The quality of governance has become an issue of increasing concern in countries around the world, both developed and developing. While the evidence suggests governance matters for development, there is less understanding regarding what aspects matter most and how to improve governance. The main problem is the lack of reliable, valid and comparable data on key governance issues. This has left many unanswered questions regarding when, why and how governance makes a difference to the way countries develop. Current indicators also provide inadequate measures for assessing changes and informing strategies to improve governance. The WGA is a global, collaborative effort to improve the assessment and analysis of governance.

WGA Phase 1 (2000-2002) was a pilot study in 16 countries to gauge perceptions of governance in 6 arenas. Phase 2 (2005-2007) used an improved methodology and surveyed perceptions in 10 countries. On this site you will find findings and publications from Phases 1 and 2 and links to other governance resources. Phase 2 will be completed by end-2007 with in country communication and engagement activities. Plans for 2008 and beyond will be announced here.

Governance assessments for local stakeholders: What the World Governance Assessment offers Final report from Phase 2 Goran Hyden, Kenneth Mease, Marta Foresti and Verena Fritz In the spirit of the Paris Declaration and for other reasons - political as well as technical - there is a growing recognition among donors to make governance assessments more relevant to national stakeholders. Download here
Governance Assessment: Overview of governance assessment frameworks and results from the 2006 World Governance Assessment Report from ODI Learning Workshop, 15 February 2007
Governance and aid effectiveness: Has the White Paper got it right? (pdf 104kb) DFID has a comparative advantage in governance. The World Bank is shackled on politics. The key will be to see how this bold agenda works in practice. It will be politically sensitive. But it is vitally important.
ODI Governance Portal ODI Portal on Governance, under the umbrella of What's Next in International Development?, linked to the White Paper's central themes. www.odi.org.uk/whats_next_portals/governance
Making Sense of Governance: Empirical Evidence from Sixteen Developing Countries, Goran Hyden, Julius Court and Kenneth Mease (2004). Although governance has been the focus of a considerable body of literature on democratic transitions and consolidation, data to support the claim that the concept is a useful one has been lacking. Now however, Making Sense of Governance clearly shows the utility of research on governance, presenting empirical evidence from sixteen developing countries. Order publication