The US Government and Fostering Civil Society

Civil society is a sphere of private, voluntary activities, outside of government. Yet government has a role to play in fostering and protecting civil society. The Preamble to the U.S. Constitution declares that among government's purposes are "to promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity." Certainly the Framers believed deeply, in the words of the Declaration of Independence, that governments were created in order to protect citizens' "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

But how does government foster civil society? Mainly, government and laws create the structure of stability, equality, and liberty within which citizens can make choices regarding their private lives. A stable, democratic government provides citizens the freedom necessary to create and maintain civil society. And that civil society, in turn, is necessary in order to sustain a democratic form of government. So, government and civil society cannot be separated from one another.