Civic engagement refers to actions and behaviours that can be seen as contributing positively to the
collective life of a community or society, as well as to the characteristics of these civic networks
themselves. Few definitions of social capital explicitly refer to civic engagement, and yet this notion is at
the heart of most mainstream approaches, with many authors treating the concepts of social capital and
civic engagement as almost synonymous. Many of these activities and behaviours which contribute in
some way to community life or society may overlap with measures used to describe other aspects of social
capital, as people join groups, or undertake community-minded actions for a range of reasons, including
for the opportunities to socialise that they provide. However, the focus of this category is on the level and
extent of civic participation rather than the motivation for, or the consequences of it.