Civil Society Development and Democratic Values in Romania and Moldova

Abstract

Does civic engagement lead to democratic values such as trust and tolerance? This is the claim of the literature on social capital. Using surveys of the public and organizational activists the authors conducted in Romania and Moldova in 2001 with the support of the Starr Foundation, they investigate these linkages. In both countries, they find low levels of civic engagement, trust, and tolerance for the mass public. They also find little support for the argument that participation leads to greater trust and tolerance among the mass public. However, they find considerably higher levels of trust, tolerance, and engagement among organizational activists and suggest that this elite may help transfer democratic values to the larger population. It is disconcerting that such activists constitute minuscule proportions of the population in both countries.