state, but voluntary movements comprised of citizens and leaders from across all the vital sectors of society, especially critical professions, education, journalism and popular entertainment.

Much concern has been voiced over the past decade regarding the weakening of this sector, evidenced by reports of declining civic participation, worries about incivility and coarseness in the culture, and data suggesting a fraying of social institutions such as the family and neighborhood.

One explanation for the decline of civil society is that for decades now Americans have been told to turn to institutions of either the market or the state for solutions to public problems. The Civil Society Project aims to reverse this trend by promoting the recovery of the non-governmental, non-market institutions of American society as the indispensable foundations of public virtue and democratic competence.

To Accelerate a Civic Renaissance

Through publications, public debate, consultation, and other services, the Civil Society Project hopes to contribute to an accelerating civic renaissance in America that restores vibrancy to communities, strength to social institutions and health to the broader culture based upon core American values.