Social Cohesion

The Social Cohesion inputs to the Arda Index will come from two sources. The first is the Social Cohesion Index published by Ipsos, a market research firm. Data is drawn from a representative sample of 27 countries. The second source will be the Social Capital Index published by SolAbility a Swiss-Korean sustainability think tank.

Social cohesion is an umbrella concept that speaks to the sense that members of a community trust each other, feel connected to one another, and where people individually prioritize and seek to advance the common good. Cohesive societies are closely linked with higher degrees of Freedom.

There is currently no methodology for measuring social cohesion globally (between countries) meaning therefore that the Arda Index focuses on tracking cohesion domestically (within countries). The Arda Index will then seek to assess global trends in the increase or decrease in cohesion within countries.

The Ipsos Social Cohesion Index measures social cohesion across three categories: Social Relations (trust in fellow citizens working together for the common good, a sense of shared priorities, a perception that the population is growing increasingly diverse), Connectedness (a cohesive national identity, trust in institutions, the degree to which people believe the systems are fair), and Focus on the Common Good (a respect for law and norms, perception of corruption, a sense of responsibility to fellow citizens).

The Index surveys populations in a representative selection of 27 countries across the world. Respondents are asked questions that assesses whether they perceive their societies to be "solid", "wavering" or "weak" on measures of social cohesion in each of those three categories.

A complication in using the Social Cohesion Index is that it has not been updated since 2020, a matter we hope to work with Ipsos to update in the coming years. In the interim, we will be combining data from the 2020 annual report with data from the SolAbility Social Capital Index.

Our focus on social cohesion is due to the effect it has on building social capital within communities: the sense of shared values, vision, and the capacity to cooperate between sub-groups.

An unfortunate motif in human history is that war, tragedy, and catastrophe have often been pre-requisites to bringing societies closer together. Patriotism and nationalism tend to emerge in times of external conflict, meanwhile people are exceedingly generous to their neighbors in the aftermath of a natural disaster. Furthermore, ensuring that a shared mythos and sense of purpose pervades is also essential as globalization drives local communities and national societies to grow increasingly diverse and heterogeneous.

We believe that the hallmark of an advanced society is one that does not require trauma to bind closer together, and that also takes care to build social capital even as it grows more diverse. This input into the Arda Index seeks to monitor our progress as a global community towards growing every closer to one another.