This paper provides an empirical investigation of the “social capital” theories that link civil society and democracy … society is also positively correlated with human development. Using a simple regression analysis, we discover that democracy …. Using data from the Civil Society Index for 44 countries, we find that not only this relationship exists, but that civil …

Historically, implementing democracy has been a domestic concern. Recent events in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, Bahrain, and … Iran reflect variations of the traditional pattern for democratic change within a closed society. Yet, as the world edges … into the 21st century, democratization with the companion promotion of human rights and development, particularly in what …