Inhomogeneity of civil society and its infl uence on government

Abstract

In the context of democratic discourse, civil society is given a decisive role in the formation of power and infl uence on power. However, between the authorities (state and self-governing) and public organizations, as representatives of the interests of civil society, mostly subject-object relations are established, where the subject is the government. Th e article is devoted to fi nding an answer to the question: can the model of subject-subject relations between the government and civil society, where both social institutions are equal participants in the political process, have practical application? Analysis of social changes in Western Europe and Ukraine gives grounds to support the point of view of those scholars who consider civil society the basis of the state, a factor that gives a specifi c character to each state formation, regardless of the generality of democratic processes. At the same time, attention is drawn to the heterogeneity of civil society, which is a barrier to its consolidation and strengthening of subjectivity. Th ere is a noticeable increase in competition between the state and civil society in terms of infl uencing society, as well as the manipulation of public movements by public authorities to achieve political goals. However, a fairly high level of public confi dence in public organizations and the potential for their advocacy allow the use of public infl uence to activate the population and strengthen the position of civil society in relations with the authorities. 1 Doctor of Sciences (Public Administration), Professor, Department of Public Management and Administration, Educational and Scientifi c Institute of Economics, Management, Law and Information Technology, Poltava State Agrarian Academy, Ukraine, email: tamara.lozynska@pdaa.edu.ua. ORCID: 0000-0003-2858-9374. 2 Postgraduate student of the Department of Political Science and Public Administration, Uzhhorod National University, Uzhhorod, Ukraine,e-mail: oleksandr.ivanina@ gmail.com; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9427-8473. 62 Tamara Lozynska, Oleksandr Ivanina