The mean score of the Civic Empowerment Index 2019 has grown to 39.7 points out of 100 and this is the highest value to date since the first survey was conducted in 2007.
The growth is mainly accounted for by an increase in the public perception of civic impact. In society at large there was a growing belief that community and civic organisations, as well as individual citizens have a greater impact on significant public decisions. The index value on this dimension has increased from 55.2 points in 2016 to 61.2 in 2019. There was a slight improvement in the dimension of civic engagement risk assessment: the social setting was seen as more favourable towards civic engagement. The mean value in this dimension has increased from 23.9 points in 2016 to 27.1 in 2019. There was also a slight increase in potential civic engagement, although it stays below the level observed 10 years ago. The mean value of the readiness to solve societal problems has increased from 34.3 points in 2016 to 36.8 in 2019. From a long-term perspective, all three changes described above sow an improvement since 2015 and 2016. At the same time, levels of self-reported civic engagement and interest in public issues remains virtually unchanged.
A separate representative survey of Lithuania’s teachers was carried out to calculate the Teachers’ Civic Empowerment Index for 2019. Teachers achieved a mean value of 53.7 points out of 100, which is significantly higher when compared to society at large. This score is also the greatest one observed to date in Civic Empowerment Index studies.
In 2019, the Civic Empowerment Index study also shed a light on one of the most prominent public actions in 2018 and 2019, the teachers’ professional union protests and their evaluations among the teachers and society at large.
More about the results of the Civic Empowerment Index 2019 research:
- Summary of research results (pdf);
- Presentation slides (pdf, in Lithuanian).
Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Lithuania financed the Lithuanian Civic Empowerment Index research in 2019. Representative surveys of the Lithuanian population and Lithuanian teachers were carried out by market and public opinion research company “Spinter research”.