Daily Archives: June 30, 2009

600 Words on Governance but No Mention of Policy, People or Politics

If a country score on a Washington analyst’s spreadsheet nudges from -0.79 to -0.75, should anyone care? Maybe not. In fact, here’s a case where the appearance of insight provided by functionally hollow numbers is filling up a space that could be used to discuss actual governance issues. Call it governance theater. It’s as staged…

Prime Minister of Timor-Leste Accused of Corruption

Last week, Radio Australia broke the news that Xanana Gusmão, the Prime Minister of Timor-Leste, approved a multi-million dollar government contract to a company in which the PM’s daughter is a shareholder. This major case of alleged nepotism is catching all the headlines, but Radio Australia reporters uncovered other cases of alleged corruption and favoritism…