I want to make a text effect and for that I want a transparent background. My question arises from here; how do I get a transparent background? I am using Illustrator CC.
The background is transparent. It is just emulating paper so you can not see it. A block of white is different from the white background.
You can enable Photoshop like transparency grid by choosing View → Show transparency grid (ctrl / cmd + shift + D). On top of that make sure: save for web has transparency enabled. The transparency grid is just a view option, the white background is still transparent, transparency grid or not. (one learns quite quickly to appraise the transparency even without the grid, which can be distracting)