Abstract
Measures of governance and stateness have grown substantially in number over the recent decade and gained greater importance in building public discourses and orienting decision-making. Yet there seems to be little agreement on what exactly these measures represent. This paper claims that the proliferation of metrics can only be understood against the conceptual hybridity and indeterminacy in which the notions of governance and stateness have in recent decades become increasingly entangled. In sum, the nébuleuse of governance metrics reflects the nébuleuse of governing actors and structures informing this process. To frame this “creative disorder”, the first part of the chapter introduces the current debate on measuring governance and stateness. It then explores the semantic fields of the two concepts, while the third one provides an overview on existing measures and methodological questions. The fourth part explores normative demands and policy prescriptions linked to this production. The fifth section analyses in depth three different measures: The Rule of Law Index (RoLI), the Sustainable Governance Indicators (SGIs), and the State Fragility Index (SFI). The sixth part concludes by summarising the relevance of exploring both conceptual and normative challenges in production of these measures.
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Notes
- 1.
This is the case of the World Bank, which conceptually emphasises the administrative and structural infrastructure of governance, but in practice, use performance indicators, to operationalise the Worldwide Governance Indicators.
- 2.
The CPIA is based on 16 variables grouped in four clusters: (a) economic management; (b) structural policies; (c) policies for social inclusion and equity; and (d) public sector management and institutions.
- 3.
Voice and Accountability, Political Stability/Absence of Violence, Government Effectiveness, Regulatory Quality, Rule of Law, Control of Corruption.
- 4.
Since 2007, the WB has yet also introduced new “Actionable Governance Indicators”, based on mono-dimensional measures that, focusing on specific aspects each, are better designed to assist policymaking.
- 5.
For instance, the Democracy Index, provided by Economist Intelligence Unit presents 60 indicators grouped into five pillars: electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties, functioning of government, political participation, and political culture. The Sustainable Governance Indicators compiled by Bertelsmann, aggregate three indices (Policy Performance, Governance, and Democracy).
- 6.
The expression “with adjectives” is used here to recall the methodological concern advanced by Collier and Levitsky (1997), to differentiate between democracy and its sub-dimensions.
- 7.
The Weberian monopoly on the legitimate use of force is the fundamental characteristic of the state. However, the term stateness has been used by political theorists like Evans (1997) and Nettl (1968) to indicate the institutional centrality of the state. As a result, the monopoly on the use of force is essential to define the state. But to define the institutionalisation of this monopoly, we have to consider other two categories—the organisational capacity and the institutional coherence.
- 8.
For a wider discussion of the methodological issues raised by corruption indicators cfr. Malito 2014.
- 9.
The Country performance rating is equal to (0.8 *CPIA + 0.2* PORT) * (GOV/3.5).
- 10.
The four principles are: “(1) individuals and private entities are accountable under the law; (2) the laws are clear, publicized, stable, and just; are applied evenly; and protect fundamental rights, including the security of persons and property; (3) the process by which the laws are enacted, administered, and enforced is accessible, fair; (4) Justice is delivered timely by competent, ethical, and independent representatives and neutrals” (World Justice Project 2014, p. 4).
- 11.
The constraints on government powers; absence of corruption; open government; fundamental rights; order and security; regulatory enforcement; civil justice; criminal justice; and informal justice (World Justice Project 2014, p. 4).
- 12.
The Democracy Index is composed by 15 indicators grouped into four pillars (electoral process, access to information, civil rights and political liberties, Rule of Law). The Policy Performance Index is calculated on 16 variables grouped into three basic sectors (economic, social, and environmental policy). The Governance Index is composed by 12 indicators, grouped into two pillars (Executive Capacity and Accountability).
- 13.
Major Episodes of Political Violence dataset, the Political Terror Scales, Polity IV Project, Leadership Duration; Elite Leadership Coups datasets, World Development Indicators, Human Development Report; Structure of Trade; US Energy Information Administration, US Census Bureau and US Political Instability Task Force, UNDP Human Development Report, Religious Fractionalization dataset (Marshall and Cole 2008).
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Malito, D.V. (2018). The Creative Disorder of Measuring Governance and Stateness. In: Malito, D., Umbach, G., Bhuta, N. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Indicators in Global Governance. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62707-6_5
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