Citizens and governance: civil society in the new millenium

Planned and managed by the Commonwealth Foundation and coordinated by a taskforce, the Civil Society in the New Millennium Project collected answers to questions about civil society from thousands of citizens in 47 Commonwealth countries. Questions concerned ideal conceptions of a 'good' society, the appropriate roles of citizens, the state and other sectors of society, and factors which would enable citizens to contribute effectively to societal development. The aim of the project was to identify ways to strengthen, promote, encourage and catalyse the wide variety of initiatives taken by citizens to address issues and problems in their everyday lives. The report provides insights into the nature of civil society, the relationship between civil society and the state and, especially, the relationship between individual citizens and the state.