Macro-Level Determinants of the Participation in Environmental NGOs in the Former Communist EU Member States

The paper analyzes the role of some societal level factors which determine citizens’ participation in environmental non-governmental organizations in the case of ten former communist European countries, now members of the European Union, based on the data of the 62.2 Special Eurobarometer. The analysis practically re-verifies on the case of these countries previous considerations made on the level of very different states of the world regarding the macro-level determinants of participation, respectively adds to these previous findings the possible role of opportunity structures (number of ENGOs) and that of societal trust. Results confirm the role of the classical factors (national wealth, democratisation and environmental conditions) on participation. No matter participation have declined compared to the beginning of the transition period, democratisation still constitutes a helping force for participation in these countries as far as it creates the climate and opportunity structures for involvement. It is however interesting that ENGO participation is much more dependent on a country’s democratic climate than on the number of opportunity structures, in spite of the fact that the latter is correlated with democratisation.