Global Civil Society

1 The Johns Hopkins Comparative Nonprofit Sector ProjectLester M. SalamonS. Wojciech SokolowskiRegina ListGlobal Civil SocietyAn OverviewThe Johns Hopkins Comparative Nonprofit Sector ProjectGlobal Civil SocietyAn OverviewLester M. SokolowskiRegina ListCopyright 2003, Lester M. SalamonAll rights reservedNo part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted for commercial purposes in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the copyright holder at the address below.

2 Parts of this publication may be reproducedfor noncommercial purposes so long as the authors and publisher are duly 1-886333-50-5 Center for Civil Society StudiesInstitute for Policy StudiesThe Johns Hopkins University3400 N. Charles StreetBaltimore, MD 21218-2688, USAP refaceThis report summarizes the basic empirical results of the latest phase of the JohnsHopkins Comparative Nonprofit Sector Project, the major effort we have had under way for a number of years to document the scope, structure, financing, androle of the nonprofit sector for the first time in various parts of the world, and toexplain the resulting patterns that exist.

3 This phase of project work has focused primarily on 15 countries in Africa,the Middle East, and South Asia, 13 of which are covered here. In addition to report-ing on these 13 countries, however, this report puts these findings into the broadercontext of our prior work. It therefore provides a portrait of the Civil societysector in 35 countries throughout the world, including 16 advanced industrial countries, 14developing countries, and 5 transitional countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

4 While important, the descriptive empirical results reported here do not exhaust thefocus of the work we have under way. Rather, this work has also pursued two addi-tional goals: first, to determine the causes of the diverse patterns of Civil Society sec-tor development described here; and second, to assess the impact of the Civil societysector. Subsequent products of this project will explore the findings on these lattertwo objectives. Even the present report is designed to be the overview chapter in alonger publication, moreover.

5 This longer publication, the second volume of our ear-lier book, Global Civil Society : Dimensions of the Nonprofit Sector, will includechapters exploring in greater depth the contours of the Civil Society sector in each ofthe individual countries covered in this latest phase of our chosento make this overview of the basic descriptive results of this phase of our work avail-able immediately in view of the considerable interest that has been shown in themthroughout the the body of this brief report makes clear.

6 We use the terms Civil Society sec-tor or Civil Society organization to refer to a broad array of organizations that areessentially private, , outside the institutional structures of government; that are notprimarily commercial and do not exist primarily to distribute profits to their directorsor owners ; that are self-governing; and that people are free to join or support vol-untarily. This definition was formulated in collaboration with teams of researchersand advisors from around the world and has been used successfully to guide field work in over 40 countries.

7 Informal as well as formally registered organizations are included within this definition as is the informal input of volunteersas well as the more formal effort of paid staff. Similarly, the definition embraces religious as well as secular am grateful to the extraordinary team of colleagues involved in the JohnsHopkins Comparative Nonprofit Sector Project for their invaluable assistance in gen-erating the information reported here. Special thanks are owed to the LocalAssociates listed in Appendix C for assisting us in formulating the basic project con-cepts, in adapting them to the diverse realities of their countries, in generating theneeded data, and in interpreting what they found.

8 Thanks are also due to my colleagues in the Johns Hopkins Center for CivilSociety Studies who contributed significantly to this product. These include my co-authors, Wojciech Sokolowski and Regina List, but also Stefan Toepler, who coordi-nated the data gathering in the Middle Eastern countries; Leslie Hems, who coordi-nated the data gathering in Pakistan; and Mimi Bilzor and Claudine DiPeppe, whocoordinated and assisted with, respectively, the production of this document. Finally, I gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided by the organiza-tions listed in Appendix E and the advice and counsel provided by the numerousexperts on the nonprofit sector and philanthropy who have served on the national andinternational advisory committees to this of these people or organizations, nor any others with which I am affiliated,bears responsibility for any errors of fact or interpretation that this document mightcontain, however.

9 That responsibility is mine M. SalamonAnnapolis, MarylandMarch 16, 20031 For publication details on this broader volume, visit our Web site: ~ Civil Society : An OverviewLester M. Salamon, S. Wojciech Sokolowski, and Regina ListINTRODUCTIONR ecent years have witnessed a considerable surge of interest throughout the worldin the broad range of institutions that occupy the social space between the market andthe state. Known variously as the nonprofit, the voluntary, the Civil Society , the third, the social economy, the NGO, or the charitable sector, this set of insti-tutions includes within it a sometimes bewildering array of entities hospitals, uni-versities, social clubs, professional organizations, day care centers, grassroots devel-opment organizations, health clinics, environmental groups, family counseling agen-cies, self-help groups, religious congregations, sports clubs.

10 Job training centers,human rights organizations, community associations, soup kitchens, homeless shel-ters, and many more. Despite their diversity, these entities share important common features that justifythinking of them as a distinctive set of institutions, as an identifiable social sector. For one thing, they are private in character and not part of the governmental appara-tus. But unlike other private institutions, these entities are expected to serve somepublic or community purpose and not simply to generate profits for those involved inthem.