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Civil Society Index (CSI) 
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This page provides information about how the Civil Society Index (CSI) works, focusing on the CSI methodology. For detailed information on the CSI implementation framework, please see the Implementation page of the CSI section of the CIVICUS website. The CSI is an action-research project that aims to assess the state of civil society in countries around the world. For a more comprehensive explanation of the main features of the CSI’s conceptual framework and methodological approach, please see: CIVICUS Civil Society Index: Assessing and Strengthening Civil Society Worldwide (Volkhart Finn Heinrich) - Now available for free download in PDF [735 KB], Introduction downloadable in PDF [57 KB]. CSI Methodology Civil society is a complex concept. The task of defining and operationalizing the concept, identifying civil society’s essential features and designing a strategy to assess its state is, in itself, a complex and potentially controversial process. This section describes key features of the CSI’s civil society definition, analytical framework and research methodology. The following principles guided the design of the CSI methodology: Guiding principles & Key Features Since the CSI seeks to be able to assess civil society in every country around the world, the project had to design a globally relevant and applicable framework without imposing foreign standards on specific countries. Recognizing the immense variety in the forms and activities of civil society around the world, the CSI places strong importance on a flexible framework that has to be adapted to fit the country-specific context. However, the international project coordination by CIVICUS ensures that common core standards are adhered to by every participating country. The first and foremost goal for the CSI is to generate a contextually valid assessment of the state of civil society in a given country. However, responding to the interests from civil society stakeholders who see strong benefits in comparing their state of civil society with other countries, the CSI also seeks to achieve cross-country comparability of its findings – if only as a secondary goal. Given the current lack of consensus around how to define and assess civil society, the CSI’s analytical framework seeks to include a broad range of perspectives leading to a multi-disciplinary approach and a comprehensive assessment framework based on 74 indicators. Based on the view that civil society includes both, civil as well as uncivil, peaceful as well as violent actors, the CSI does not exclude any form of collective citizen action on the basis of its uncivil content. On the contrary, it seeks to reflect the (potentially uncivil) reality of civil society, rather than an ideal version of how we want civil society to look like. However, the CSI assessment is by no means value-free since it explicitly examines the extent to which civil society actually practices and promotes certain universal values, such as democracy, tolerance or gender equity. As a consequence of its action-research philosophy, the CSI assessment seeks to provide information which can easily be translated into policy recommendations and other practical actions by stakeholders. CSI definition of civil society The CSI defines civil society as “the arena, outside of the family, the state, and the market where people associate to advance common interests.” One of the key features of this definition is the concept of civil society being an arena. The term ‘arena’ is used to describe the particular space in a society where people come together to debate, discuss, associate and seek to influence broader society. Another key feature is the acknowledgement of the ‘fuzzyness’ of the boundaries between the spheres of civil society, the state, the market and family, since, in practice, many forms of collective citizen action are hard to categorize into a specific sphere. Here, the CSI emphasises the function – namely collective citizen action to advance common interests – over the specific organisational form, in which the action takes place. CSI Analytical Framework: Indicators, Sub-dimensions and Dimensions The CSI uses 74 indicators for its civil society assessment, each of them measuring an important aspect of the state of civil society. These indicators are grouped together into 25 sub-dimensions, which are grouped into four dimensions: Structure, Environment, Values and Impact. These four dimensions can be represented graphically in the form of a Civil Society Diamond (see Figure 1).  The CSI’s STRUCTURE dimension looks at civil society’s make-up, size and composition, This dimension examines the actors within the civil society arena, their main characteristics and the relationships among them. It is composed of the following 6 sub-dimensions and has 21 indicators:
Dimension 2 - ENVIRONMENT The ENVIRONMENT dimension examines a variety of factors influencing civil society, including: political, legal, institutional, social, cultural and economic factors as well as the attitudes and behaviour of state and private sector actors towards civil society. Although not part of civil society itself, civil society’s environment is nonetheless crucial, as it might point towards root causes of potential problems. This dimension is divided into 7 sub-dimensions with a total number of 23 indicators.
Dimension 3 - VALUES The VALUES dimension addresses the principles and values adhered to, practised and promoted by civil society. To date, this aspect of civil society has not received much attention, partly because civil society’s values are typically pre-defined as positive, progressive or democratic due to the civil society definition chosen. The CSI holds that the ratio of tolerant vs. intolerant, progressive vs. fundamentalist, pro-poor vs. anti-poor civil society actors in a country is crucial for judging its overall state. Values such as democracy and transparency are also critical measures of civil society’s legitimacy and credibility. The VALUES dimension is composed of 7 sub-dimensions with a total of 14 indicators.
Dimension 4 - IMPACT The IMPACT dimension measures the impact civil society has on people’s lives and on society as a whole. This dimension, therefore, adopts a broad notion of impact, which refers not only to the end result, or how much influence has civil society had in a particular area, but also to the process, or how actively civil society was engaged in a particular area. This dimension has 5 sub-dimensions and 16 indicators.
The CSI collects data on civil society using the following instruments:
Together, these instruments collect the data required for preparing a narrative report on the state of civil society and scoring indicators. Most indicators rely on more than one instrument, making it therefore possible to apply methods of triangulation and cross-checks. The CSI research mix in a given country may include all or some of the methods listed above. Scoring of indicators A specific methodology was designed to reduce the complexity and diversity of the information gathered through the CSI research, in order to increase comparability across countries and make the outcomes more easily understandable and communicable. The outcomes are indicator scores which range from 0 to 3, which are aggregated into sub-dimension and dimension scores, and then used to form the Civil Society Diamond. Indicators are scored by a National Advisory Group (NAG) using a “citizen jury” approach, developed by the Jefferson Center, in which a group of citizens come together to deliberate, and makes decisions on a public issue, based on presented facts. In the case of the CSI, the NAG’s role is to give a score (similar to passing a judgement) on each indicator based on the evidence presented by the CSI country team. Below please find a graph depicting the process for indicator scoring. The scoring exercise and the resulting Civil Society Diamond is only one part of a larger analysis of civil society that is captured in a comprehensive country report on the state of civil society. The main purpose of the indicators is to point to interesting issues and to make essential issues of civil society comparable across countries. The purpose of the country report is to provide as rich a picture as possible drawing on all available information without necessarily being constrained by demands for quantifiable information and comparability. For more information about the CIVICUS CSI, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or subscribe to our quarterly e-newsletter at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . |