Background

The CSI (Civil Society Index) is an action-research project that aims to assess the state of civil society worldwide, implemented in 53 countries. It is coordinated by CIVICUS : World Alliance for Citizen Participation, the leading global alliance dedicated to strengthening civil society and citizen action throughout the world. Its members - over 1,000 - include foundations, research institutes, voluntary organizations and individuals from more than 100 countries.

The CSI assesses four different dimensions of civil society ( Structure, Environment, Values, and Impact) and summarises its findings in the form of a "Civil Society Diamond" which reveals the current state of civil society and, when mapped over time, illustrates its development. This methodological tool was developed for CIVICUS by the Centre for Civil Society of the LSE and Dr Helmut Anheier .

A shorter version, called CSI-SAT (Shortened Assessment Tool) was developed in order to utilize secondary data available and to serve as a useful preparatory activity for a full implementation at a later stage.

For more information on the project, the methodology, the participating organizations, to download country reports and view updates, please visit the Civil Society Index section at the Civicus site .

The case of Greece

access2democracy (a2d) decided to embark upon this ambitious project in the belief that while the significance of the civil society sector was widely recognized and part of the international dialogue on Global Governance, Greece was not really following this debate.

A first significant step towards reversing this, was obviously a mapping of the scene which could facilitate an informed dialogue on the subject. The CSI-SAT, as part of an internationally recognized effort, was a perfect tool for this task, a vehicle which could help Greece have "a voice" in a hot debate of our times.

Moreover, a deeper knowledge of the civil society sector in Greece would greatly support our work which after all would give a "voice" to civil society actors through appropriate uses of ICTs.

Thus, in April 2005 a2d was appointed as the National Coordinating Organization of the CSI-SAT Civicus project for Greece .

For the following 16 months, we implemented the project under the expert scientific supervision of Dimitri A. Sotiropoulos , Assistant Professor of Political Science at the Department of Political Science and Public Administration, University of Athens. Project Manager and co-author was Evika Karamagioli, (Maitrise Droit & DEA- European Law, DEA International Security Defense, PHD Candidate)

In line with the project methodology a 15-member Stakeholder Assessment Group was convened to act as an advisory committee to the project. Their input, time and dedication is gratefully acknowledged and naturally they bear no responsibility for the final content of the report. (their names are listed in Appendix 3 of the Full Report).

The title of our final report, "Greek Civil Society: The long way to maturity-2005 " is meant to reflect the fact that although the general environment in Greece is rather positive, there is still a long road ahead before civil society gains the position and recognition it deserves within the modern Greek society.

We hope that this report, whatever its merits or possible deficiencies, will nevertheless make a worthwhile contribution to a much needed debate and further research in this field.

Reports :

• Greek Civil Society: The long way to maturity-2005 (pdf 849 kb)
• Executive Summary (pdf 147kb)
• The Global Report on the State of Civil Society : Findings from the CIVICUS Civil Society Index Project.