What is Civil Society? Can we assess how strong it is? Using the problems present conceptualizations of civil society entail as a point of departure, this work develops a definition that strips civil society of its normative assumptions and functional form and fits better with the reality we observe. Civil society can be thought of as a space between the state, the market, and the family that can be divided into different sectors based on the goals of the civil organizations that inhabit it. The strength of each sector can be assessed by gauging how cohesive civil society organizations within that sector are, how embedded they are in the social fabric of society, and how developed their bureaucratic capital is. This work then sketches out how this approach can be used to analyze civil society in the United States and Armenia. In sum, it presents the basis for a new research agenda aims to investigate the relationship between civil society and democracy.