Thinking Democratically: A Comprehensive Approach to Countering and Preventing Shrinking Space

2.1 Closing civic space
There is an impressive range of studies into closing civic space worldwide. 20 Civic space is widely
defined as the environment in which citizens and CSOs can freely organise, participate and
communicate without hindrance, and thereby exercise their right to freedom of association, peaceful
assembly and expression. 21 ‘Shrinking’ civic space is the systematic trend of gradual restrictions
imposed on citizens – especially those participating in CSO activities – to keep them from exercising
their rights to freedom of assembly, association and speech, usually by the state. Because ‘shrinking’
implies an involuntary and irreversible trend, the term ‘closing space’ has generally been preferred
by civil society organisations. 22
Civic space is the first battle ground for the closing of democratic space, through three types of
measures: legislative, administrative and extra-legal or political measures. The graph below shows
that all cases under study saw varying degrees of decline in civil liberties in recent years, except for
Zimbabwe, which can be explained by the slight (and short lived) political opening following the
departure of the longtime dictator Robert Mugabe.
20
Including by CIVICUS with their annual state of civil society report, as well as by Amnesty International, the International
Centre for Not-for-Profit Law, the Council of Europe, and Fronline Defenders, the Fundamental Rights Agency, amongst
others.
21
CIVICUS (2018): what is civic space? Available here.
22
From this point onwards, this report will use the term ‘closing space’ to describe the phenomena of gradual restrictions
imposed on citizens – especially those participating in CSO activities – to keep them from exercising their rights to freedom
of assembly, association and speech.
13