Estonians not very involved in civil society

According to the data collected by the European Social Survey (ESS), people are most socio-politically involved in Iceland, Germany and Norway.

The citizens are the least active in Portugal, Hungary and Lithuania. Estonia shows a level of involvement characteristic of most post-communist countries.

Within Estonia, the differences between involvement levels of men and women are rather insignificant. However, more prominent differences occur in the level of education: the more educated the person, the more involved and active he or she is in social issues. The most active population group is the 35-44-year-olds, the least active are the under-25s and over-75s.

The socio-political involvement of the citizens of different countries are measured by their interest in politics, participation in elections and refenda, involvement with NGOs or voluntary work, and other various manifestations of active citizenship. The latter include:

• contacting politicians or state/local government officials
• working for a political union or interest group
• working for another organisation or union
• publicly wearing or displaying campaign badges or stickers
• signing petitions
• attending public demonstrations
• boycotting certain products

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