The second volume of the CIVICUS Global Survey of the State of Civil Society offers an analysis of key issues facing civil society worldwide, including contributions from researchers and civil society practitioners. Comprising 24 chapters, the book draws on the information collected by the CIVICUS Civil Society Index project in more than 45 countries to explore issues such as civil society’s accountability, its relation to the state and corporate sector and its role in governance and development. It also includes regional overviews of the state of civil society in different continents. It builds on Volume 1 of the Global Survey which provides concise overviews of civil society in 44 countries around the world.

The CIVICUS Global Survey points to growing threats to civil society’s autonomy, as well as the pressing need for greater transparency, accountability, and self-sufficiency within the sector. According to the book, as civil society organisations gain influence, they run the danger of becoming co-opted by external interests. The book also argues that the legitimacy and accountability of civil society organisations is being increasingly called into question due to accusations of corruption, wasted resources, ineffectiveness, and elitism.


The book includes:

1. Section I: Introducing the CIVICUS Civil Society Index




• Chapter 1: How to Assess the State of Civil Society Around the World? A Description and Preliminary Review of the CIVICUS Civil Society Index’s Conceptual Framework and Research Methodology
• Chapter 2: Conceptual and Methodological Challenges in Comparative Civil Society Research. Commentary on “How to Assess the State of Civil Society Around the World?”
• Chapter 3: The CIVICUS Civil Society Index: Proposals for Future Directions
• Chapter 4: Linking Assessment, Reflection and Action: The CSI Implementation Phase 2003-2006 and Suggestions for the Future
• Chapter 5: Donors and Civil Society Strengthening: The CSI Experience




2. Section II: Regional Perspectives





• Chapter 6: The State of Civil Society in Sub-Saharan Africa
• Chapter 7: The Effects of Rapid Socioeconomic Growth on Civic Activism in Emerging Democracies: an Analysis of Civil Society in the Asia-Pacific Region
• Chapter 8: Civil Society in Latin America: Between Contentious Politics and Participatory Democracy
• Chapter 9: Civil Society in the Middle East and Mediterranean: An Exploration of Opportunities and Limitations item
• Chapter 10: Civil Societies in Post-Communist Europe: The Challenges Posed by Social Isolation
• Chapter 11: Civil Society in Western and Southern Europe




3. Section III: Thematic Section




• Chapter 12: Does Civil Society Exist?
• Chapter 13: A New Challenge for Civil Society Infrastructure: The Imperative of Downward Accountability
• Chapter 14: Citizen Participation in Civil Society around the World
• Chapter 15: What Makes Civil Society Strong? Testing Bottom-up and Top-down Theories of a Vibrant Civil Society
• Chapter 16: Assessing the Legal Environment for Civil Society around the World: An Analysis of Status, Trends, and Challenges
• Chapter 17: Civil Society and the State: Formal Arrangements and Actual Interactions
• Chapter 18: From Corporate Philanthropy to Social Responsibility and Accountability: the Unfulfilled Potential of Civil Society-Business Engagement
• Chapter 19: Civil or Uncivil? Civil Society’s Role in Promoting Values, Norms and Rights
• Chapter 20: The Varying Contexts for Civil Society Accountability: Insights from a Global Analysis of Country-level Assessments
• Chapter 21: Civil society’s impact on public policy
• Chapter 22: The challenge of socioeconomic and democratic development: Marrying civil society’s social and political roles?




4. Conclusion: Assessing the State of Civil Society
5. Annexes on: : Implementation of CSI Research Methods in Participating Countries; The CSI Indicators Scoring; and CSI Country Report Bibliography