Civil society and public liability in post-Soviet Russia

The article analyzes the concept of "civil society" in interaction with its original concept - "a citizen". This analysis makes it possible to consider the concepts of "citizenship", "civil and state identity", "civil responsibility" in the context of overcoming barriers on the way of civil society development in post-Soviet Russia. The article discusses the interpretations of the concepts of "citizenship" and "civil society". It is analyzed the tendency not to regard civil society exclusively as an institution of democracy and to reveal it in autocratic regimes. We have considered the civic virtues, thanks to which it is possible to create a mechanism for social interaction, as well as the conditions for the functioning of civil society. It is emphasized the importance of under- standing citizenship as “participation”, rather than as “allegiance”, for the existence of civil society, and the contradictory nature of relations between civil society and the state.