Civil society is under siege

Since America’s founding, civil society has been uniquely part of the national character. Standing in a third space between the government and the for-profit sector, civil society offers voluntary cooperative mechanisms for solving societal problems while providing meaning and purpose to people’s lives. Civil society and its institutions are uniquely suited to solve the social challenges facing America today. It is also vitally important to those aspects of human flourishing that can not be easily reduced to questions of economic growth or material prosperity. Certainly, it can help with those things, but civil society can also help individuals build a full life that includes family, community, and purpose, and that is infused with dignity and meaning. That is why it is so troubling that civil society today finds itself under unprecedented pressures that threaten to hollow it out and displace it from its central role. As I discuss in a new report released this week by the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity, civil society is increasingly on the decline, and if we do not work hard to revive it, it will remain diminished, leaving especially those most in need of support — low-income Americans — at ever greater risk. The reasons for the decline of civil society are many and varied, ranging from changes in technology to growing economic instability. At the same time, governments are expanding their reach into the areas and issues that were once the province of civil society, crowding out many non-governmental efforts.But the most damaging threats to civil society today stem from increased political polarization and a concomitant loss of trust in the major institutions of society. Civil society depends on mutual trust, cooperation, and the ability of diverse groups to work together for common goals. But when partisan or ideological identification becomes more important than shared goals and civic norms, the system breaks down.At its most obvious, this can take the form of directly targeting civil society organizations that governments disdain. However, things need not rise to that level for partisanship and polarization to damage civil society. For example, the more people see politics as an existential question, the more they are likely to view every interaction and institution through a political and partisan lens. Even nonpolitical institutions of civil society, such as sports leagues and food banks, can become a source of partisan conflict. Over time, citizens may stop believing neutral institutions exist at all. The latest survey by the Independent Sector shows that barely half (56%) of Americans have high trust in nonprofit organizations. What’s more, only 29% of Americans express high confidence in philanthropy. While this means that Americans still trust civil society more than many institutions, trust in philanthropy has declined since 2021. At times like this, everything — including civil society — becomes tainted by politics. In addition, as politics becomes both omnipresent and increasingly toxic and hostile, many citizens withdraw from public life altogether. That weakens the social trust that civil society relies on. People may stop attending meetings, volunteering, or participating in local organizations because they feel exhausted or alienated. That is one reason why fewer than one-quarter of Americans currently volunteer in their community, the lowest level in more than two decades.A government-directed strategy to fix civil society would be both futile and undesirable. Government, by definition, stands outside of and sometimes in antithesis to civil society. This doesn’t mean that there is nothing the government can do. For instance, federal and state tax codes should encourage charitable giving. Municipal planners and authorities should ensure there are sufficient community spaces where citizens can gather, interact, and participate in civil society. And policymakers should consider how new programs or additional social welfare spending will negatively affect existing social structures.BOTH PARTIES ARE FIGHTING FOR A WEAPON THAT WILL EVENTUALLY BE USED AGAINST THEMBut to truly revitalize civil society will require all of us to become more involved with one another and more open to working with others who may not share our backgrounds, religions, or political beliefs. Ironically, at a time when so much attention is being paid to the upcoming midterm elections, we need to be less political. In short, we need to become… well… more civil.Michael Tanner is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity