Civil society

Abstract

This chapter presents an overview of political life outside state institutions, business operations and political parties. First, it will look at the definition and implications of the concept of ‘civil society’ that embraces a versatile array of non-governmental organisations united by mutual interests and collective action. In the second part, the Maltese narrative depicting a centuries-old civil society will be rolled out and discussed with the help of various empirical examples. The enrolment criteria that civil society organisations must satisfy in order to become enrolled with the Commissioner for the Voluntary Organisations in Malta is laid out next. After that will come a comprehensive typology of civil society organisations that categorises such actors in accordance to their mission, function, relationship with central authorities and routes of influence. In the final part, we will assess the contribution of civil society towards good governance and policy legitimisation.