Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

The Role of Advocacy in Civil Society

  • Published:
Argumentation Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The concept of civil society has once again emerged as a viable mechanism for developing and sustaining deliberative democracy. However, an essential component of many strategies to sustain civil society appears lacking, especially when we see the growing cynicism and apathy among citizens. What is missing is a strategy for training or encouraging citizens to participate more fully in civil society. The skills of advocacy can, at least in part, help renew civic activism. Thus, the role of advocacy will be explored as a potential way to resuscitate civil society.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aristotle (1932). The Rhetoric of Aristotle (Lane Cooper, Trans.). Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ

    Google Scholar 

  • Aristotle (1968). The Politics (Steven Emerson, Ed.). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK

    Google Scholar 

  • Brint, S. and Levy C. S.: 1999, ‚Professions and Civic Engagement: Trends in Rhetoric and Practice, 1875–1995’, in Skocpol T. and M. P. Fiorina (eds.), Civic Engagement in American Democracy, pp. 163–210. Brookings Institute Press, Washington D.C

  • Bryant C. G. A., (1993). Social Self-Organisation, Civility and Sociology: A Comment on Kumar’s ‚Civil Society’ The British Journal of Sociology 44:397–401

    Google Scholar 

  • Cairns, D. J. A.: 1998, Advocacy and the Making of the Adversarial Criminal Trial 1800–1865, Oxford, Clarendon Press

  • Calhoun C., (2002). Imagining Solidarity: Cosmopolitanism, Constitutional Patriotism, and the Public Sphere Public Culture 14:147–171

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cicero, M. T.: 1949, De inventione; De optimo genere oratorum (In H.M. Hubbell, Trans.). Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA

  • Coale D. S., (2001). Developments and Practice Notes: Classical Citation The Journal of Appellate Practice and Process 3:733–742

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen J. L., Arato A., (1992). Civil Society and Political Theory. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, J. A.: 2000, ‚Lawyer role, Agency Law, and the Characterization ‚Officer of the Court’, Buffalo Law Review 48. Available: Lexis-Nexis

  • Council on Civil Society (1998). Why Democracy Needs Moral Truths. Council on Civil Society, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • de Tocqueville, A.: 1966, ‚Democracy in America’, in J. P. Mayer and Max Lerner (eds.), Harper and Rowe, New York

  • Dean J., (2001). Cybersalons and Civil Society: Rethinking the Public Sphere in Transnational Technoculture Public Culture 13:243–265

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Delanty G., (1988). The Idea of the University in the Global Era: From Knowledge as an End to the End of Knowledge? Social Epistemology 12:3–25

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dewey J., (2003). The Public and Its Problems. (Reprinted in) In: Hodgkinson V. A., Foley M. W., (Eds) The Civil Society Reader. Tufts University Press, Hanover, NH, pp. 133–153

    Google Scholar 

  • Dunne, P. J.:1999, July, ‚The Origins of Advocacy’, Historical Perspectives. Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis Web page. Accessed January 22:2004. Available online: http://www.bamsl.org/stlawyer/archive/99/July99/Dunne.html

  • Ehrenberg J., (1999). Civil Society: The Critical History of an Idea. New York University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Encarnacion O. G., (2000). Tocqueville’s Missionaries: Civil Society Advocacy and the Promotion of Democracy World Policy Journal 17:9–18

    Google Scholar 

  • Foley M. W., Edwards B., (1996). The Paradox of Civil Society Journal of Democracy 7:38–52

    Google Scholar 

  • Gellner E., (1994). Conditions of Liberty: Civil Society and Its Rivals. Allen Lane, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Gifford J. S., (1999). Jus Cogens and Fourteenth Amendment Privileges or Immunities Arizona Journal of International and Comparative Law 16:481–498

    Google Scholar 

  • Gouldner A., (1980). The Two Marxisms. Macmillan, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Grace P. J., (2001). Professional Advocacy: Widening the Scope of Accountability Nursing Philosophy 2:151–163

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gramsci, A.: 1971, Selections From the Prison Notebooks (Quintin Hoare & Geoffrey Nowell Smith, Eds. and Trans.). International Publishers, New York

  • Hanrahan J. K., (2003). Truth in Action: Revitalizing Classical Rhetoric as a Tool for Teaching Oral Advocacy in American Law Schools Brigham Young University Education and Law Journal 2003:299–338

    Google Scholar 

  • Hauser G. A., Benoit-Barne C., (2002). Reflections on Rhetoric, Deliberative Democracy, Civil Society, and Trust Rhetoric & Public Affairs 5:261–275

    Google Scholar 

  • Hegel G. W. F., (1967). Philosophy of Right (T.M. Knox, Trans.). Oxford University Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Hodgkinson, V. A. and M. W. Foley (eds.): 2003, The Civil Society Reader. Tufts University Press, Hanover, NH

  • Holst J. D., (2002). Social Movements, Civil Society, and Radical Adult Education. Bergin & Garvey, Westport, CT

    Google Scholar 

  • Jamail J. D., (1995). Advocacy and Lawyers and Their Role Baylor Law Review 47:1157–1158

    Google Scholar 

  • Jewell, E. A.: 1998, ‚Exploring the Role of Advocacy in the Arts Community’, Thesis Abstract for Ohio State University. Accessed March 8, 2004. Available online: http://arts.osu.edu/ArtEducation/APA/abstracts/jewell.html

  • Katz S. N., (2002). Constitutionalism, Contestation, and Civil Society Common Knowledge 8:287–303

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kumar K., (1993). Civil Society: An Inquiry Into the Usefulness of an Historical Term The British Journal of Sociology 44:375–395

    Google Scholar 

  • Kumar K., (1994). Civil Society Again: A Reply to Christopher Bryant’s ‚Social Self-Organization, Civility and Sociology’ The British Journal of Sociology 45:127–131

    Google Scholar 

  • Ladd E. C., (1996). Civic Participation and American Democracy: The Data Just Don’t Show Erosion of America’s Social Capital The Public Perspective 7:1 & 5–6

    Google Scholar 

  • Lenzen M. H., (2002). The Use and Abuse of ‚Civil Society’ in Development Transnational Associations 3:170–187

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell G., (1998). Pedagogical Possibilities for Argumentative Agency in Academic Debate Argumentation & Advocacy 35:41–61

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell G., (2000). Simulated Public Argument As a Pedagogical Play on Worlds Argumentation & Advocacy 36:134–151

    Google Scholar 

  • National Commission on Civic Renewal (1998). America’s Civic and Moral Beliefs. University of Maryland Press, College Park, MD

    Google Scholar 

  • Neocleous M., (1995). From Civil Society to the Social The British Journal of Sociology 46:395–408

    Google Scholar 

  • Noumoff, S. J.: 2000, September 21, ‚Civil Society: Does It Have Meaning?’ Paper Presented at Development: The Need for Reflection, Centre for Developing Area Studies, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec. Accessed January 27, 2004. Available online: ww2.mcgill.ca/cdas/conf2000e/noumoff.pdf

  • Pateman C., (1988). The Sexual Contract. Polity, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Price R., (2003). Transnational Civil Society and Advocacy in World Politics World Politics 55:579–606

    Google Scholar 

  • Putnam R. D., (1995). Bowling Alone: America’s Declining Social Capital Journal of Democracy 6:65–78

    Google Scholar 

  • Putnam R. D.: 1996, ‚The Strange Disappearance of Civic America’, The American Prospect 7, 34–48

  • Scallen, E. A. and W. E. Wiethoff: 1998, April, ‚The Ethos of Expert Witnesses: Confusing the Admissibility, Sufficiency and Credibility of Expert Testimony’, Hastings Law Journal 49, Available: Lexis-Nexis

  • Scholte, J. A.: 2002, Civil Society and Democracy in Global Governance, Global Governance 8, 281–304

    Google Scholar 

  • Schudson M., (1996). What if Civic Life Didn’t Die? The American Prospect 7:17–20

    Google Scholar 

  • Seligman A. B., (1992). The Idea of Civil Society. The Free Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Skocpol T., (1999). Advocates Without Members: Recent Transformations of Civic Life. In: Skocpol T., Fiorina M. P., (Eds) Civic Engagement in American Democracy. Brookings Institute Press, Washington D.C., pp. 461–510

    Google Scholar 

  • Skocpol T., Fiorina M. P., (1999). Making Sense of the Civic Engagement Debate. In: Skocpol T., Fiorina M. P. (Eds) Civic Engagement in American Democracy. Brookings Institute Press, Washington D.C., pp. 1–24

    Google Scholar 

  • Tester, K.: 1992, Civil Society, London, Routledge

  • Whalen, W. W.: 2003, February, ‚The Lawyer That Was Rome’, The American Lawyer. Available: Lexis-Nexis

  • Windes, R. and A. Hastings.: 1965, Argumentation and Advocacy, New York, Random House

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to J. P. Zompetti.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Zompetti, J.P. The Role of Advocacy in Civil Society. Argumentation 20, 167–183 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10503-006-9002-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10503-006-9002-2

Key words

Navigation