Abstract

The concept “civil society” has become a polemical slogan opposed to Communist Party “dictatorship.” Anglo-American in origin, this concept has been translated into German as Zivilgesellschaft and should not be confused with bürger-liche Gesellschaft. The following attempts a conceptual clarification for an easier grasp of contemporary developments, with special emphasis on Germany.

“Civil society” is usually brought into relation with the state, which in Max Weber's definition combines the monopoly of power with its legitimacy: “A compulsory political organization with continuous operations (politischer Anstaltsbetrieb) will be called a ‘state’ insofar as its administrative staff successfully upholds the claim to the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force in the enforcement of its order.”