Funded by the Ford Foundation and based at the Institute of Development Studies, UK, The Civil Society and Governance Programme is a 3-year research project involving researchers in 22 countries, spanning 6 international regions (Africa, Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and the US). Focusing specifically on the interplay between civil society and government, the objective of the project is to gain a clearer understanding of the character and functions of civil society, especially its promise and limitations with regard to promoting good governance and social justice, and to develop strategies to these ends.
Outputs include draft country reports mapping civil society in each of the 22 countries, and case studies of state-civil society interactions written by in-country researchers. Study topics range from the nationwide campaign to demand the re-writing of the Thai constitution, to the equally successful efforts of villagers in India to thwart government backed plans to sell communal land to private enterprise. The wealth of evidence covers various thematic sectors, and focuses on successes and failures, weaknesses and strengths, large episodes and small, and the activities of everything from single civil society organisations to alliances containing many of them.
Links to other civil society oriented websites and electronic discussion forums (see seperate entry) can also be found on the site.