Civil Society

Many international organizations, governments and NGOs recognize the importance of civil society in democratic governance and development. Despite this, growth has been slower in the number of initiatives aimed at assessing civil society compared to other governance areas, such as corruption. 

Defining "civil society" represents a considerable challenge -- one that can be controversial, given that international development practitioners, national stakeholders an

d civil society organizations define civil society differently. This lack of a unified approach may have blocked the development of national as well as international assessment initiatives.

 
We argue that it is still possible and important to measure civil society despite the issues of definitions, and aim through these web pages to provide examples of ways to do so. In particular, we underscore key challenges, including how to make the assessment sensitive to the country context.

Tools for Assessing Governance

  • Civil Society Index

    Stated purpose: The CIVICUS Civil Society Index (CSI) is a participatory needs assessment and action planning tool for civil society around the world, with the aim of…
  • Crinis index

    Stated purpose: The stated goal of the Crinis project is to help increase public trust in democracy and political parties by promoting transparency and accountability…

Examples of Country Initiatives

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Global Indicators

  • Afrobarometer

    To produce a comparative series of national public attitude surveys on democracy, markets and civil society in Africa.

  • Governance Matters V

    World Bank Institute, Bilateral Donor Agencies

Organizations

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How to

Areas of Governance

Country Initiatives

Regional Initatives

Global Initiatives

UNDP Support