The article is devoted to the problems of the post-communist countries of the CIS, countries of Central Asia going through a transitional period, i.e. countries undergoing the transformation of civil society, in particular, the formation of a new society on the example of the Republic of Uzbekistan. It also analyzes the strengthening of authoritarian regimes in public administration during the transition period, its negative impact on civil society, the completion of the process of formation of the class of owners that form the economic and social basis of this society, its negative consequences. The work critically analyzes the definition of civil society given by well-known and classical scholars of the United States and Europe, distorts its views, and interprets new theoretical views that enrich the understanding of civil society, based on the problems of civil society in transition and recommendations for their solution. The article describes the features and aspects of the process of building a civil society in post-communist countries, provides indicators for assessing the formation and development of civil society in them. At the same time, the article also contains recommendations for updating the civil society assessment indices during the transition period.

transformation, methods of studying society, civil society, non-governmental organizations, self-government bodies, rule of law, assessment of the level of development of civil society, association, political culture, legal culture, communication, civil society development index, indicators, empirical base, consensus.