Global Futures Initiative

Civil Society has more power than ever

Technology today allows people to access information and coordinate efforts in ways that were not possible ten years ago. Upwards of 38 percent of the world’s population has Internet access and about 6.6 billion people, or about 90 percent of the global population, have cellphones. [1] This rapid adoption of communication technology has led to an inter-connected, globalized world and has blurred the traditionally rigid lines between institutions.  Communities form, knowledge is shared, and conventional power dynamics shift. Pathways have emerged to facilitate citizen engagement with each other, with private businesses and with governments. Citizens and civil society organizations can also demand action, which, in extreme cases, expose governments to protests and coups, but more commonly create opportunities to address accountability issues that lead to rampant corruption. 

What an engaged civil society can do

Corruption ultimately stems from opaque bureaucratic inefficiencies. Perhaps the greatest strengths of civil society are its ability to advocate for the common good and react quickly and effectively to contextual changes.  If governments pursue cross-sector collaborations, they can capitalize on these strengths to create innovative solutions to corruption. Such a partnership would also inherently require increased transparency. A government’s greatest resource is its people, and states stand to gain by fostering strong and formalized relationships with their civil society groups.    

How this can be done

Instead of trying to mute the growing voice of civil society, efforts need to be made to educate, organize and empower civil society actors so that they can continue to implement change in a credible and productive way. Governments and civil society groups should formalize their engagements, and work together to outline standards for governance. Many regional and multi-lateral organizations have already started to advocate for this – in 2012 the African Development Bank published A Framework for Enhanced Civil Society Engagement, and the UN, World Bank and IMF have similar publications. [2] If, however, national governments themselves don’t adopt new policies, change won’t be implemented on the ground. Technological advances will continue to strengthen and solidify vibrant civil society networks, but it’s up to the governing bodies to capitalize on their greatest asset – their people. Ban Ki-Moon outlined this at the World Economic Forum in 2009, “Our times demand a new definition of leadership – global leadership. They demand a new constellation of international cooperation – governments, civil society and the private sector, working together for a collective global good.”

Lauren Corke is a graduate student in the Global Human Development Program at Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service.

[1] http://data.worldbank.org/topic/infrastructure

[2] http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_FutureRoleCivilSociety_Report_2013.pdf