The Bertelsmann Stiftung's Transformation Index (BTI) analyzes and evaluates the quality of democracy, a market economy, and political management in 137 developing and transition countries. It measures successes and setbacks on the path toward democracy based on the rule of law and a socially responsible market economy.
In-depth country reports provide the basis for assessing the state of transformation and persistent challenges and for evaluating the ability of policymakers to carry out consistent and targeted reforms. The BTI is the first cross-national comparative index that collects data to comprehensively measure the quality of governance during processes of transition.
The Sustainable Governance Indicators project aims to facilitate transitions towards sustainable governance models that foster well-being within planetary boundaries, and promote effective, accountable and inclusive state institutions To achieve this, the project developed a comprehensive monitoring instrument to evaluate the sustainability of policymaking and the quality of democratic governance in the areas of economic, social and environmental policy across 30 OECD and EU countries. In addition, SGI Deep Dives identify promising governance innovations that are essential for successful transformation.
To answer this question, 30 countries of the OECD and the EU are assessed and compared based on quantitative and qualitative indicators. The qualitative assessment is carried out by more than 100 international experts from the academic community. These country reports result from a multiphase process of survey and validation. This allows successful examples of sustainable governance and corresponding policy and governance achievements to be identified.
First launched in 2009, the SGIs underwent methodological changes for its 2024 edition. Indicators and aggregation levels were revised, new topics were added, and the number of assessed countries was reduced to 30. Due to these changes, results from 2009–2022 are not directly comparable with those of the 2024 edition. Variables from the 2024 edition are marked with a "24" suffix.