ABSTRACT
In democratic theory, the concept of civil society is considered politically significant insofar as the sphere enables citizens to come together in all manner of projects. The most important project is that of monitoring the state and striving to realise the idea of democracy. We need to, however, remember that civil society organisations have to work within the framework laid down by the state. A democratic civil society is an indispensable precondition of a democratic state, but a democratic state is also a necessary precondition for a democratic civil society. This is crucial for understanding the limits of civil society. In sum, though civil society organisations enable the articulation of popular aspirations, notions of what is politically and legally permissible necessarily restrict these expressions. Therefore, if we have a state that is impatient with dissent and intolerant of political intervention by civil society organisations, the boundaries of the sphere shrink perceptibly. The practices of civil society, like other political practices, unfold in an institutional context shaped largely by the state. This recognition and understanding is crucial for the understanding of civil society.
