Current enthusiasm for civil society is usually traced to the arguments of Vaclav Havel, the Czech president, and
others who posited the claims of civil society against the totalitarian claims of communism, and, earlier
than that, to the To Empower People manifesto authored by Peter Berger and myself in order to lift up the crucial
role of non-governmental «mediating
institutions» in public policy.
After the employer selects the qualified financial
institution (licensed by OSFI and offering a registered product), it plays no
role in the administration of PRPP's
other than remitting the employee and the employer (if any) contributions to the PRPP administrator.