Civil Society Index

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 creating a knowledge base and momentum for civil society strengthening initiatives. The CSI is initiated and implemented by, and for, civil society organizations at the country level, and actively involves, and disseminates its findings, to a broad range of stakeholders including: government, donors, academics and the public at large. The two primary goals of the CSI are: to enhance the strength and sustainability of civil society, and to strengthen civil society’s contribution to positive social change.
Types of data used

 

Some or all of the following primary research tools are applied, depending on the extent of available secondary data: Reegional stakeholders consultations are held in different locations in the country. Participants respond to individual questionnaires and subsequently participate in a one-day group discussion. Community surveys are conducted to investigate the value dispositions of community members, their activities within civil society and attitudes towards, and engagement with, community-level CSOs. A review of appropriate media is conducted to gather information on civil society activities, attitudes and values expressed by civil society and other public actors as well as to establish the media image of civil society. Additionally, fact-finding is carried out to assemble information about civil society that already exists but that is not necessarily published or publicly disseminated.

 
Methodology

In general, the revised CSI methodology is designed to measure the following core dimensions:

  1. Civic Engagement: The extent to which individuals engage in social and policy-related initiatives
  2. Level of Organisation: The degree of institutionalisation that characterises civil society (measured through an analysis of civil society organisations)
  3. Practice of Values: The extent to which civil society practices some core values
  4. Perceived Impact: The extent to which civil society is able to impact the social and policy arena, according to internal and external perceptions.
  5. External environment: The above four dimensions are analysed in the context of a fifth dimension that the CSI calls the ‘external environment’, which includes the conditions (e.g. socio-economic, political and cultural variables) within which civil society operates.


The Civil Society Diamond (see below for an example of the Diamond) combines indicators to provide a visual display of different dimensions and their respective values in a common space, using the same or comparable metrics. The Diamond’s size seeks to portray an empirical picture of the state of civil society, covering structural and normative manifestations, but also encompassing the conditions that support or inhibit civil society's development as well as the consequences of civil society's activities for society at large.

Further information is available at http://civicus.org/csi/csi-methodology.
Area of Governance
Civil Society
Pro-poor /gender sensitive aspects

The method of the civil society index is participatory, and seeks to include the voices of the poor, women and marginalised in the assessment. Holding regional stakeholders consultations helps in overcoming the urban-rural divide: often most civil society groups are urban, mostly located in the capital, and consist of well-educated staff and volunteers. It is usually more difficult and more costly to involve rural populations in consultations.
Example indicators

In the dimension 'structure', in the sub-dimension 'breadth of citizen participation' example indicators include:

  1. How widespread is citizen involvement in civil society? What proportion of citizens engages in civil society activities?
  2. What percentage of people donate to charity on a regular basis?
  3. What percentage of people belong to at least one CSO?
  4. percentage of people undertake volunteer work on a regular basis (at least once a year)?
  5. What percentage of people have participated in a collective community action within the last year (e.g. attended a community meeting, participated in a community-organised event or a collective effort to solve a community problem)?
Where to find this tool
Actionability
 
The civil society index aims to be very actionable, and includes outcomes such as:
  1. A body of relevant and useful knowledge on the state of civil society and civil society strengthening practices at the national and international levels.
  2. Increased participation among a broad range of civil society stakeholders in assessing civil society.
  3. Improved dialogue among civil society stakeholders on the state of civil society.
  4. The promotion of networking among civil society stakeholders. 
  5. Common understanding of the state of civil society among a broad range of stakeholders.
  6. Increased self-awareness of civil society actors.
  7. Agreement among civil society stakeholders on strategies for strengthening civil society.
  8. Increased capacities of civil society stakeholders in action-research.
  9. Methodological contribution to the field of action-research and civil society studies.
 
in producing an action plan to improve
Complementarity

Very complementarity, and includes looking de facto indicators, as  how well civil society is actually working, as well as legal frameworks.
How to

Areas of Governance

Country Initiatives

Regional Initiatives

Global Initiatives

UNDP Support