ABSTRACT
Following the third wave of democratization around the globe, concepts relating to civil society have been intensively discussed and debated. Regarded as a cure for the ills of state-led modernization, civil society has attracted international acclaim as the winning ‘idea of the late twentieth century’ (Khilnani 2001: 11). However, theorists have disagreed as to whether or not civil society can be treated as a distinct and specific area of analysis. Some have argued that civil society occupies a distinct space or inhabits the ‘third sphere’ comprising non-state and non-commercial groups – located somewhere between state and family – influencing the structure and rules of the political game. Other observers claim that civil society is part of the state as its existence depends on political – legal frameworks which can only be provided by the state.
