Civil Society Project

The Civil Society Project (CSP) was co-founded by Don Eberly, a former White House aide to President Ronald Reagan and Deputy Assistant to former president George W. Bush for Faith-based and Community Initiatives. The group believes in shrinking the government and emphasizes family values. The CSP website states, "For decades now, Americans have turned either to government or to the economic marketplace for solutions to public problems. In this search for an elixir, we have largely ignored the so-called "third sector" - the realm of civil society - which, according to numerous studies has weakened in recent decades. The Civil Society Project aims to reverse this trend by promoting a recovery of the non-governmental institutions of American society as the indispensable foundation of public virtue and democratic competence."

Shrinking the government
The Civil Society Project promotes faith-based organizations, philanthropy that's funded by individuals, volunteerism, traditional family values, and the building of a 'values' society. "Although vague and often ambiguous, "civil society" advocates intend to shrink government by handing over responsibility for maintaining and administering what's left of the social safety net to faith-based organizations, corporate and community groups, families and philanthropic initiatives."

"During a conference held in 2000, and sponsored by The Heritage Foundation in commemoration of the five-year anniversary of the class of 1995, Eberly told a group of Congressmen and Congresswomen that the defeat of totalitarianism and the rollback of the welfare state were the two greatest achievements of Republicans and conservatives over the past two decades."

Website
No street address given on website. Web: http://civilsocietyproject.org

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Don Eberly

External resources

 * Don E. Eberly, Media Matters, accessed January 2011.
 * Don Eberly, "Civic Renewal vs. Moral Renewal", OrthodoxyToday.org, accessed January 2011.
 * "About Don", DonEberly.com, accessed January 2011.