The emergence of civil society is one of the main conditions of the transition process toward a democratic society. Civil society assure not only active citizens, but also social structures and organized group interests, thus it forms the needed base for the development of the social and political pluralism, and it represents one of the pillar of the developed democratic societies. Unlike western societies, were civil society is rediscovered in last decades, in Republic of Moldova civil society is only at the stage of a discovering process. This article analyzes the main conditions for civil society to emerge and the state of civil society in Republic of Moldova in present days. The author argues that among necessary conditions for civil society to emerge, the following are the most important: the existence of a liberal-democratic regime, supremacy of the law, guaranteed freedoms and rights, economy based on market relations. There is stressed also the development of the associative sector. Although, the number of the NGOs is constantly increasing, the real number of the active and efficient NGOs is much more less. There are many difficulties in developing a mechanism of interaction between civil society and state. The attempts to establish a continuous dialogue trough a Social Pact failed because of its formality and ignorant behavior of the state officials. The author concludes that the main problem of the development of civil society in Republic of Moldova is the weakness of the middle class, as a result of the transition processes. Its formation will require a long period of time and efficient state actions and policies.