Governance indicators: a users' guide (2nd Edition)

Demand has been increasing from developing country governments, civil society organizations and donor agencies to measure different aspects of democracy, human rights and governance. This demand has resulted in the growth of indicator sources leading to a confusing multiplicity of tools conceptualized at different levels depending on what is being measured. This guide attempts to provide the most common terms available in the simplest terms. Indicators are often intended to inform users on business investment, allocation of public funds, civil society advocacy or for academic research. From a development perspective they are used for monitoring and evaluation of governance programs and projects. They also used to establish benchmarks, objectives, targets, and goals in the development context. This guide is a second edition of the original publication and includes several new indicator sources that have come up and is an update of existing sources.

The first part of the guide provides generic guidance for users of indicators, illustrated with specific examples from the governance arena, and takes the user through the following sections:

• Defining what the problem is
• How to get data
• What data to get
• How to use the data.

The second is a source guide, which takes the user through some specifics about the currently available data sources, including a snapshot of their methodology, some example data, their contact information and the important assumptions underlying the particular source. It provides the methodology of the indicator, the assumptions which underpin it, and what they imply for the use of the source. The guide applies the following criteria for selecting indicator sources:

• Have a clear governance data aspect
• Have data available
• Enable cross-national comparisons
• Provide information about their methodology
• Be available via the Internet, in English
• Should be free of charge and those included contain free information concerning the methodology and sample data.

The publication does not go into discussion of statistical techniques and the human development data to which indicators are most often applied. The focus is on existing data sources and the guide does not cover or propose any new indicators or methods.