State and civil society as an enabling environment for economic growth: A historical and contemporary perspective

For entrepreneurship to flourish an enabling institutional and cultural environment is required. On the surface of things entrepreneurship is dependent on initiatives of daring and competitive individuals, but implicitly in the notion of entrepreneurship there are also assumptions about cooperation and regulation, without which it cannot deliver on its promises. The combination of a strong state governed by law and an open civil society is therefore researched, since it is supposed to provide the institutional and moral basis for effective economic development. It is necessary to get a better understanding of the process of state formation and of the connection between state and civil society, as a historical project. In this contribution some of their historical origins will be traced, in order to draw some lessons for contemporary economic development and entrepreneurship. Besides the role of the state and civil society also attention will be paid to the role of a particular mindset and value set by which these institutions are supported and maintained.
The focus is on the theoretical framework Rosenstock-Huessy offers on state formation in the West, in co-evolution with society and social values. His insights will be related to more recent work on the interconnection of state, civil society and development. The insights gained from that exercise will be applied to the interconnection of state and civil society in present-day Africa