Civil Society comprises those individuals and organizations which are non governmental and are working on a not for profit basis. Civil society are autonomous groups existing in a polity which continuously strive to promote efficiency and effective delivery of services to common citizens of a country.
After exercising their voting rights citizens needs other channels to convey their needs and demands to the executive and legislature and civil society can be an effective channel. Civil society act as pressure groups on the executive and legislature.
The impact of civil society on public policy making is huge. The biggest example in recent time being the Anna Hazare led India Against Corruption campaign which shook the foundations of political establishment in India and ultimately led to the passage of Jan Lokpal Bill though in a slightly modified form after many decades of negotiation.
One more reason why civil society groups are effective in influencing public policy is that it has the involvement of Non Governmental Organization Leaders, Human Rights Activists, Prominent Lawyers, Celebrities, Academics and Intellectuals, High Profile Journalists, Big Think Tanks, Ex Bureaucrats and many more influential persons.
When these persons speak for public cause they can hardly be ignored especially in a democratic polity like India. They know what to do, how to do and at what time to do. Civil society is good at using media for its cause and we know that media is the most powerful tool in today’s technologically advanced world.
So on basis of above points we can sum up that civil society is very effective in influencing public policy.
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