New Volkswagen Foundation Project to Examine the Regulation of Civil Society
A new five-year research project involving ZOiS will start on 1 September 2026. It focuses on the regulation of civil society in democracies in transition. The Volkswagen Foundation is funding the project ‘The “Good”, “the Bad”, and the (Un)democratic: Regulating Civil Society in Democracies under Change’ as part of the funding programme ‘Transformational Knowledge on Democracies under Change – Transdisciplinary Perspectives’ (co-operative projects). The University of Cologne is leading the project, and a three-year post is being created at ZOiS in Berlin.
“I am delighted that this project, situated at the interface of legal studies and the social sciences, is adding a new dimension to the research undertaken at ZOiS,” says ZOiS Director and co-initiator Gwendolyn Sasse. “In addition to the project’s interdisciplinary component, close collaboration with civil society actors is also a key focus.”
Focus on civil society
Civil society actors shape democratic transformation processes. NGOs, religious communities, citizens’ initiatives and trade unions can strengthen democracies – for example, by holding governments to account. However, they can also weaken democracies.
More and more states are enacting laws that restrict civil society engagement. They often justify this with reference to the need to protect their countries from ‘foreign influence’. Such ‘foreign agent’ laws have already been introduced in countries with autocratic governments like Georgia, and they are currently being debated in Germany and the UK.
A mix of methods and practical perspectives
The project examines how states regulate civil society today and also asks how they should do so. The guiding question is: How can we distinguish engagement that strengthens democracies from engagement that harms them?
To answer that question, the project analyses legislation in the EU and in the individual countries of Germany, Ukraine, the UK and Georgia. The team will also conduct interviews with politicians, NGOs and academics. The project combines empirical methods with methods from legal studies and the social sciences with the aim of developing a risk-based regulatory model for civil society.
Project team and partners
Professor Angelika Nußberger (University of Cologne) is leading the project. ZOiS Director Professor Gwendolyn Sasse and Professor Silvia von Steinsdorff (Humboldt University of Berlin) are also involved. Transparency International EU and Democracy Reporting International are contributing additional practical expertise. At ZOiS, social scientist Kostiantyn Fedorenko will implement the project from 1 September 2026.
At least one workshop is planned at ZOiS over the project term. The findings will also feed into ZOiS’s event formats and dialogue with policymakers.