Instituto de Estudios Políticos y Derecho Público "Dr. Humberto J. La Roche"
de la Facultad de Ciencias Jurídicas y Políticas de la Universidad del Zulia
Maracaibo, Venezuela
Esta publicación cientíca en formato digital es continuidad de la revista impresa
ISSN-Versión Impresa 0798-1406 / ISSN-Versión on line 2542-3185Depósito legal pp
197402ZU34
ppi 201502ZU4645
Vol.39 N° 70
2021
Recibido el 20/06/2021 Aceptado el 25/08/2021
ISSN 0798- 1406 ~ De pó si to le gal pp 198502ZU132
Cues tio nes Po lí ti cas
La re vis ta Cues tio nes Po lí ti cas, es una pu bli ca ción aus pi cia da por el Ins ti tu to
de Es tu dios Po lí ti cos y De re cho Pú bli co “Dr. Hum ber to J. La Ro che” (IEPDP) de la Fa-
cul tad de Cien cias Ju rí di cas y Po lí ti cas de la Uni ver si dad del Zu lia.
En tre sus ob je ti vos fi gu ran: con tri buir con el pro gre so cien tí fi co de las Cien cias
Hu ma nas y So cia les, a tra vés de la di vul ga ción de los re sul ta dos lo gra dos por sus in ves-
ti ga do res; es ti mu lar la in ves ti ga ción en es tas áreas del sa ber; y pro pi ciar la pre sen ta-
ción, dis cu sión y con fron ta ción de las ideas y avan ces cien tí fi cos con com pro mi so so cial.
Cues tio nes Po lí ti cas apa re ce dos ve ces al año y pu bli ca tra ba jos ori gi na les con
avan ces o re sul ta dos de in ves ti ga ción en las áreas de Cien cia Po lí ti ca y De re cho Pú bli-
co, los cua les son so me ti dos a la con si de ra ción de ár bi tros ca li fi ca dos.
ESTA PU BLI CA CIÓN APA RE CE RE SE ÑA DA, EN TRE OTROS ÍN DI CES, EN
:
Re vicyhLUZ, In ter na tio nal Po li ti cal Scien ce Abs tracts, Re vis ta In ter ame ri ca na de
Bi blio gra fía, en el Cen tro La ti no ame ri ca no para el De sa rrol lo (CLAD), en Bi blio-
gra fía So cio Eco nó mi ca de Ve ne zue la de RE DIN SE, In ter na tio nal Bi blio graphy of
Po li ti cal Scien ce, Re vencyt, His pa nic Ame ri can Pe rio di cals In dex/HAPI), Ul ri ch’s
Pe rio di cals Di rec tory, EBS CO. Se en cuen tra acre di ta da al Re gis tro de Pu bli ca cio-
nes Cien tí fi cas y Tec no ló gi cas Ve ne zo la nas del FO NA CIT, La tin dex.
Di rec to ra
L
OIRALITH
M. C
HIRINOS
P
ORTILLO
Co mi té Edi tor
Eduviges Morales Villalobos
Fabiola Tavares Duarte
Ma ría Eu ge nia Soto Hernández
Nila Leal González
Carmen Pérez Baralt
Co mi té Ase sor
Pedro Bracho Grand
J. M. Del ga do Ocan do
José Ce rra da
Ri car do Com bel las
An gel Lom bar di
Die ter Nohlen
Al fre do Ra mos Ji mé nez
Go ran Ther born
Frie drich Welsch
Asis ten tes Ad mi nis tra ti vos
Joan López Urdaneta y Nil da Ma rín
Re vis ta Cues tio nes Po lí ti cas. Av. Gua ji ra. Uni ver si dad del Zu lia. Nú cleo Hu ma nís ti co. Fa-
cul tad de Cien cias Ju rí di cas y Po lí ti cas. Ins ti tu to de Es tu dios Po lí ti cos y De re cho Pú bli co
“Dr. Hum ber to J. La Ro che”. Ma ra cai bo, Ve ne zue la. E- mail: cues tio nes po li ti cas@gmail.
com ~ loi chi ri nos por til lo@gmail.com. Te le fax: 58- 0261- 4127018.
Vol. 39, Nº 70 (2021), 407-425
IEPDP-Facultad de Ciencias Jurídicas y Políticas - LUZ
The interests of state and civil society as
a determinant of the democrative political
development of Central and Eastern
Europe countries
DOI: https://doi.org/10.46398/cuestpol.3970.25
Bohdan Hrebeniuk *
Viktoriia Hrytsun **
Valerii Bortniak ***
Kateryna Bortniak ****
Alina Liasota *****
Abstract
The article analyses the state and development of civil
society in Central and Eastern Europe as basic determinants
of its development, using integrative indices of civil society
sustainability. The external and internal logic of these indices
for 2019 is studied. The research uses methods of cluster analysis, linear
correlation, and multiple regression analysis to model the interaction of the
determinants of civil society development in the region. The results of the
analysis in the Central and Eastern European region reveal interesting links
not only between the status of civil society and the state, but also in the
relationship of factors that reect the analytical triangle of relationships.
People’s satisfaction with government is not a simple consequence of the
economic situation: the relationship between social wealth and economic
progress. The status of civil society also turns out to be a factor in this system
of relationships, along with the quality of social relations and the existing
sociopsychological characteristics of the population. The numerical values
* Postgraduate student of the Department of Public Administration and Innovation Management,
Education and Research Institute of Continuing Education,National University of Life and
Environmental Sciences of Ukraine. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0423-8476. Email:
gbofront45@gmail.com
** PhD in Law, State Statistics Service of Ukraine. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7747-9345.
Email: 123vhk@ukr.net
*** Associate Professor of Department of of Public and Private Law, Faculty of Law, V.I.Vernadsky Taurida
National University, PhD in Law. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1285-966X. Email:
Tnu02018@meta.ua
**** Associate Professor of Department of Public and Private Law, Faculty of Law, V.I.Vernadsky Taurida
National University, PhD in Law. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2135-3820. Email:
Tnu02018@meta.ua
***** Associate Professor of Department of Politology, Faculty of Social Sciences and International
Relations, Oles Honchar Dnipro National University, Candidate of political Sciences. ORCID ID:
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0130-8421. Email: aliasota87@ua.fm
408
Bohdan Hrebeniuk, Viktoriia Hrytsun, Valerii Bortniak, Kateryna Bortniak y Alina Liasota
The interests of state and civil society as a determinant of the democrative political development
of Central and Eastern Europe countries
of the civil society situation and development indices obtained in this way
can be used in statistical models.
Keywords: civil society; state; integral indices; statistical modelling;
Central and East Europe.
Los intereses del Estado y la sociedad civil como
determinante del desarrollo político democrático de los
países de Europa Central y Oriental
Resumen
El artículo analiza el estado y el desarrollo de la sociedad civil en Europa
Central y Oriental como determinantes básicos de su desarrollo, utilizando
índices integradores de sostenibilidad de la sociedad civil. Se estudia la
lógica externa e interna de estos índices para 2019. La investigación utiliza
métodos de análisis de conglomerados, correlación lineal y análisis de
regresión múltiple para modelar la interacción de los determinantes del
desarrollo de la sociedad civil en la región. Los resultados del análisis en la
región de Europa Central y Oriental revelan vínculos interesantes no solo
entre el estatus de la sociedad civil y el estado, sino también en la relación
de factores que reejan el triángulo analítico de relaciones. La satisfacción
de la gente con el gobierno no es una simple consecuencia de la situación
económica: la relación entre la riqueza social y el progreso económico. El
estatus de la sociedad civil también resulta ser un factor en este sistema de
relaciones, junto con la calidad de las relaciones sociales y las características
sociopsicológicas existentes de la población. Los valores numéricos de los
índices de situación y desarrollo de la sociedad civil obtenidos de esta
manera pueden utilizarse en modelos estadísticos.
Palabras clave: sociedad civil; estado; índices integrals; modelación
estadística; Europa central y oriental.
Introduction
Civil society and the network of its institutions, the so-called civil society
organizations (CSOs), determine the existence of modern democracy.
According to the views of F. Fukuyama, the weakness of civil society, the
displacement of its institutions by state institutions, leads to negative
consequences. They include the development of dependency in citizens and
the loss of the ability to joint actions not caused by external coercion, which
are a prerequisite for political democracy and development, the degradation
of human capital (Fukuyama, 2000).
409
CUESTIONES POLÍTICAS
Vol. 39 Nº 70 (2021): 407-425
According to modern views, the relationship between the state and civil
society is not always harmonious. As a rule, there is opposition between the
state and civil society. In authoritarian states, such disharmonious relations
take the form of open conict. And even in political democracies, such as
France (Fukuyama, 2000), the strong role of the bureaucracy can stie the
free development of civic activity.
Modern democracies are characterized by the complementarity of state
and civil society institutions, the productive distribution of competencies.
However, there is a historical dierence in the formation of civil society-
related discourse between Western and Eastern European countries
(Mastnak, 2005) and the institutional dierences between their societies
(Letki, 2004).
In its simplest form, civil society institutions are divided into two groups.
The rst includes those that provide citizens with the necessary public goods
in the areas of social assistance, culture, and environmental protection. The
second group includes organizations that focus on protecting the rights
of citizens and involving them in an active position on a certain socially
signicant issue. These areas are intersecting in some places (Diyjak and
Forbici, 2017). Currently, the role of civil society institutions is widely
recognized, which is manifested in their inclusion in the policy of public
nances, involvement in the formation of state and municipal policies in
a wide range of areas. Social development trends that pose a threat to civil
society are also analysed in relevant national, regional, European, and global
policies, in particular development policy (Wood and Fällman, 2019).
The concept of “civil society” is widely used and involved in the eld of
policy-making at various levels and directions. However, it should be noted
that its use is associated with a number of theoretical and methodological
problems. The main ones are the following. To date, there is not generally
accepted and complete denition of CSO (Diyjak and Forbici, 2017). The
assessment of the sphere of civil society, CSOs, their interaction with the
state is not based on a stable and informative system of indicators, and the
publications on the problem are dominated by qualitative methods and
evaluative judgments.
There are several international databases that should reect information
on civil society institutions. First of all, it is a database of the UN and its
agencies. The Integrated Civil Society Organizations System provides
information on the number, names and contact details of CSOs by region,
eld of activity and type of organization (UN Department of Economic
and Social Aairs, 2020). A similar set of information is contained in the
database of non-governmental organizations UNESCO (United Nations
Educational, 2021). The database of civil society organizations — The
Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) — contains
information on partnerships and funding received by CSOs (The Swedish
410
Bohdan Hrebeniuk, Viktoriia Hrytsun, Valerii Bortniak, Kateryna Bortniak y Alina Liasota
The interests of state and civil society as a determinant of the democrative political development
of Central and Eastern Europe countries
International Development Cooperation Agency, 2021). There are thematic
databases of CSOs that carry out activities in a specic area. For example,
The Peace Women Organizations Database for Women’s International
League for Peace and Freedom, which also provides a list of existing CSOs
that declare their activities in this area.
Quantitative characteristics of civil society are available in national and
European statistical systems. In the group of indicators of the quality of life
of the Eurostat system, the characteristic of the activity of civil society in the
countries is the indicator of active involvement of citizens, which is analysed
along with other indicators of civic activity of the EU population. In 2015,
it ranged from 31.3% (Sweden) to 2.1% (Cyprus) for the EU-28 (Eurostat,
2021; European Comission, 2020). The system of European statistics is
complemented by information on national and multi-beneciary initiatives
to support civil society — The Civil Society Facility (CSF), established in
2008 (European Commission — European Neighbourhood Policy and
Enlargement Negotiations). National statistical systems, including those
outside the European Union, can be even more problematic in terms of the
characteristics and dynamics of civil society. For example, ocial statistics
of Ukraine are marked by a general weakness of the system of indicators
that characterise the social and political life of society.
The State Statistics Service of Ukraine records the number of public
organizations (in terms of their types and regions of activity), the number
of their members, sources and volumes of their revenues and expenditures
(for example: Activities of Public Organizations in 2016: Statistical Bulletin,
2017). Independent research centres publish more information on the
country’s CSOs. In particular, these are survey data on the involvement of
citizens in CSO activities, volunteering, public condence indicators (Civil
Society of Ukraine: Figures and Facts, 2018). The possibility of comparing
non-EU national statistics with European statistics is a problematic issue.
The issue of the proposed classication of national NGOs, as well as their
aliation with civil society, may be raised (Gorelov, 2014; Yakymenko,
1991; State Statistics Service of Ukraine, 2017). This is important given the
proposed classications of civil societies that indicate their structurally and
fundamentally dierent nature (Peerenboom, 2003).
As a result, qualitative methods, descriptive data, and subjective
assessments predominate in those summaries that compare the situation
and development of civil society in dierent countries. A representative
study Civil Society in Central and Eastern Europe: Monitoring 2019
conducted by ERSTE Foundation experts is based on 1,758 questionnaires
that were subjected to manual processing and summarised by descriptive
analysis (More-Hollerweger et. al., 2019). The obtained numerical indicators
reected the feelings of CSO respondents from the legal conditions of their
activity and the status of interaction with public authorities.
411
CUESTIONES POLÍTICAS
Vol. 39 Nº 70 (2021): 407-425
Finally, the methodology based on identifying the subjective feelings of
CSO respondents or members of the expert community is used to construct
the existing integrated indices — USAID’s Civil Society Organization
Sustainability Index (USAID, 2021) and Nations in Transit Freedom House
index (Freedom House, 2021), where the civil society development index is
a component.
The aim of the study is to verify the validity of integrative indices of
interaction between civil society (CSO) and the state on the development
of civil society in Eastern Europe. We plan to investigate a subjective
component and their suitability for identifying trends in the development
of civil society in the countries of the region. The hypothesis of this study
is that the integrated indices of the status and development of civil society
in Central and Eastern Europe, based on expert surveys, are determined by
subjective factors, and have limited relationship with objective indicators of
the dynamics of interaction between state and civil society. That is, research
objectives are the following: 1) study of the external logic of index values,
their compliance with the current political situation in the region; 2) study
of the internal logic of indices, their interconnectedness and interaction; 3)
study of the validity of these indices and their relationship with indicators
that describe the state and the relationship between civil society and the
state.
1. Methods
The sample is based on the numerical sequences of the USAID’s Civil
Society Organization Sustainability Index (CSOSI) and the Nations
in Transit Freedom House (NIT). Both indices are based on a survey of
experts who assess the changes in the state of the relevant indicators.
These are 7 indicators of the state of civil society (Legal Environment,
Organizational Capacity, Financial Viability, Advocacy, Service Provision,
Infrastructure, Public Image) for CSOSI; and 11 indicators of the state of
national democracy (National Democratic Governance, Electoral Process,
Civil Society, Independent Media, Local Democratic Governance, Judicial
Framework and Independence, Corruption) for NIT. Both indices are
measured on an interval scale with a range of 1-7 points, where 1 is higher
for CSOSI and lower for NIT. The study includes data for 24 countries in
Central and Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, including Russia. Complete
data for all 24 countries are available for the period 2000-2019 for CSOSI
and 2005-2020 for NIT.
The following methods are used to full research objectives. The rst
stage of the study involved the method of hierarchical cluster analysis with
the calculation of Euclidean distances and using the method of Ward’s
412
Bohdan Hrebeniuk, Viktoriia Hrytsun, Valerii Bortniak, Kateryna Bortniak y Alina Liasota
The interests of state and civil society as a determinant of the democrative political development
of Central and Eastern Europe countries
minimum variance in order to group and study the external logic of index
values, their compliance with the current political situation in the region.
The sample included transit countries in Central and Eastern Europe,
including Transcaucasia and Russia, which are close in terms of political,
social, cultural, and historical conditions of development. Index data were
analyzed for 2019; these data are the most complete and devoid of the
inevitable distortions caused by the conditions of the COVID-19 epidemic
in 2020-2021. In the second stage, the method of calculating paired linear
correlations in the system of indicators that form indices was used to study
the internal logic of indices. In the third stage, a method of multiple linear
regression models was used in order to study the validity of indices and their
relationship with indicators that describe the status and the relationship
between civil society and the state, where civil society indices are included
in the predictors, along with other indicators of state eciency, and their
impact on the dependent — target — variable is revealed (Table 1).
Table 1. Composition of the analyzed variables
Title of variable Abbreviation N Mean SD Min Max
CSOSI CSOSI 24 3.608 0.874 2.100 5.900
NIT NIT 24 4.813 1.362 1.000 6.250
GDP per capita PPP
(current international $)
GDP 24 25191 9983 11971 43005
Healthy life expectancy
at birth
HLE 24 67.677 1.888 64.300 71.400
Perceptions of
corruption
Corr 24 0.810 0.138 0.457 0.963
Gini of household
income
Gini 24 0.360 0.055 0.254 0.454
Human capital index
(HCI) (scale 0-1)
HC 24 0.654 0.070 0.557 0.777
GDP growth (annual %) Gr 24 3.582 1.333 1.400 7.600
Condence in national
government
CNG 24 0.387 0.151 0.160 0.858
Life Ladder LL 24 5.757 0.597 4.702 7.034
Social support SS 24 0.875 0.074 0.675 0.949
Freedom to make life
choices
Fre 24 0.785 0.068 0.657 0.945
Generosity Gen 24 -0.121 0.119 -0.289 0.267
Democratic Quality DQ 24 0.138 0.601 -1.097 0.985
Source: World Happiness Report (2020).
413
CUESTIONES POLÍTICAS
Vol. 39 Nº 70 (2021): 407-425
The Gini Index was used according to the Gallup Institute. Data on this
indicator provided by the World Bank’s World Development Indicators are
based on ocial country statistics and are unreliable in some cases.
The composition of variable models was selected according to the step-
by-step algorithm of the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC).
2. Results
Classication of countries by the CSOCI index allows identifying four
groups of countries (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Cluster dendrogram of the classication of countries
in the region by the CSOCI (2019) Source: calculated according
to USAID (2021).
This classication is intuitive and can be interpreted as: a group of
authoritarian countries with underdeveloped civil society (Azerbaijan,
Belarus); countries that pursue a policy of systemic counteraction to civil
society (Russia); middle-income civil society countries with two subgroups;
414
Bohdan Hrebeniuk, Viktoriia Hrytsun, Valerii Bortniak, Kateryna Bortniak y Alina Liasota
The interests of state and civil society as a determinant of the democrative political development
of Central and Eastern Europe countries
countries with a stable and developed civil society. Classication of some
countries into groups may raise questions. Ukraine belongs to the group of
strong civil societies.
According to the NIT, we grouped on a broader basis — the indicator of
the development of civil society is in the system of other features of the state
of democracy (Figure 2).
The selection of three groups of countries is also intuitive and can
be easily interpreted as: countries with authoritarian political regimes
(Azerbaijan, Belarus, Russia); countries with a medium level of democracy
in the region (Albania… Ukraine); countries with developed democracies
(Estonia… Slovenia). In the second group we can observe the subgroups like
the CSOCI classication, which can be interpreted as groups of problematic/
degrading democracies (Hungary, Serbia, etc.) and progressive democracies
(Armenia, Ukraine, etc.). This corresponds to the classication of political
regimes given in the index itself. CSOCI indicators reect the opinion of
experts on the status of individual indicators that describe civil society in
countries.
Figure 2. Cluster dendrogram of the classication of countries
in the region by NIT (2019)
Source: calculated according to Freedom House (2021).
415
CUESTIONES POLÍTICAS
Vol. 39 Nº 70 (2021): 407-425
They are strongly mutually correlated (Table 2) with linear correlation
coecients of 0.91-0.79. A correlation of the legal conditions of activity
with other indicators that make up the index is a relatively smaller. This can
be understood as the fact that the interviewed experts tend to have a single
impression of the state of civil society, transferring it to all areas outlined.
Table 2. Table of correlation of the CSOCI components
Legal
Environment
Organizational
Capacity
Financial
Viability
Advocacy
Service
Provision
Sectoral
Infrastructure
Public Image
Legal Environment 1.00
Organizational Capacity 0.82 1.00
Financial Viability 0.79 0.91 1.00
Advocacy 0.89 0.88 0.83 1.00
Service Provision 0.84 0.88 0.90 0.85 1.00
Sectoral Infrastructure 0.80 0.88 0.88 0.79 0.90 1.00
Public Image 0.90 0.91 0.87 0.90 0.88 0.80 1.00
Source: authors development.
Among the individual components of the index is the strongest degree of
statistical relationship between organizational capacity, nancial viability,
and the public image of civil society organizations. Such results are logical,
they outline the importance of the institutional stability of civil society. In
authoritarian countries, there is systemic pressure on these aspects of civil
society organizations. They are weakened through discrediting campaigns in
state-controlled media, discriminatory legal norms regarding the conditions
of their organizational activities and exerting pressure to limit their sources
of funding. Such a system of measures is implemented in Azerbaijan and
the Russian Federation in its fullest form. The most favorable conditions
for the institutional activity of civil society organizations are in the Central
European countries of the EU and the Baltic countries.
In the NIT structure, individual indicators are marked by almost the
same strength of correlation (Table 3) with linear correlation coecients
of 0.96-0.83.
416
Bohdan Hrebeniuk, Viktoriia Hrytsun, Valerii Bortniak, Kateryna Bortniak y Alina Liasota
The interests of state and civil society as a determinant of the democrative political development
of Central and Eastern Europe countries
Table 3. Table of the correlation of the NIT components
National
Democratic
Governance
Electoral
Process
Civil Society
Independent
Media
Local
Democratic
Governance
Judicial
Framework and
Independence
Corruption
National Democratic
Governance
1.00
Electoral Process 0.90 1.00
Civil Society 0.84 0.94 1.00
Independent Media 0.93 0.93 0.88 1.00
Local Democratic
Governance
0.93 0.94 0.86 0.89 1.00
Judicial Framework
and Independence
0.96 0.90 0.83 0.92 0.92 1.00
Corruption 0.94 0.89 0.85 0.91 0.90 0.92 1.00
Source: authors development.
It is reasonable to interpret these data in the same way — the general
impression of the state of democratic development of the country is
transferred by experts to all outlined spheres. The indicator of the state of
civil society in the system of indicators assessed by the survey shows the
greatest degree of correlation with the electoral process (linear correlation
coecient 0.94) and relatively smaller with the state of the legal system
(linear correlation coecient 0.83). It should be noted that there is the
strongest correlation between such indicators as civil society and the
electoral process. This may indicate the importance of this aspect of the
interaction between the state and civil society as the most basic determinant
of the democratic vector of political development. The degree of democratic
electoral process is manifested in the interaction of the state and civil
society in its organization. Such interaction can have many aspects, but one
way or another civil society creates an environment for a positive electoral
process, and it is the language of the fullest realization of democratic choice
of society through the eectiveness of all its stages — from nomination of
candidates (parties, blocs) and representation in society to the counting of
votes.
417
CUESTIONES POLÍTICAS
Vol. 39 Nº 70 (2021): 407-425
Statistical analysis of the validity of the indices of the status and
development of civil society was conducted according to three models of
multiple linear regression (Table 4).
Table 4. Results of statistical analysis
Model 1 Model 2 Model 3
Dependent variable* CNG LL DQ
Multiple R
2
0.8315 0.5816 0.9092
Adjusted R
2
0.7578 0.4935 0.8901
F-statistics 11.28 6.0602 47.55
p-value 3.843 х 10
-5
0.001659 1.221х10
-9
Statistical signicance of t-statistics of independent variables
CSOSI - 0.287280 -
NIT 0.000190 0.488169 0.00035
GDP 0.023393 0.000292 5.86х10
-5
HLE - - 0.01527
Corr - - -
Gini 0.016557 - -
HC 0.007857 - -
Gr 0.000644 - -
CNG - - -
LL - - -
SS - - 0.08113
Fre 0.148415 - -
Gen 0.030083 0.017869 -
DQ - - -
* The codes of the dependent variables are given in Table 1
Source: authors development.
Model 1 has as a dependent variable indicator of condence in the
national government. This connects the relationship between the state and
civil society. Condence in the government is seen as a general indicator of
418
Bohdan Hrebeniuk, Viktoriia Hrytsun, Valerii Bortniak, Kateryna Bortniak y Alina Liasota
The interests of state and civil society as a determinant of the democrative political development
of Central and Eastern Europe countries
citizens’ satisfaction with the political regime, politics, and the ruling class.
The statistical quality of the model is high. The impact of basic economic
indicators of economic development, income distribution, freedom in social
life on the attitude of citizens to the government is logical. At the same
time, the indicator of the development of civil society as part of NIT shows
high statistical signicance in this model. The model can be considered
as one that reects the relationship between the basic indicators of the
eectiveness of interaction between the state and civil society in the eld
of public welfare. Achieving eective values of wealth and social stability
of society is associated with a developed and sustainable civil society. This
dependence is statistically signicant and reproducible even though in
the group of authoritarian countries in the region the value of individual
indicators of wealth (GDP per capita) may be high, but the value of social
stability of society (social income distribution, human capital development)
still remains at low or medium values.
In Model 2, the target is the indicator of the so-called “life ladder”.
According to the methodology, it is based on a survey, where citizens
answer a direct question about the subjective feeling of satisfaction with
their own lives. The involved algorithm excludes the analysed indices of the
state and development of civil society from the composition of variables for
this model. Their inclusion leads to a slight deterioration of its statistical
characteristics, which are not high. The indicator of self-satisfaction is
statistically related to the indicator of society’s wealth and the indicator
of people’s readiness for charity. Such a model may have plausible socio-
psychological explanations, but in this case, they do not include or indicate
the importance of civil society.
The target variable of Model 3 is the democracy quality indicator. This
indicator itself is an integrated index calculated on the basis of seven
separate statistical indicators of the quality of democratic governance
(World Happiness Report, 2020). The statistical quality of the model is
high. As such, the values of this index are well related in the model to the
indicators of society’s well-being — wealth and quality of life, as well as
social comfort. The NIT civil society indicator is also included in the model
with a high statistical signicance. In general, Model 3 reproduces the same
substantive inferences about the principles of balance of interests of the
state and civil society, as a basic determinant of the democratic vector of
political development of Central and Eastern Europe, as Model 1.
3. Discussion
Thus, both indices quite eectively reect the current understanding of
the nature of political regimes in Central and Eastern Europe. In this study,
419
CUESTIONES POLÍTICAS
Vol. 39 Nº 70 (2021): 407-425
dierences in indices were considered within one region, which narrowed
the possibilities for determining the cross-cultural component in CSO
activities, as dened, for example, in Kim and Jung (2021). Both CSOSI
and NIT are suitable for this purpose, at least when it comes to comparing
countries within one region without drastic cross-cultural dierences.
When it comes to diagnosing the status of civil society in countries where
there is an assumption of the development of another socio-cultural model
(Kessler, 2018), such a comparison based on the indices under consideration
may be problematic.
However, it is not advisable to use these indices without analyzing
the methodology and content of their indicators, as the analytical report
Civil Society of Ukraine: Policy of Promotion and Involvement, Challenges
and Transformations does (Yablonskyi et al., 2019). The changes on the
index scale for an individual country are not informative. The formation of
classication models indicates the possibility of grouping and comparing
countries within the group. However, the analysis with the construction of
structural models of civil society, such as with vertical or horizontal systems
of relations (Solioz, 2011), heteronomous or autonomous types of civil
society (Riley and Fernández, 2014), is not possible.
The state of civil society is an assessment of democratic and authoritarian
ways of governing the countries of the region. In the practices of authoritarian
countries, one can nd signs of underdeveloped or consistently suppressed
civil society, which is almost not a factor in the political process in the
country — Azerbaijan, Belarus, and signs of policy to ght the existing civil
society — the Russian Federation. If we turn to the values of the CSOSI
components, Azerbaijan is most characterized by strict legal conditions
against civil society, unfavorable conditions for organizational and nancial
activities of civil society organizations.
For Russia and Belarus, given the general negative background of the
activities of civil society institutions, along with the strict legal regime, such
indicators as the public image of civil society institutions play a negative
role. Until recently, there was a tendency to underestimate the level of
authoritarianism in the Russian political system (Tandon and Brown, 2013),
although this is reected in the indexes. This points to the role of the media
and state-organized propaganda as means of suppressing civic activism.
Similarly, the results of the situational analysis indicate a greater degree
of progress of civil society after Euromaidan in Ukraine (Krasynska and
Martin, 2017; Lyasota, 2018a) than the indices show, and the importance
of supporting civil society institutions for democratization in the region.
This is also relevant to the Ukrainian experience (Korenke, 2017) analyzed
in this study, and the ndings of other democratizing societies, including
those that do not belong to the region of Central and Eastern Europe (Kim
and Jeong, 2017).
420
Bohdan Hrebeniuk, Viktoriia Hrytsun, Valerii Bortniak, Kateryna Bortniak y Alina Liasota
The interests of state and civil society as a determinant of the democrative political development
of Central and Eastern Europe countries
An analysis of the internal structure of CSOSI and NIT raises questions
about their subjectivity and the inuence of “general attitudes” in
determining them. NIT is more eective. As noted above, the indicator of
the status of civil society is one of the components of its structure. It is
possible to construct statistically qualitative equations that link the electoral
process well with the status of civil society and the status of local democratic
government. This scheme is fully linked to theoretical and practical ideas
about modern social democracy. It is appropriate to clarify the relationship
between the assessment of the level of sustainability of civil society in terms
of its individual institutions.
Thus, the connection of participation in trade unions with the level of
perception of corruption revealed in statistical models (Zakaria, 2013)
should be claried through the materials of countries in the region
where trade unions have a dierent nature —the experience of post-
Soviet countries and Poland (Praszkier et. al., 2017) can be seen here
as contrasting. It can also be claried through the materials of gender
inclusion in the organization of civil society and gender equality (Ruxton
and Van Der Gaag, 2013; Lyasota, 2018b; Public organization information
and analytical center “Public Space”, 2018). In this regard, it is important
to assess the dierence between the development of CSOs caused by the
spread of the EU welfare state system to some countries in the region
(Cook, 2015; North, 2006). In the authoritarian countries of the region,
for example, in the Russian Federation, there is a tendency to establish and
develop vertical links between civil society organizations involved in social
work and political elites (Ljubownikow and Crotty, 2017), which is also a
factor to be taken into account.
The analysis for the region of Central and Eastern Europe revealed
interesting connections not only between the status of civil society and
the state, but also in the set of factors that reect the analytical triangular
or quadrangular relations. People’s satisfaction with government is not a
simple consequence of the economic situation — the relationship of social
wealth and economic progress. The state of civil society also proves to be
a factor in this system of relations, along with the characteristics of the
quality of social relations and the existing socio-psychological peculiarities
of the population.
Conclusions and recommendations
Thus, the availability of tools to assess the status and degree of
development of civil society in its relations with the state is a necessary
tool used in both scientic and political research, which can be observed
in practice. Such indices make them not only a scientic but also a political
421
CUESTIONES POLÍTICAS
Vol. 39 Nº 70 (2021): 407-425
factor, which increases their relevance. Indeed, the use of common
integrated civil society status indices based on expert surveys is relatively
eective, as evidenced by the models built. The use of modern methods to
improve the quality of the results obtained during the survey (rejection of
extreme estimates, etc.) really makes them eective. The numerical values
of the indices of the status and development of civil society obtained in this
way can be used in statistical models.
However, the main problem of these indices is the method of subjective
assessments, which is the basis of their methodology. The nature of these
indices is largely a “black box”, which may be the ability of surveyed experts
to identify the characteristic public attitudes. These indices may have
little practical value and reect banal provisions that are also obvious to
society. It is important to create such integrated indicators of the status and
development of civil society and its interaction with the state which would
be based on objective measurable indicators. Accordingly, such indices can
be expected to have better prognostic potential.
A positive balance of interests of the state and civil society as a basic
determinant of the democratic vector of political development of the
country can be ensured through a wide range of conditions. According to
the literature review and analysis of the research materials, these conditions
are dierent due to cross-cultural, institutional, historical and discursive
dierences, which can be observed even within a relatively homogeneous
region, such as Central and Eastern Europe. Measuring the degree of
their development requires the denition of a wider range of statistical
indicators, which should be objective in nature. That is, they should be
based on indicators that reect the measurable changes in the process of
interaction between the state and civil society in the diversity of aspects
of this process. Coverage of various aspects of the interaction between the
state and civil society, such as regional dierences in the nature of civil
society organizations, cross-cultural dierences, gender equality, etc. are
necessary.
Bibliographic References
COOK, Linda. 2015. “New Winds of Social Policy in the East”. In: Voluntas:
International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprot Organizations. Vol.
26, No. 6, pp. 2330-2350.
DIYJAK, Tina, FORBICI, Goran. 2017. The future evolution of civil society in
the European Union by 2030: Study. Available online. In: CES/CSS/01/:
https://www.eesc.europa.eu/sites/default/files/files/the_future_
evolution_of_civil_society_in_the_eu_by_2030.pdf. Consultation
date: 07/21/2021.
422
Bohdan Hrebeniuk, Viktoriia Hrytsun, Valerii Bortniak, Kateryna Bortniak y Alina Liasota
The interests of state and civil society as a determinant of the democrative political development
of Central and Eastern Europe countries
EUROPEAN COMISSION. 2020. European Neighbourhood Policy and
Enlargement Negotiations. Civil Society. Available online. In: https://
ec.europa.eu/neighbourhood-enlargement/policy/policy-highlights/
civil-society_en. Consultation date: 07/21/2021.
EUROSTAT. 2021. Quality of life indicators - governance and basic rights.
Available online. In: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/
index.php?title=Quality_of_life_indicators_-_governance_and_
basic_rights. Consultation date: 07/21/2021.
FREEDOM HOUSE. 2021. Nations in Transit. Available online. In: https://
freedomhouse.org/report/nations-transit. Consultation date:
07/21/2021.
FUKUYAMA, Fransis. 2000. Social Capital and Civil Society. Available online.
In: IMF Working Paper: https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/
wp/2000/wp0074.pdf. Consultation date: 21/05/2021.
GORELOV, Denis 2014. The contribution of civil society organizations in the
formation of civic culture. In: Civil society of Ukraine: current state and
prospects of implementation of European standards of interaction with
the state, pp. 88-92.
KESSLER, Clive. 2018. “State and Civil Society Global Context, Southeast Asian
Prospect” In: Sojourn: Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia. Vol. 33,
No. S, pp. S131-S155.
KIM, Jungsook, JUNG, Heon Joo. 2021. “An Empirical Analysis on
Determinants of Aid Allocation by South Korean Civil Society
Organizations” In: Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and
Nonprot Organizations. Vol. 32, No. 1, pp. 151-164. Available online.
In: http://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-020-00238-1. Consultation date:
21/05/2021.
KIM, Sunhyuk; JEONG, Jong-Ho. 2017. “Historical Development of Civil
Society in Korea since 1987” In: Journal of International and Area
Studies. Vol. 24, No. 2, pp.1-14.
KORENKE, David. 2017. A High Stakes Gamble: U.S. “Assistance for Ukraine’s
Pro-Democracy Movements” In: Journal of International Aairs. Vol. 71,
No. 1, pp. 187-194.
KRASYNSKA, Svitlana; MARTIN, Eric. 2017. “The Formality of Informal Civil
Society: Ukraine’s EuroMaidan” In: Voluntas: International Journal of
Voluntary and Nonprot Organizations. Vol. 28, No 1, pp. 420-449.
423
CUESTIONES POLÍTICAS
Vol. 39 Nº 70 (2021): 407-425
LETKI, Natalia. 2004. “Socialization for Participation? Trust, Membership,
and Democratization in East-Central Europe” In: Political Research
Quarterly. Vol. 57, No. 4, pp.665-679. Available online. In: http://doi.
org/10.2307/3219827. Consultation date: 21/05/2021.
LJUBOWNIKOW, Sergej; CROTTY, Jo. 2017. “Managing Boundaries the
Role of Non-Prot Organisations in Russia’s Managed Democracy” In:
Sociology. Vol.51, No.5, pp. 940-956.
LYASOTA Alina. 2018a. “Current state and prospects of development of civil
society institutions in Ukraine” In: Political Science. Vol. 21, No. 10, pp.
142-148.
LYASOTA Alina. 2018b. “European experience of interaction between the state
and civil society in the eld of gender policy on the example of Sweden”
In: Epistemological studies in Philosophy, Social and Political Sciences.
Vol. 1-2, pp. 91-98.
MASTNAK, Tomas. 2005. “The reinvention of civil society: Through the looking
glass of democracy” In: European Journal of Sociology. Vol. 46, No. 2,
pp. 323-355.
MORE-HOLLERWEGER, Eva; BOGORIN, Flavia-Elvira; LITOFCENKO,
Julia; MEYER, Michael. 2019. Civil Society in Central and Eastern
Europe: Monitoring 2019. ERSTE Foundation. Vienna, Austria.
NORTH, Peter. 2006. “Constructing Civil Society? Green Money in Transition
Hungary” In: Review of International Political Economy. Vol. 13, No.1,
pp. 28-52.
PEERENBOOM, Randall. 2003. Social Networks, Civil Society, Democracy and
Rule of Law: A New Conceptual Framework. University of California.
Berkeley, USA.
PRASZKIER, Ryszard; PETRUSHAK, Ewa; KACPRZYK-MURAWSKA, Marta;
ZABIOCKA, Agata. 2017. “The Polish Social Enterprise Sector Vis-
à-Vis the Welfare Regime: Following on the Solidarity Movement?”
In: Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprot
Organizations. Vol. 28, No. 6, pp. 2383-2402.
PUBLIC ORGANIZATION INFORMATION AND ANALYTICAL CENTER
“PUBLIC SPACE”. 2018. Civil society of Ukraine: gures and facts.
Available online. In: https://www.prostir.ua/?news=hromadyanske-
suspilstvo-ukrajiny-tsyfry-i-fakty. Consultation date: 04/21/2021.
RILEY, Dylan; FERNÁNDEZ, Juan. 2014. “Beyond Strong and Weak:
Rethinking Post dictatorship Civil Societies” In: American Journal of
424
Bohdan Hrebeniuk, Viktoriia Hrytsun, Valerii Bortniak, Kateryna Bortniak y Alina Liasota
The interests of state and civil society as a determinant of the democrative political development
of Central and Eastern Europe countries
Sociology. Vol. 120, No. 2, pp. 432-503. Available online. In: http://doi.
org/10.1086/678272. Consultation date: 20/04/2021.
RUXTON, Sandy; VAN DER GAAG, Nikki. 2013. “Men’s involvement in gender
equality 2014; European perspectives” In: Gender and Development.
Vol. 21, No.1, pp. 161-175.
SOLIOZ, Christophe. 2011. “Civil society: any way out from the dead end?” In:
SEER: Journal for Labour and Social Aairs in Eastern Europe. Vol. 14,
No.4, pp. 493-504.
STATE STATISTICS SERVICE OF UKRAINE. 2017. Activities of public
organizations in 2016. In: Statistical Bulletin. State Statistics Service of
Ukraine. Kyiv, Ukraine.
TANDON, Rajesh; BROWN, David. 2013. “Civil societies at crossroads:
eruptions, initiatives, and evolution in citizen activism” In: Development
in Practice. Vol. 23, No. 5/6, pp. 601-608.
THE SWEDISH INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION
AGENCY. 2021. Sida’s CSO databa. Available online. In: https://cso.
sida.se/. Consultation date: 07/20/2021.
UN DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS.2020. The
integrated Civil Society Organizations (iCSO) System. Available online.
In: https://esango.un.org/civilsociety/. Consultation date: 07/18/2021.
UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL. 2021. S. a. C. O. U. Non-Governmental
Organizations. Available online. In: https://en.unesco.org/partnerships/
non-governmental-organizations/. Consultation date: 07/23/2021.
USAID. 2021. The CSO Sustainability Index. Available online. In: https://csosi.
org/. Consultation date: 07/21/2021.
WOMEN’S INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE FOR PEACE AND FREEDOM. 2020.
The Peace Women Organizations Database. Available online. In: https://
www.peacewomen.org/cso-database. Consultation date: 05/21/2021.
WOOD, Jacqueline; FÄLLMAN, Karin. 2019. Enabling Civil Society. Available
online. In: https://ideas.repec.org/p/oec/dcdaaa/5 7-en.html.
Consultation date: 07/21/2021.
WORLD DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS.2021 Available online. In: http://
wdi.worldbank.org/. Consultation date: 05/21/2021.
WORLD HAPPINESS REPORT. 2020. World Happiness Report. 2020.
Available online. In: https://worldhappiness.report/. Consultation date:
07/21/2021.
425
CUESTIONES POLÍTICAS
Vol. 39 Nº 70 (2021): 407-425
YABLONSKY, Valentine; BEKESHKINA, Iryna; HELETIUM, Мarian. 2019.
Civil society of Ukraine: policy of assistance and involvement, challenges,
and transformations. NISD. Kyiv, Ukraine.
YAKYMENKO, Yuriy. 1991. Civil society in Ukraine: main characteristics.
Available online. In: https://razumkov.org.ua/upload/yakymenko_
civic_society_2004.pdf. Consultation date: 07/21/2021.
ZAKARIA, Patty. 2013. “Is corruption an enemy of civil society? The case of
Central and Eastern Europe” In: International Political Science Review.
Vol. 34, No.4, pp. 351-371.
www.luz.edu.ve
www.serbi.luz.edu.ve
www.produccioncienticaluz.org
Esta revista fue editada en formato digital y publicada
en octubre de 2021, por el Fondo Editorial Serbiluz,
Universidad del Zulia. Maracaibo-Venezuela
Vol.39 Nº Especial