CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE MODERN WORLD: ROLE AND IMPACT AICESIS REPORT CONCEPT NOTE Prof. Iosif Diskin Civic Chamber of Russia

CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE MODERN WORLD: ROLE AND IMPACT AIMS AND OBJECTIVES Inform members of AICESIS on the state of civil society in various countries of the world, problems and goals of development; Forge AICESIS common perception of the role and impact of the civil society institutions in the process of shaping and implementing national economic and social development strategies; Present national experts’ evaluations regarding the level of engagement, cohesion and impact of various civic communities on performance of national social, economic and governmental institutions.

CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE MODERN WORLD: ROLE AND IMPACT REPORT OUTLINE Introduction: aims and objectives of the Report; Chapter 1. Role and functions of civil society in social and economic development, enhancement of efficiency of social, economic and governmental institutions; Chapter 2. Civil society in the modern world: records of international comparative studies; Chapter 3. Impact of national civic communities on performance of social, economic and governmental institutions (research by the AICESIS member-states): Conclusions and recommendations.

CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE MODERN WORLD: ROLE AND IMPACT Chapter 1. Role and functions of civil society in social and economic development, enhancement of efficiency of social, economic and governmental institutions: Civil society may be described as a community of those who share values of solidarity, social equity and democracy, esteem civic engagement, accountability and intolerance of any violations of human rights and freedoms; The principal interest of civil society is in creating an efficient and widely respected system of social, economic and political institutions; Institutions’ efficiency depends heavily on social conditions (D. North), with the primary importance of moral foundations. Without them, even the most complete formal institutions would be substituted by absolutely different, typically disgusting social practices. Civil society united by common values and universally acclaimed ethical and moral patterns may provide a source of regulatory and institutional imperatives for all the other social subsystems. Mandatory requirements for creating necessary social conditions produce demand for specific social resources which can be provided exclusively by civil society. These are, first of all, civic engagement and accountability, solidarity, care for the common good, protection of human rights and freedoms.

CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE MODERN WORLD: ROLE AND IMPACT Chapter 1. Role and functions of civil society in social and economic development, enhancement of efficiency of social, economic and governmental institutions (continuation): Dialogue between a government and civil society, social control based on the values of civil society can restrain governmental institutions, making their work accountable and efficient, free from excessive red tape, let alone corruption; Accountability of civil society is an important value, whose contribution in national development should be increasing. Institutions of civil society have to maintain a constant debate about prospects of national economic and social development. This would make civic activists feel involved in implementation of national goals and objectives, and provide feedback between the purposes of development of civil society, on the one hand, and operation of its institutions, on the other.

CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE MODERN WORLD: ROLE AND IMPACT Chapter 1. Role and functions of civil society in social and economic development, enhancement of efficiency of social, economic and governmental institutions (continuation): Dialogue between a government and civil society, social control based on the values of civil society can restrain governmental institutions, making their work accountable and efficient, free from excessive red tape, let alone corruption; Accountability of civil society is an important value, whose contribution in national development should be increasing. Institutions of civil society have to maintain a constant debate about prospects of national economic and social development. This would make civic activists feel involved in implementation of national goals and objectives, and provide feedback between the purposes of development of civil society, on the one hand, and operation of its institutions, on the other; Interdependence of civil society and governmental institutions should provide quality of government operations matching formal parameters and, above all, meeting people’s needs, creating social environment where people would perceive government as genuinely caring about their needs.; Civil society is meant to supplement governmental institutions in giving “human dimension” to the goals of economic, social and political development, initiate real actions in tune with people’s everyday wants, needs and concerns.

CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE MODERN WORLD: ROLE AND IMPACT Chapter 1. Role and functions of civil society in social and economic development, enhancement of efficiency of social, economic and governmental institutions (continuation): Institutionalization and accountability of civil society are important preconditions for its involvement in a responsible debate meant to produce a social contract with the state; Institutional efficiency as a factor of national competitiveness gives the strongest impetus to dynamic and productive economic development; Improvement of regulatory legal framework is predicated upon the institutional enhancement. It is meaningless to pass populist legislation detached from the real life, that would undermine credibility of the law – an essential precondition of institutional efficiency. Legislative process and law enforcement should be based on the current social and economic settings and strengthen moral foundations of institutional systems; The main priorities are horizontal accountability and drastic increase in activity of business associations, including their subdivisions responsible for compliance with business ethics. Civil society institutions are aimed to put pressure on business associations to make them fulfil their civic duties. This pressure should result in mutually beneficent and efficient control and self-control of the corresponding institutions. Development of civilian control over private enterprises in accordance with the interests of society is a primary task. Such control would allow to detect violations of the law, primarily the rights of consumers (for instance, counterfeit products, false technical specifications, etc.). Introduction of the civilian control system in this sphere requires understanding of its specific features. Civilian control cannot be allowed to turn into a tool for unfair competition, or another barrier for dynamic economic development.

CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE MODERN WORLD: ROLE AND IMPACT Chapter 1. Role and functions of civil society in social and economic development, enhancement of efficiency of social, economic and governmental institutions (continuation): A strong culture of social accountability of business should be bred by the efforts of civil society. Major importance here belongs to social partnership and integrated relationship with local communities, making it possible not only to tap into their resources, but also to augment their human and social capital. Importance of ethical and, correspondingly, institutional transformations in the community sector rests on the high value of social justice; Social justice in the community sector faces constant challenges. Civil society is very sensitive to any violations of social justice in education, healthcare, cultural, labor or social assistance systems. Community sector is subject to constant scrutiny and efforts by civil society. So, it is mandatory to put forward new approaches towards social equity that would meet ethical norms as well as national social and cultural circumstances and needs of further development. Otherwise, growth of ethically acceptable and efficient institutions would be significantly impeded.

CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE MODERN WORLD: ROLE AND IMPACT Chapter 2. Civil society in the modern world: records of international comparative studies: 1. The CIVICUS Civil Society Index, CSI — CIVICUS» (the Civil Society Index, CSI) It is an action-research project that aims to assess the state of civil society in countries around the world. It conceptualizes civil society as a social area outside family, state and market created by individuals, groups of individuals, organizations and agencies to promote their common interests. 2. The Comparative Nonprofit Sector Project (CNP), John’s Hopkins University It is a systematic effort to analyze the scope, structure, financing, and role of the private nonprofit sector in countries around the world in order to enrich our understanding of this sector, and to provide a sounder basis for both public and private action towards it. Now it operates in more than 45 countries. The project estimates three indexes: capacity – the size of a civil society and magnitude of mobilized efforts; sustainability – the ability of a civil society to maintain itself from legal, financial and social mobilization perspectives; impact – contribution of civil society into economic and political life of a country.

CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE MODERN WORLD: ROLE AND IMPACT Chapter 2. Civil society in the modern world: records of international comparative studies (continuation): 3. The UN Nonprofit Handbook Project – John’s Hopkins University This project offers countries a standard set of guidelines for highlighting the accounts of the nonprofit sector so that it can be seen and analyzed as a distinct sector in national economic accounts. The resulting “satellite accounts on non-profit institutions” pull together a much more comprehensive and reliable picture of the civil society sector, making it possible to gauge its contribution and track its evolution over time. As part of this process, statistical agencies are also called on to estimate the scale and value of the volunteer work these organizations mobilize and to include this in estimates of economic activity. 4. CSO Sustainability Index – USAID The Index estimates general state and sustainability of civil society for the needs of policy-making. Currently the project covers 29 countries in Europe and 25 countries in Africa. The Index analyzes and assigns scores to seven interrelated dimensions: legal environment, organizational capacity, financial viability, advocacy, service provision, infrastructure, and public image. 5. Better Life Index – Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development This Index is based on 11 topics, including civic engagement, that virtually estimates formal procedures facilitating involvement of citizens, business groups and civil organizations in democracy through the two indicators: consultation on rule-making and voter turnout.

CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE MODERN WORLD: ROLE AND IMPACT Chapter 2. Civil society in the modern world: records of international comparative studies (continuation): Values of civil society:  personal freedom;  respect for equality of all before the law;  privacy;  solidarity, mutual assistance, mutually beneficial relationship;  active engagement in social life;  Social equity, equitable income distribution;  charity, help for the needy;  tolerance, respect for individual, social, religious and cultural diversity, respect for each other.

CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE MODERN WORLD: ROLE AND IMPACT Chapter 3. Impact of national civic communities on performance of social, economic and governmental institutions (research by the AICESIS member-states): Indicators measuring engagement and accountability of civil society:  regulation of activities of civil society organizations in different countries;  contribution of civil society organizations and civic communities to the process shaping the values of social engagement and accountability;  participation of civil society organizations and civic communities in the process of shaping moral and institutional norms necessary for functioning of economic, social and governmental institutions;  role of civil society organizations and civic communities in mobilization of people and their engagement in civil initiatives in various spheres;  involvement of civil society organizations and civic communities in charity projects;  level of coherence between corporate structures and civil society organizations;  level of impact of corporate structures and civil society organizations on the process of shaping their own economic and social positions.

CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE MODERN WORLD: ROLE AND IMPACT Chapter 3. Impact of national civic communities on performance of social, economic and governmental institutions (research by the AICESIS member-states) (continuation): Participation of civil society in addressing urgent issues of national economic and social development:  engagement of civil society organizations and civic communities in the process of shaping national agendas and their public discussion;  involvement of civil society organizations and civic communities in debate on priority issues of economic and social development;  contribution of civil society to the reduction of social inequality, facilitation of fruitful social engagement, creation of human and social capital;  role of civil society organizations and civic communities in the dialogue between government and society (forms, methods, results);  representation of civil society organizations and civic communities in official consultative and expert bodies, evaluation of the results of these activities;  Participation of civil society organizations and civic communities in civil control over executive authorities.

CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE MODERN WORLD: ROLE AND IMPACT CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS. Current problems and contradictions in civil society development worldwide; Obstacles for increasing the contribution of civil society organizations and civic communities in addressing the urgent issues of economic and social development; Priorities for civil society organizations and civic communities in the field of national economic and social development.