The banner of "Civil Society" has been raised in recent years by social movements, in East Asia and Latin America quite as much as in Eastern Europe, seeking to push their societies from authoritarianism to democracy. The popularity of the concept is, however, almost inversely related to its clarity. The prime task of this volume is accordingly to better define what is meant by civil society, not least so that the extent of its usefulness, descriptively rather than merely prescriptively, can be established. To that end, analysis is comparative and historical quite as much as theoretical. Particular attention is paid to the relations between civil society and other social forces, most notably to nationalism and to populism. John A. Hall is the author of "Powers and Liberties", "The Sociology of Literature" and "Coercion and Consent", he is editor of "States in History" and co-editor of "Europe and the Rise of Capitalism".