Introduction
The phrase political society is used in different ways, generally revolving around the process by which the interests and values of civil society are articulated and aggregated for action by government. A large variety of groups and organizations take part in this process including political parties, lobbies, advisory councils, social movements, citizen and consultative assemblies, participatory budgeting meetings, Bolivarian circles and neighborhood and community councils. More is known about each of these kinds of groups and organizations than about how they function collectively to aggregate and articulate the interests and values of a society as a whole.
Definition
The phrase political society can be traced to the political philosopher John Locke (1632–1704) who used it synonymously with civil society, but with a broader meaning than that term usually has today. A political society, for Locke, was one that men entered voluntary through a social contract, as contrasted...
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References/Further Readings
Avritser, L. (2002). Democracy and the public space in Latin America. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Crane, E. (1997). Civil society vs. political society: China at a crossroads. Washington, DC: The Cato Institute, from http://www.cato.org/events/china/papers/crane.html. 11/8/2008.
Goertzel, T. (1976). Political society. Chicago: Rand McNally.
Hyden, G., Court, J., & Mease, K. (2003). Political society and governance in 16 developing countries. Overseas Development Institute, World Governance Survey Discussion Paper 5, from http://www.odi.org.uk/projects/00–07-world-governance-assessment/Docs/WGS_5_Political_Society.pdf; 11/8/2008
Locke, J. (1690 [2002]). Second treatise of government and a letter concerning toleration. Mineola, NY: Dover.
Monat, J., & Beaupain T. (2003). The role of economic and social councils in social dialogue. In M. Gold (Ed.), New frontiers of democratic participation at work (pp. 73-99). Hampshire: Ashgate.
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Goertzel, T.G. (2010). Political Society. In: Anheier, H.K., Toepler, S. (eds) International Encyclopedia of Civil Society. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-93996-4_592
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