Brochure
Related downloadsMission
To what extent are OECD member states capable of initiating and implementing necessary reforms in order to respond to
common challenges such as globalized markets, demographic change, growing social inequalities or the scarcity of resources?
The Sustainable Governance Indicators (SGI), published in spring 2009, analyze and compare the need for reform in OECD member countries, as well as their ability to respond to current social and political challenges. The project is designed to create a comprehensive data pool on government-related activities in the world's developed, free-market democracies. In addition, it uses international comparisons to provide evidence-based input for reform-related public discourse taking place in these countries.
Using qualitative and quantitative data, the SGI measure the current need for political, economic and social reform in all 30 OECD member states. At the same time, it examines to what extent the countries' governments are able to tackle pressing problems and implement effective solutions.
After the democracy ranking's initial release in February 2009, it will be updated and reissued on a biennal basis. The project supplements the Bertelsmann Stiftung's current portfolio of comparative analytical tools. Since 2002, for example, its Bertelsmann Transformation Index (BTI) has been documenting the progress 125 transformation countries have been making toward democracy and a market economy.
Using a similar approach, the SGI evaluate the extent to which OECD member states are in a position, given changing domestic and international conditions, to implement the reforms necessary for ensuring their future viability. By measuring the need for reform along with the effectiveness of initiatives that have already been implemented, the SGI want to identify the best policy solutions for promoting democracy and a market economy.
SGI findings are based on quantitative data from international organizations, supplemented by evaluations provided by renowned country experts.
The Sustainable Governance Indicators (SGI), published in spring 2009, analyze and compare the need for reform in OECD member countries, as well as their ability to respond to current social and political challenges. The project is designed to create a comprehensive data pool on government-related activities in the world's developed, free-market democracies. In addition, it uses international comparisons to provide evidence-based input for reform-related public discourse taking place in these countries.
Using qualitative and quantitative data, the SGI measure the current need for political, economic and social reform in all 30 OECD member states. At the same time, it examines to what extent the countries' governments are able to tackle pressing problems and implement effective solutions.
After the democracy ranking's initial release in February 2009, it will be updated and reissued on a biennal basis. The project supplements the Bertelsmann Stiftung's current portfolio of comparative analytical tools. Since 2002, for example, its Bertelsmann Transformation Index (BTI) has been documenting the progress 125 transformation countries have been making toward democracy and a market economy.
Using a similar approach, the SGI evaluate the extent to which OECD member states are in a position, given changing domestic and international conditions, to implement the reforms necessary for ensuring their future viability. By measuring the need for reform along with the effectiveness of initiatives that have already been implemented, the SGI want to identify the best policy solutions for promoting democracy and a market economy.
SGI findings are based on quantitative data from international organizations, supplemented by evaluations provided by renowned country experts.
SGI team
SGI in print
Despite the limiting effects of growing interdependencies
in a globalized world, national governments still have a considerably broad scope of action when it comes to ensuring sustainable policy outcomes. The key question is,
however, to what extent governments can identify, formulate and implement effective reforms that render a society well-equipped to meet future challenges. The goal of
the “Sustainable Governance Indicators 2009” (SGI) project is to answer this question for all 30 member states of the OECD. The composite indicators used to systematically
measure the need for reform and the capacity for reform in these countries will be updated biennially. The vast set of quantitative and qualitative data collected and
analyzed by a network of more than 100 renowned international experts provides an unprecedented opportunity for cross-national comparative studies. This publication of
the inaugural edition of the SGI includes essays on the key findings, methodology and on issues related to reform, such as the state of social justice in the OECD.The book can be ordered
here.