Civil society (n.) is a form of economic organization whereby activities formerly confined to the household framework emerged into the public sphere. Economic activity became private but was oriented towards the public commodity market.
Civil society (n.) is a system in early capitalism whereby household production moved increasingly into a more public system of exchange.
Civil society (n.) is the 'nervous system' of democracy in that it promotes deliberative spaces where citizens could develop a public opinion independent enough of entities that hold disproportionate power to be able to hold these powers accountable.
Civil society (n.) is the spontaneously created associations, organizations and movements which find, take up, condense and amplify the resonance of social problems in private life, and pass it on to the political realm or public sphere.
Civil society (n.) lays siege to state power without trying to storm it: its arguments and alarms press on parliaments and courts to change their reasons, never to take their seats.