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The Civil Society Index

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Third Sector Research

Abstract

Why, when understood as civil society, do major international programs of comparative research on the third sector lack an explicit political framework and associated methodology? Taking the Civicus Civil Society Index as a practical case, answers to this question are explored through a compound hypothesis combining: a particular historical moment; and, geo-academic predispositions, allied to Western normativism and funders’ sensitivity to a sovereignty imperative. The issue of power that is central to political enquiry is, at best, approached obliquely leading to far from robust conclusions that abet speculative assertions. An approach to bringing politics into third sector enquiry is therefore described based on a citizenship perspective allied to the application of a power matrix.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    For this chapter, the CSI is divided into two phases after the design, testing, and independent evaluation of the methodology. Phase I is the substantive application of the method in some 60 countries with subsequent analysis and dissemination of findings (2003–2008). Phase II (2008–ongoing) involves evaluation of and revisions to the CSI. At the time of writing, implementation is taking place in some 20 countries – some for the first time, and in others, as repeats.

  2. 2.

    Exemplified in the words of Jeremy Bentham as “the greatest good to the greatest number.”

  3. 3.

    An exception was a series of country studies led by James Manor of the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, to investigate the interface between citizens and government in relation to public policy. However, the results of this endeavor do not appear in many references.

  4. 4.

    Results of an impact study of Phase I – not available at the time of writing – will determine the extent to which this has occurred.

  5. 5.

    I am grateful to Finn Heinrich for this and other observations on drafts of this chapter. Civicus has not produced an international index of civil society. And, as Anheier (2005) points out, the methods of The Johns Hopkins team would not produce an empirically valid index either.

  6. 6.

    I am grateful to Federico Silva of Civicus for comments on the draft information about the current version of the index. See also http://civilsocietyindex.wordpress.com/

  7. 7.

    Strength is understood as “the capacity to contribute to democracy and development” (Bailer et al. 2008, p. 238).

  8. 8.

    An observation by Arundhati Roy on the BBC World Service Forum, July 4, 2008.

  9. 9.

    Visit http://www.drc-citizenship.org

  10. 10.

    This triad bears similarity to the analysis provided by Michael Bratton (1992) drawing on theories associated with Marx (the material base), de Tocqueville (associational forms), and Gramsci (values that drive interests and direction of influence).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Erasmus University, The Hague, The Netherlands

    Alan Fowler

  2. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa

    Alan Fowler

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Correspondence to Alan Fowler .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Studies, University of Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Johannesburg, 2050, South Africa

    Rupert Taylor

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Fowler, A. (2010). The Civil Society Index. In: Taylor, R. (eds) Third Sector Research. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-5707-8_5

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