In the last three decades, occurrences as the end of the dictatorial power in Latin America and the end of the communist experience in the European East, had placed in evidence a term that became extremely important for contemporary Political Theory. The concept of civil society has disclosed to all its vitality in the agreement of current political scene, interposing the quarrels about the constructions of new parameters of State performance and of its standards of relationship with society. In this way, that concept has been integrated into the most diverse current speeches, occupying a position of prominence in the formulation of the Left and the Conservatives, evidencing its polissemic nature and the political dispute for its meaning. This dissertation aims to present the contours of the concept of civil society in the Brazilian political context after 1988, beginning with a historical investigation about the varied nuances presented in its concept, pointing the political dispute of its meaning, between a radical democratic project and the neoliberal agenda, and choosing as a practical example for analysis the experience of the Conselho de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social, evaluating its effectiveness as a public space for participation of civil society.