Did you know … A robust civil society is associated with high levels of political transparency and democracy. Countries that have a strong and robust civil society sector, as measured by the Johns Hopkins Global Civil Society Index (GCSI), are more likely to have high levels of political transparency and democracy, according to recent research carried out as part of the Johns Hopkins Comparative Nonprofit Sector Project.

Most of the countries that score high on the Hopkins Global Civil Society Index also score high on Transparency International’s index of political transparency and on the Polity Project’s Democracy Index. This suggests that civil society organizations are both products and producers of open and democratic societies.

Relationship between the Global Civil Society Index and measures of transparency and democratization

For more information
Global Civil Society Index: Lester M Salamon, W Wojciech Sokolowski (2004) ‘The Global Civil Society Index’, in Salamon, Sokolowski and Associates, Global Civil Society: Dimensions of the nonprofit sector, Volume Two Bloomfield, CT: Kumarian Press.
Political Transparency Index: http://www.transparency.org
Democracy Index: http://www.cidcm.umd.edu/inscr/polity  
See also http://www.jhu.edu/ccss/cnp