What is civil society? That is the most recurrent question when topics such as its objectives, goals and impact come up. This document summarizes the different definitions and theories that political theorists have on civil society. It then tries to demonstrate the need and relevance that civil society has on public policies as well as the incidence they have on issues such as social capital and democratic development. Finally, it proposes that from the academic perspective more precise analysis needs to be done regarding NGO’s that deal with topics such as accountability and democratization, civil society political participation, the pros and cons of social marketing, corporate citizenship and othercurrent problems.