ABSTRACT
In the Western tradition, civil society has long been demarcated as a separate sphere from government, as an arena in which private associations shape public opinion and champion social causes but do not seek to participate in formal governing activity. Reflexivity functions in networks in three ways, namely reflexivity presupposes iterative process and decentralization, which bear importantly on the relationship between civil society and governance. As civil society's role in governance continues to grow, further empirical research by scholars of civil society, network theory and design thinking is called for to explore how civil society can best address the complexities of operating in its increasingly hybridized social space. The growing legitimacy of environmental organizations such as Worldwatch Institute, World Wildlife Fund and National Resource Defense Council, due to their reliance on interactive networks of information and accountability through transparency, allows them to shape local, national and international environmental policy.
