Civil Society and the Rule of Law: the Basics of Interconnection

There is a very close connection between the state and the law. The state in various spheres of its activity forms legal norms and uses them, forcing society, which is a set of people who inhabit the state, to follow them. Thus, every state elaborates a legal code and is guided by it, but does every state proceed from this fact be called legal? Obviously, no: in cases where state laws infringe upon the freedoms of their citizens and do not give them the opportunity to exercise natural rights, when huge layers of the population are excluded from the legislative process and can not influence the practice of applying laws, they can not control the government apparatus regarding the observance of citizens' rights , When the laws are applied selectively - then it's too early to talk about the rule of law.

A rule of law state can not arise without a civil society that is at a sufficient stage of development. After all, the existence of such a society is the main criterion for the state to be called legal. Consider civil society and the rule of law. What are these two concepts, because the connection between them is extremely close and two-way?

In the history of philosophy, the rule of law for a long time was identified with the formation of a state under the leadership of "wise statesmen." This view of building a civil society by the "top" method gave rise to numerous utopias. But the Enlightenment era for the first time reconsidered the idea of creating a rule-of-law state that can realize the desires and aspirations of the masses. The concepts of civil society appeared and began to develop. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, formulating the concept of a "social contract," for the first time distinguished such terimnas as civil society and the rule of law. These two phenomena - "republic" and "association" of citizens have their own tasks, sometimes opposite and antagonistic. In a rule-of-law state, power and society "sign a contract" about mutual respect and undertake to observe certain rules (laws).

The most thorough substantiation of the problem of delimitation of the state and civil society was proposed by Hegel. He regards society and the state as independent institutions. Therefore, there is a clear correlation between civil society and the rule of law. In the latter, universality is expressed and unswervingly manifested in the aggregate will of citizens. If we try to characterize the essence of civil society, then it is the sphere of legal realization of private interests of people.

The rule of law has certain characteristics. This is also the rule of law, when everyone is equal before the law and protected from the arbitrary rule of the authorities. This is the mandatory division of the branches of power into judicial, executive and legislative (in the most developed countries, civil society and the rule of law are connected in this sphere by the fact that the society fulfills the function of the controlling body over the actions of the authorities). This is also the priority of the rights of citizens and their freedoms, when the focus is not on the interests of the state, but on the interests of the people, the state of the inhabitant. And, finally, it is the mutual responsibility of the state and the individual. That is, a person can express himself as he likes, if only it does not violate the rights of other people.

The relationship between the rule of law and civil society can be characterized in such a way that civil society carries something like the social basis of such a state. Without this component, a law-based state is simply impossible. But not the other way around. A civil society without a rule of law is entirely possible - but this is fraught with persons who are in power who neglect the interests of this active, already mature civil society.

But all actions of civil society are aimed at building or maintaining a rule of law, even if governments call it actions undermining stability and exceeding authority. Civil society in a developed state seeks to equip a legal society as its environment. It is obvious that civil society and the rule of law constitute a complex and organic social system, where both components mutually support and complement one another.