The civic maturity and independence of society are the main factors, which determine not only the quality of democracy but also the overall wealth of a country. The studies of the state of Lithuanian civil society that have been conducted until now show that there are serious problems in the development of civil – independent – society in Lithuania. When strengthening society as a political community, it is important constantly to assess its state and development trends as well as to draw the attention of society itself to these factors. Seeking to achieve this objective, in 2007, the Civil Society Institute started making an effort to determine and publish the Civic Empowerment Index on an annual basis. Our hopes are that this index will be helpful in the activities of non-governmental organisations and civic communities, decision-makers and political parties concerned with the strong and independent Lithuanian society, people responsible for drafting educational programmes and the general society as well.

What is the Civic Empowerment Index?

The Civic Empowerment Index consists of the following four dimensions: civic activeness, potential civic activeness, conception of civil society’s influence, and civic activity risk assessment.

First of all, when measuring the society’s civic empowerment, the society’s civic activeness must be assessed. As it can manifest itself in various forms, into the civic activeness index we have included forms of political participation (i.e. participation in parties, demonstrations), community actions or social solidarity (i.e. voluntary works, charity), institutionalised and traditional forms of participation such as participation in public organisations, and new and non-traditional forms of civic activeness such as internet-based civic campaigns and politically motivated consumption.

The society’s civic empowerment is reflected not only in actual activeness but also in potential civic activeness – a decision or determination to act in case an urgent matter arises. We are measuring potential civic activeness by requesting people to imagine how they would act in hypothetical situations where the whole country faces a serious political, economic or local problem.

The third dimension of civic empowerment is self-assessment of one’s own civic influence on political decisions; in other words, the perception of the people themselves what power they have in the state. This indicator is one of the most important features marking the soundness of a democratic system. The more influence people feel they have in their own state, the more democratic its political system and the stronger its civil society is. In our survey, we asked respondents not only what influence they personally have in adopting decisions on matters of public concern but also what influence, in their opinion, other ordinary people and public organisations have in this decision-making process. This allowed us to see not only if a person himself or herself feels competent to participate in the decision-making process but also how he or she assesses the openness of the Lithuanian political system, sensitivity of the government towards requests of the general public, and possibilities for an ordinary person or a public organisation to influence the government.

Finally, the fourth dimension of civic empowerment – civic activity risk assessment – measures the assessment of social environment. This indicator shows how safe people feel in their own country and community, whether they feel free to be civically active, and whether their activity is supported by their fellow-citizens. The higher the threat that people feel in connection with civic activity, the worse the environment for civic activity and the lower civic empowerment of people we have. And on the contrary, the lower the threat that people feel in connection with civic activity, the more favourable social environment for civic activity and the higher resources of civic empowerment there are.

The Civic Empowerment Index is calculated on the basis of data obtained from the survey of a representative sample of the country’s population. Each of the aforementioned dimensions of civil society could be examined using other methods as well, for example, observing civic initiatives, conducting expert surveys, summarising statistical data collected by various state institutions or non-governmental organisations, etc. Information gathered by combining different methods would be more thorough and detailed. However, this kind of survey would demand vast human and financial resources, and it is hardly likely that it could be conducted annually. Meanwhile, our objective was to develop the survey methodology which, first of all, would reliably reveal ongoing changes in the civic empowerment of Lithuanian society, and, on the other hand, would allow repeating the survey every year. Representative population surveys meet these two criteria; therefore, we have chosen this method for the development of the Civic Empowerment Index.

In developing the survey methodology, one of the most complicated issues was combining indicators of the four civil society dimensions described above into a single index – the Civic Empowerment Index – which would show not the idealised but realistically possible level of civic engagement in society. The Civic Empowerment Index therefore was construed in two stages. First, the indicators of each surveyed dimension were consolidated into the indexes of civic activeness, potential civic activeness, perception of civil society’s influence and civic engagement’srisk assessment. Then these indexes were standardised and consolidated into the single Civic Empowerment Index.

When calculating the Civic Empowerment Index of Lithuania, the data obtained from the surveys of a representative sample of the country’s population are used. Since 2007 surveys were conducted by public opinion polling companies complying with the ESOMAR standard.

It should be noted that in certain years, the Civic Empowerment Index survey includes an additional set of questions that reveal a specific focus for that year, allowing for a more detailed examination of specific areas relevant to civil society and its development – for example, the public image of civil society organizations, society’s organizational membership, volunteering during crises. Sometimes, in addition to a representative public survey, representative surveys of specific key groups – such as students, young people, teachers, or civil servants – are also conducted.

Survey results:

Civic Empowerment Index of 2024;
Civic Empowerment Index of 2023;
Civic Empowerment Index of 2022;
Civic Empowerment Index of 2020;
Civic Empowerment Index of 2019;
Civic Empowerment Index of 2016;
Civic Empowerment Index of 2015;
Civic Empowerment Index of 2014;
Civic Empowerment Index of 2013;
Civic Empowerment Index of 2012;
Civic Empowerment Index of 2010;
Civic Empowerment Index of 2009;
Civic Empowerment Index of 2008;
Civic Empowerment Index of 2007;

Main questionnaire (Microsoft Word, PDF)

• Title: Civic Empowerment Index

• Date: 2007 January - 2024 March