CIVIC ACTIVISM OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA'S CITIZENS

The concept of civil society is often associated with civil activism, which represents certain social norms and organizations, enabling citizens to be more involved in social events, public policies development etc. Moreover, any form of social activity that contributes to the community or help an individual who is a member of that community, in addition to declaring us as a good person, declares one as a good, (pro) active and aware citizen. This study provides deeper analyses into types and reasons of Bosnia and Herzegovina's citizens for taking part in voluntary activities, what are causes and their motivations for such actions. Also, their views towards cyber activism were examined. A structured online questionnaire was conducted, yielding a sample of 453 valid responses. The data was analysed using descriptive statistics. The civic activity that respondents from Bosnia and Herzegovina most often described as an activity they like to do is signing a petition online petition, followed by protests and membership in organizations or groups of people united around a problem or action. The reasons why the respondents in this research do not engage in voluntary activities are the lack of free time and lack of financial resources, while in the third place is the lack of information about the ways in which it is possible to be active in society. Regarding the expression of views on the Internet and social networks, respondents do not have the habit of discussing social and political problems on Internet platforms, and rarely comment on other people's posts on these topics. They do not find it easier to express themselves through social networks than face to face, and also hold the view that social networks and the Internet are not their only and most important source of information about social problems. The analysis shows that the difference among age groups and gender was not statistically significant when practicing different voluntary and social activities. These results open up new possibilities for further examining civic potential of Bosnia and Herzegovina's citizen and potentially, mobilizing it in support of certain causes, organisations, networks etc.