How can the density of associational life be reconstructed under new conditions of freedom and equality?
The institutions of civil society have often been ones of profound inequalities of power, and have inculcated traits of deference and subordination based on gender and race, rather than independent citizenship. They have often been ethnocentric as well. A heterogeneous society that seeks to devolve greater powers to civil society must do so in the framework of state protections, so that we can continue to secure the benefits of modern, universal citizenship, even as we seek to recover those of closer and more particularistic communities. What is the role of government in supporting the kind of associational life appropriate to a vibrant democracy of free and equal citizens? This is clearly a contentious political issue, but one open to a fruitful debate focused on specific kinds of programs and innovations. Selected Readings Rebuilding Civil Society, A Symposium from The New Democrat, vol.7, no. 2 (March-April 1995). This symposium from the publication of the Democratic Leadership Coun
