The Sustainable Governance Indicators (SGI) survey addresses one of the most pressing questions facing the highly developed states of the OECD and the European Union in the 21st century: How can we achieve sustainable policy outcomes while ensuring that policy-making processes remain focused on long-term goals?
To answer this question, 41 countries of the OECD and the EU are assessed and compared on the basis of 157 quantitative and qualitative indicators. The qualitative assessment is carried out by more than 100 international experts from the academic community. These country reports are the result of a multiphase process of survey and validation. This allows successful examples of sustainable governance to be identified, along with corresponding policy and governance achievements.
The instrument is based on three pillars: the Sustainable Policies Index, which measures the sustainability of policy outcomes; the Robust Democracy Index, which measures the quality of democracy; and the Good Governance Index, which explores the extent to which a country’s institutional arrangements enhance the public sector’s capacity to act (“executive capacity”) as well as the extent to which citizens, NGOs and other organizations are endowed with the participatory competence to hold government accountable to its actions (“executive accountability”).
Last updated by source: 2022-09-12
| Dataset type: | Time-Series |
| Dataset level: | Country |
(Schiller & Hellmann,
2022)
Sustainable Policies: Economic Policies (Economy, Labor Market, Taxes, Budgets, Research and Innovation, Global Financial System).
More about this variableSustainable Policies: Economic Policies - Budgets (Budgetary Policy, Debt to GDP, Primary Balance, Debt Interest Ratio, Budget Consolidation).
More about this variableSustainable Policies: Economic Policies - Economy (Economic Policy, GDP per Capita, Inflation, Gross Fixed Capital Formation, Real Interest Rate, Potential Output Growth Rate).
More about this variableSustainable Policies: Economic Policies - Global Financial System (Stabilizing Global Financial System, Tier 1 Capital Ratio, Banks' Nonperforming Loans).
More about this variableSustainable Policies: Economic Policies - Labor Market (Labor Market Policy, Unemployment, Long-term Unemployment, Youth Unemployment, Low-skilled Unemployment, Employment, Low Pay Incidence).
More about this variableSustainable Policies: Economic Policies - Research, Innovation and Infrastructure (Research and Innovation Policy, Public R\&D Spending, Non-public R&D Spending, Total Researchers, Intellectual Property Licenses, PCT Patent Applications).
More about this variableSustainable Policies: Economic Policies - Taxes (Tax Policy, Tax System Complexity, Structural Balance, Marginal Tax Burden for Businesses, Redistribution Effect).
More about this variableThe index consists of two parts: Environment Index and Global Environmental Protection Index, weighted equally. The variable varies between 0 and 10.
More about this variableThe Environment index consists of the "Environmental Policy" indicator (50%), based on expert assessments of environmental policy effectiveness, and nine indicators related to observable environmental performance, including Energy Productivity (5,56%), Greenhouse Gas Emissions (5,56%), Particulate Matter (5,56%), Biocapacity (5,56%), Waste Generation (5,56%), Material Recycling (5,56%), Biodiversity (5,56%), Renewable Energy (5,56%), and Material footprint (5,56%). The index varies from 0 to 10.
More about this variableThe Global Environmental Protection index consists of "Global Environmental Policy Indicator" (50%), based on expert assessments of countries' participation in global environmental protection regimes, the rate of participation in Multilateral Environmental Agreements (25%), and Kyoto Participation and Achievements indicator, measuring to what extent the Kyoto emission reduction targets were met (25%). The index varies from 0 to 10.
More about this variableThe indicator measures how effectively a national environmental policy protects and preserves the sustainability of natural resources and the quality of the environment. Effective environmental policies will help promote and incentivize goal-driven technological progress and environmentally friendly behavior and ensure sufficient resources are allocated for implementation. In assessing the effectiveness of environmental policies, the experts were invited to draw on the following guiding questions: 1. Are environmental policy goals ambitious (i.e., do they target more than improvements to efficiency)? 2. Are environmental policies implemented with tangible impact? 3. Are environmental concerns integrated effectively across relevant policy sectors (i.e., energy, housing, transport, manufacturing industry, research and innovation, tourism, fisheries, agriculture)? As environmental performance may be issue-specific, the experts were invited to provide a short paragraph for each of the four key targets of protection: resource use (land, water, materials, energy), environmental pollution (water, air, soil), climate and biodiversity protection." The indicator is based on expert answers to these questions and varies from 0 to 10, where 0-1 is "Environmental concerns have been largely abandoned" and 9-10 is "Environmental policy goals are ambitious and effectively implemented as well as monitored within and across most relevant policy sectors that account for the largest share of resource use and emissions".
More about this variableThe indicator measures the extent to which governments actively contribute to the design and advancement of global environmental protection regimes. Protecting the climate and preserving natural resources worldwide depends on effective collective action carried out on a global level. Examples of active contribution include demonstrating initiative and responsibility, acting as an agenda-setter within international frameworks, and/or achieving an alignment of purpose among conflicting interests in international negotiations. The experts were invited to provide a paragraph addressing the following three aspects: 1. Which issues are treated as global common goods rather than domestic environmental problems (e.g., chemical pollution, biodiversity conservation, forest protection, climate protection, etc.)? 2. Which of these global issues or goals does the government address, and has it formulated and implemented action plans targeting these goals? 3. Are countries targeting the preservation of global common goods by contributing funds either through international facilities or official development assistance?" The indicator is based on the expert answers to these questions and varies from 0 to 10, where 1-2 is "The government does not contribute to international efforts to strengthen global environmental protection regimes," and 9-10 is "The government actively contributes to international efforts to design and advance global environmental protection regimes. In most cases, it demonstrates commitment to existing regimes, contributes to their being advanced and has introduced appropriate reforms".
More about this variableThis pillar of the SGI examines the good governance capacities of a political system in terms of its executive capability and accountability. Sustainable governance is defined here as the political management of public affairs that adopts a long-term view of societal development, takes into account the interests of future generations, and facilitates capacities for social change. The Governance index examines how effective governments are in directing and implementing policies appropriate to these three goals. As a measuring tool grounded in practical evidence, the Governance index draws on 37 qualitative indicators posed in an expert survey that measure a country's institutional arrangements against benchmarks of good practices in governance. Governance in this context implies both the capacity to act (''executive capacity'') and the extent to which non-governmental actors and institutions are endowed with the participatory competence to hold the government accountable to its actions (''executive accountability''). This includes citizens, legislatures, parties, associations and the media, that is, actors that monitor the government's activities and whose effective inclusion in the political process improve the quality of governance. The dimension of Executive Capacity draws on the categories of steering capability, policy implementation and institutional learning. Steering capability questions explore the roles of strategic planning and expert advice, the effectiveness of interministerial coordination and regulatory impact assessments, and the quality of consultation and communication policies. Questions about implementation assess the government's ability to ensure effective and efficient task delegation to ministers, agencies or subnational governments. Questions on institutional learning refer to a government's ability to reform its own institutional arrangements and improve its strategic orientation. The dimension of Executive Accountability is comprised of three categories corresponding to actors or groups of actors considered to be important agents of oversight and accountability in theories of democracy and governance. The questions here are designed to examine the extent to which citizens are informed of government policies, whether the legislature is capable of evaluating and acting as a ''check'' on the executive branch, and whether intermediary organizations (i.e., media, parties, interest associations) demonstrate relevance and policy know-how in exercising oversight. This approach is based on a dynamic understanding of governance in which power and authority is dispersed throughout the institutions, processes and structures of government. In order to account for the diversity of institutional arrangements, the index explicitly considers functional equivalencies in different countries, and pays equal attention to formal and informal as well as hierarchical and non-hierarchical institutional arrangements.
More about this variableGood Governance: Executive Accountability (Citizens, Legislature, Intermediary Organizations).
More about this variableGood Governance: Executive Capacity (Steering Capability, Policy Implementation, Institutional Learning)
More about this variableThis pillar of the SGI examines each country's policy performance in terms of three dimensions of sustainable development. If the goal of politics is to promote sustainable development, and if citizens are to be empowered to live their lives in accordance with their own individual talents, then governments must be able to establish and maintain the social, economic and environmental conditions for such well-being and empowerment. The conditions for social progress must be generated by suitable outcomes in certain policy fields. Such outcomes are examined by the Policy Performance pillar, which is comprised of 16 policy fields grouped in terms of economic, social and environmental sustainability. Each policy field is addressed by a qualitative assessment and additional quantitative data. The point here is to examine domestic policymaking as well as the extent to which governments actively contribute to the provision of global public goods. The areas examined are: 1. Economic Policies: economy, labor markets, taxes, budgets, research and innovation, global financial system. 2. Social Policies: education, social inclusion, health, families, pensions, integration policy, safe living conditions, global inequalities. 3. Environmental Policies: environment policy, global environmental protection.
More about this variableThis pillar of the SGI examines the quality of democracy in each country. From the perspective of long-term system stability and political performance, the quality of democracy and political participation are crucial aspects of a society's success. The stability and performance of a political system depends in large part upon the assent and confidence of its citizens. Democratic participation and oversight are also essential to genuine learning and adaptation processes, and to the ability to change. In this sense, guaranteeing opportunities for democratic participation and oversight, as well as the presence of due process and respect for civil rights, are fundamental prerequisites for the legitimacy of a political system. The quality of democracy in each country is measured against a definitional norm that considers issues relating to participation rights, electoral competition, access to information and the rule of law. Given that all OECD and EU member states constitute democracies, the questions posed here focus on the quality rather than the presence of democracy. Individual indicators monitor the following criteria: 1. Electoral processes. 2. Access to information. 3. Civil rights and political liberties. 4. Rule of law.
More about this variableRobust Democracy: Access to Information (Media Freedom, Media Pluralism, Access to Government Information).
More about this variableRobust Democracy: Civil Rights and Political Liberties (Civil Rights, Political Liberties, Non-discrimination).
More about this variableRobust Democracy: Electoral Process (Candidacy Procedures, Media Access, Voting and Registration Rights, Party Financing, Popular Decision-making).
More about this variableRobust Democracy: Rule of Law (Legal Certainty, Judicial Review, Appointment of Justices, Corruption Prevention).
More about this variableRobust Democracy: Rule of Law - Corruption Prevention. To what extent are public officeholders prevented from abusing their position for private interests? This question addresses how the state and society prevent public servants and politicians from accepting bribes by applying mechanisms to guarantee the integrity of officeholders: auditing of state spending; regulation of party financing; citizen and media access to information; accountability of officeholders (asset declarations, conflict of interest rules, codes of conduct); transparent public procurement systems; effective prosecution of corruption. (1, 2): Public officeholders can exploit their offices for private gain as they see fit without fear of legal consequences or adverse publicity. (3, 4, 5): Some integrity mechanisms function, but do not effectively prevent public officeholders from abusing their positions. (6, 7, 8): Most integrity mechanisms function effectively and provide disincentives for public officeholders willing to abuse their positions. (9, 10): Legal, political and public integrity mechanisms effectively prevent public officeholders from abusing their positions.
More about this variableSustainable Policies: Social Policies (Education, Social Inclusion, Health, Families, Pensions, Integration, Safe Living, Global Inequalities).
More about this variableSustainable Policies: Social Policies - Education (Education Policy, Upper Secondary Attainment, Tertiary Attainment, Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) Results, Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) Socioeconomic Background, Pre-primary Expenditure).
More about this variableSustainable Policies: Social Policies - Families (Family Policy, Child Care Density Age 0-2, Child Care Density Age 3-5, Fertility Rate, Child Poverty Rate).
More about this variableSustainable Policies: Social Policies - Global Inequalities (Global Social Policy, Official Development Assistance (ODA)).
More about this variableSustainable Policies: Social Policies - Health (Health Policy, Spending on Health Programs, Life Expectancy, Infant Mortality, Perceived Health Status).
More about this variableSustainable Policies: Social Policies - Integration (Integration Policy, Foreign-born to Native Upper Secondary Attainment, Foreign-born to Native Tertiary Attainment, Foreign-born to Native Unemployment, Foreign-born to Native Employment).
More about this variableSustainable Policies: Social Policies - Pensions (Pension Policy, Older Employment, Old Age Dependency Ratio, Senior Citizen Poverty).
More about this variableSustainable Policies: Social Policies - Social Inclusion (Social Inclusion Policy, Poverty Rate, NEET Rate, Gini Coefficient, Gender Equality in Parliaments, Life Satisfaction).
More about this variableSustainable Policies: Social Policies - Safe Living (Internal Security Policy, Homicides, Thefts, Confidence in Police).
More about this variable