Strengthening the Practice of Good Governance in Croatia - Are Civil Society Organizations Co-governors in Policy Making?

In the times of demise of nation states, emergence of diverse social risks and the Europeanization of policy processes, civil society organizations are expected to take a role in policy - making and service delivery. Over time, the EU has developed different policies towards organized civil society. Even though civil society organizations were addressed already in the early EU treaties, the more comprehensive policy towards civil society has been developed over the last decade. The EU has delivered policy papers and developed different mechanisms for including the civil society organizations in the EU policy definition and implementation. Such orientation towards including the civil society organizations in policy making is also noticeable in Croatia, underpinned by the Europeanization process. The EU principles of good governance are visible in different strategies and other documents, and have become an integral part of the public discourse on civil society. However, can we talk about civil society organizations as co-governors in Croatia? This paper seeks to explore the role of civil society in policy making, both at national, as well as local levels in Croatia. After a brief overview of the development of policies on civil society at the EU level, and the implication of the Europeanization process for Croatian civil society, the paper presents the most topical empirical insights into the policy impact that civil society organizations exert, based on the research results from the Civil Society Index 2008 - 2010 in Croatia. The research results show the extent of the policy impact of organizations, policy areas where their impact is most visible, examples of good practices as well as identified obstacles for civil society's greater involvement, where the perception of civil society representatives and other stakeholders are juxtaposed.