Charge of the compassionate brigade

Modern society is classified into different segments. First you have the state, as represented by elected officials and lawmakers, politicians, ministers, bureaucrats and other organs of the state. Then there are the commercial bodies — companies, chambers of commerce and other market players.
The third segment (there is a fourth, the underworld and the mafia, but let’s not talk about it) is civil society, comprising “the arena, outside of the family, the state, and the market where people associate to advance common interests,” a definition coined by Civicus, the World Alliance for Citizen Participation.