The State and its partnership with civil society in the development of actions of public interest

Abstract

Given the frequent crises that countries suffer, this study provides a reflection on the current role of the State and analyzes the new economic and social dynamics that has had major participation of civil society – especially, in the actions relating to public interest. Nevertheless, the State also needs to reduce the size of its public machine, which is nowadays expensive and in most cases, inefficient. Therefore, the State must rethink its role as an "executor" to a "developer" when it comes to its actions and ensure the correct functioning of its various forms of partnerships, which it has with the private sector. Using the literature method, this study concludes that the public-private relationship needs to be seen from a new perspective, in which the public sector utilizes private management tools and the private sector partakes in a more responsible role within the community. However, the State, by using its governance, can establish new ways of acting and coordinating these measures in partnership with civil society; thus, it assumes a supervising position to ensure the completion of these contracts.