This book proves that the concept of ?civil society?- which so far has been confined to the area of political theory - can be fruitfully applied for empirical research. Utilizing the most comprehensive global dataset on civil society issues stemming from the CIVICUS Civil Society Index Project, the author develops a Civil Society Strength Index for 43 countries. He then makes use of an innovative mix of analytical tools to investigate the causes for civil society?s strength. The analysis shows that these causes can mainly be found in historical conditions, here particularly in the length of a country?s democratic experience.
Introduction - Conceptualising Civil Society and Its Strength - Measuring the Strength of Civil Society - The Causes of Civil Society''s Strength: A Review of Competing Theoretical Approaches - Research Design for Analysing Civil Society''s Strength - Macro-Comparative Regression Analysis - Fuzzy-Set Analysis - Conclusion