Senior teacher Chepiga
O.I.
Bytursinov state-run
university of Kostanay, Kazakhstan
The problem of civil society is one of the fundamental scientific
problems that worried for centuries the great minds of the world. It has
appeared simultaneously with the emergence of the state and the division of
society into public and private spheres of human activity. From that time, the
issue about the relationship between government and society has been in the
limelight, has often been the reason of many social conflicts, political
upheavals and revolutions. And now this problem is still the base of global
social changes, which are taking place in many countries and will determine the
prospects for the development of the world community.
The civil society is described as self-evident, it goes without saying,
the problem of civil society started to be actively discussed in the media.
There are different outlooks with regard to the origin of civil society, its
historical periods and its balance with the state. Sometimes the civil society
is identified with any human society or the state. As a result, the specificity
of these formations becomes lost. Consequently there is need to understand the
whole essence of the civil society, the ways of its formation and potential
possibilities.
Studying the problem of civil society in Kazakhstan, the researchers
should not ignore all positive knowledge that was developed and collected by
mankind for quite an extended period of civil society’s formation in other
countries of the world. There are full-fledged civil societies in many highly
developed countries. But to be more precise, these countries have reached such
level of development which led them to the path of progress due to the complete
civil society.
Citizens of these countries know their rights, wish to exercise them and
fulfill their duties, possess sufficient right’s culture. The standards of
living depend upon the activity, justice, self-organization of civil society in
general. Therefore, our country should take into account the experience of
other countries that have achieved relatively great results in this area.
Of course, there was a need to overcome a long way of the formation of
social psychology, which assumes an active stand in life of the overwhelming
majority of citizens and of the awareness of self-responsibility for issues
affecting folk. It is interesting fact, that issues are often not important in
a worldwide sense, but significant for a specific community of people.
World’s experience shows that the emergence of civil society happens due
to strengthening of lateral struts, the consensus among its members, the
development of non-governmental independent organizations, each of which
defends its group interest. And we reach this summit, though still slow.
The analysis of sociological studies’ materials shows that the
Kazakhstan’s society has a significant shortage of civil self-consciousness.
The relation of citizens to the state authorities and the existing legislation
is characterized by contradictory distrust and uncertainty.
Thus, for the majority of respondents there is no doubt that the state
should play a more active role, especially in the economic sphere. This was
stated by 89.9 % of respondents, only 3.7 % of respondents are against.
According to their point of view " the state should not intervene in the
economy ". In addition, only 24.8% of respondents consider the payment of
taxes to the government " as a sacred duty of every citizen ".
The researches inform about civil inactivity and inertness of
Kazakhstan’s citizens. Only 34.8% of all respondents are always interested in
current events, other think of sometimes, and every tenth (it is 9.8%) is not
interested in political events of the country at all.
74.8 % of Kazakhstan’s respondents don’t display an activity in the
pursuit of self-interest. The main reason for this apathism in accordance with
the opinion of 25.4 % of the respondents is that such actions do not lead to a
proper result.
The analysis of all the data indicates that an active civil
self-consciousness is exhibited by approximately 23-28 % of the population. So,
this is the most stable, self-righteous part of the country's citizens, which
can be considered as a social base of democratic reform of society. The rest
generally are not conscious opponents of the following reforms. They are
passive because of understanding’s absence of the nature of the processes,
social fear, fear of the consequences, inability to navigate the changing
world. Consequently, there is a very important goal which advances such task as
to involve a lot of people in this transformative process. One of the most
effective mechanisms to solve this problem is to educate the civil culture.
The transition to a market economy is accompanied by significant
stratification of society, the increase of social, including ethnic, conflicts.
These negative phenomenon are becoming a block to the development of civil
society. In modern conditions the first-priority issues are social protection
of the population and the implementation of the principles of social justice.
Talking about the foreground of
government policy it is necessary to put such principles as humanism,
democracy, individual liberty, equality of opportunity in the main tasks. This
is the only way to ensure the movement of our country to a civil society.
The experience of formation of civil society in other countries gives
clear key points of such movement. These are the emergence of a democratic
mechanism of political power based on a clear separation of its functions, the
arrangement of all the necessary conditions for the transition to a market
economy as the backbone of civil society; law subordination of all state bodies
and public associations, support of its supremacy; partial denationalization of
the property; achievement of the necessary level of civil culture.
The resolution of a problem of the civil society’s
constitution in Kazakhstan and the formation of the civil community based on
the point below are an indispensable conditions for the full integration of the
country in modern civilization’s system, implementation of the great potential
to achieve an economic and cultural prosperity of the people and sustainable
development in all spheres of public life.
References
1. The conception of civil society’s development in the Republic of
Kazakhstan for 2006-2011.
2. Assessment of the level of the population’s civil identity in the
Republic of Kazakhstan. Almaty, 2008.P.24.