CIVICUS Civil Society Index ITALIAN CIVIL SOCIETY FACING NEW CHALLENGES …… Edited by Giovanni Moro and Ilaria Vannini Rome, May 2006 With the support of CIVICUS Civil Society Index Report for Italy 1 FOREWORD Cittadinanzattiva (Active Citizenship) is an independent civic participation movement, which was established in 1978 and operates in Italy and Europe. Its mission is to empower citizens as actors to protect rights and care for common goods. It has 76,000 members in Italy, participating in 235 local assemblies or federated associations. Cittadinanzattiva operates through networks aimed at involving citizens in different areas of policy making. The networks are the Tribunal for Patients’ Rights and the Coordination of Chronically Ill Associations operating in health care and welfare; the “Citizens’ Advocates” operating in consumer protection and general interest services; the Justice for Rights network engaged in justice system and legal intervention; the School of Active Citizenship, working on education institutions and civic education and the Active Citizenship Network, linking about 70 national-based citizens’ associations operating in 28 European Union countries. The main result that Cittadinanzattiva substantially contributed to achieving was the 2001 reform of the Italian Constitution introducing (art. 118.4) the principle of “horizontal” subsidiarity, which recognises autonomous citizens’ activity for general interest, as a pillar of the republic. Cittadinanzattiva has been a member of CIVICUS since the second half of ‘90s. In Cittadinanzattiva’s tradition there is a strong link between civic action and research, and between domestic and international commitment. This tradition was at the heart of Cittandinanzattiva’s decision, in 2003, to carry out the Civil Society Index in Italy. Now that the project has been completed, it is clear that that the CSI was an important opportunity to create a common ground of knowledge on civic activism in Italy. The CSI enriched the self-awareness of civil society organisations (CSOs) and increased the attention of many stakeholders. The research itself was implemented through a strong involvement of people and organisations. I hope that the results of the research, reported in this document, will be used as a common tool for building better knowledge and more effective action. The Active Citizenship Foundation (FONDACA, www.fondaca.org) played a crucial role in the success of the project. FONDACA, an institution based in Rome, was created in 2001 with the mission of supporting the development of civic activism through social research, advanced training, cultural dialogue and the mobilization of resources. It was inspired by the experience and mission of Cittadinanzattiva and, among others, was the scientific advisor on the CSI implementation both at national and European level. I am very grateful for the contribution of FONDACA people to the project. Teresa Petrangolini, General Secretary Cittadinanzattiva (Active Citizenship) CIVICUS Civil Society Index Report for Italy 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Civil Society Index (CSI) in Italy was carried out by Cittadinanzattiva and FONDACA in cooperation with a wide range of organisations and individuals. The project’s methodology was developed by CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation. The National Advisory Group (NAG), in line with the proposed methodology, assisted from the very beginning of the project. We would like to express our gratitude to the NAG members who selflessly offered their time, knowledge and information in order to successfully accomplish this project. The members of the NAG include: Gregorio Arena, Pier Paolo Baretta, Pietro Barbieri, Costanza Fanelli, Altero Frigerio, Renato Frisanco, Antonio Lombardi, Antonio Longo, Stefania Mancini, Giulio Marcon, Marco Martorelli, Marco Musella, Maria Teresa Rosito. Throughout the course of the project implementation, about 30 key informants and experts were consulted on various aspects of the research in order to provide information and advice. We want to thank all of them for their time and assistance. We also want to thank the civil society and stakeholder organisations who convened and managed the focus groups at the regional level. They are Cittadinanzattiva, Confindustria, Fondazione Cesar, Legacoop, Sodalitas and Spes. We are also grateful to the individuals who were involved in the media research on television, radio and print media. A number of individuals made general contributions to the research in its various phases. We want to thank them for making a very complex process easier. These individuals are listed in the Annexes. We are grateful to Legacoop, which supported the Cittadinanzattiva and FONDACA investment in this project. Lastly, we wish to express our appreciation to Mahi Khallaf, Finn Heinrich and Lorenzo Fioramonti, from the CIVICUS Civil Society Index team, for their selfless assistance and advice provided during the project implementation. Vittorio Ferla, Giovanni Moro, Ilaria Vannini CIVICUS - Civil Society Index - Italian Team CIVICUS Civil Society Index Report for Italy 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS FOREWORD ...............................................................................................................................................................1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................................................................................2 TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................................................................3 TABLES AND FIGURES ...............................................................................................................................................4 LIST OF ACRONYMS ..................................................................................................................................................6 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .............................................................................................................................................7 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................................................12 I CIVIL SOCIETY INDEX PROJECT & APPROACH.........................................................................................14 1. PROJECT BACKGROUND ......................................................................................................................................14 2. PROJECT APPROACH ...........................................................................................................................................15 II CIVIL SOCIETY IN ITALY ..............................................................................................................................19 1. HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF CIVIL SOCIETY .........................................................................................................19 2. OVERVIEW OF THE CONCEPT OF CIVIL SOCIETY .................................................................................................20 3. KEY DISTINGUISHING FEATURES OF THE COUNTRY CONTEXT ...........................................................................21 4. MAPPING OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN ITALY ................................................................................................................22 III ANALYSIS OF CIVIL SOCIETY ...................................................................................................................30 1. STRUCTURE .........................................................................................................................................................30 1.1 The Extent of Citizen Participation in Civil Society........................................................................................30 1.2 Depth of Citizen Participation in Civil Society................................................................................................32 1.3 Diversity of Civil Society Participants.............................................................................................................33 1.4 Level of Organisation.......................................................................................................................................37 1.5 Inter-Relations within Civil Society ................................................................................................................42 1.6 Civil Society Resources ...................................................................................................................................43 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................................46 2. ENVIRONMENT ....................................................................................................................................................47 2.1 Political Context...............................................................................................................................................47 2.2 Basic Rights and Freedoms..............................................................................................................................50 2.3 Socio-economic Context..................................................................................................................................52 2.4 Socio-cultural Context .....................................................................................................................................52