Civic Space - ARTICLE 19

Civic space is the place where individuals realise their rights – both online and offline. It is the space where we participate, express, assemble, and inform ourselves.

The global Civic Space score has decreased over the past decade, with no change between 2017 and 2018. The Americas have seen deterioration in their civic space, with crises in countries such as Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Brazil where protest and public participation have been met with restrictions, both in law and on the streets.

While Africa, and the Middle East and North Africa, are seeing improvements in their Civic Space scores over 2018, they are still facing significant challenges, and their upturn in scores must be met with caution.

Table 6: Civic Space scores for each region, 2008–18

	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
Africa	0.45	0.44	0.45	0.44	0.44	0.44	0.44	0.44	0.42	0.42	0.43
Americas	0.64	0.64	0.64	0.64	0.63	0.61	0.61	0.61	0.61	0.59	0.59
APA^a	0.48	0.49	0.49	0.49	0.48	0.47	0.47	0.47	0.46	0.46	0.45
ECA^b	0.69	0.69	0.70	0.70	0.69	0.68	0.67	0.67	0.67	0.66	0.66
MENA^c	0.19	0.19	0.19	0.20	0.24	0.24	0.24	0.23	0.23	0.22	0.23
Average Country Score	0.52	0.52	0.53	0.53	0.53	0.52	0.52	0.51	0.51	0.50	0.50

Notes: a = Asia and the Pacific; b = Europe and Central Asia; c = Middle East and North Africa.

Table 7: Top and bottom five scores for Civic Space, 2018

Position	Country	Score
1	Norway	0.96
2	Denmark	0.95
3	Sweden	0.94
4	Switzerland	0.92
5	Finland	0.91
…	*Average*	*0.50*
157	South Sudan	0.02
158	Syria	0.02
159	Bahrain	0.01
160	Turkmenistan	0.01
161	North Korea	0.00

Figure 3: Regional Civic Space Scores