The human is a social and political being that can only develop in a society. Democracy, therefore, not only lives from the separation of powers and the functioning rule of law, but also from active citizens. Just how multifaceted and heterogeneous the concept of the civil society is in theory and practice is shown in this book. We understand the civil society as being a community of free and responsible people living together in solidarity and subsidiarity on all levels. A democracy of this kind is one in which the individual feels responsible for recognising problems and actively taking part in solving them. We asked top-level scientists, journalists, and practitioners to give us their fundamental observations on the possibilities of the civil society in the 21st century to be included in the present anthology. This publication brings together contributions dealing with the theory, history, and philosophical heritage of the civil society, as well case studies from actual practice. The scope of the pluralism of opinions in the essays provides an impressive demonstration of how the permanent voice of the (critical) public can enrich and supplement politics. With contributions by Ulrike Ackermann, Elisabeth Anselm, Alexander Bogner, Michael Borchard, Ernst Bruckmüller, Johannes Domsich, Benjamin Hasselhorn, Andreas Janko, Julia Juen, Peter Kampits, Till Kinzel, Martina Kronthaler, Karl Langer, Christine Leopold, Günther Lutschinger, Elisabeth Mayerhofer, Wolfgang Mazal, Christian Moser-Sollmann, Werner J. Patzelt, Manfred Prisching, Bettina Rausch, Justus Reichl, Verena Ringler, Christophweiterlesen