For those of you familiar with our Users’ Guide to Measuring Corruption, you may recall our reference to the “labeling problem” in the context of a broader discussion of the difficulties in creating data to measure issues such as corruption and governance given the lack of precision around what concepts are actually being measured (p. 13). To navigate the maze of corruption and governance indicators currently on offer, we argue that an important first step is to dig underneath vague conceptual labels – e.g., “control of corruption” or “rule of law” – to understand what questions are actually being asked. The implication for producers of indicators like Global Integrity is clear: unpack and specify the concepts being measured and avoid big, fuzzy labels.
Well, we’ve decided it was time to walk the talk. In preparation for the upcoming Global Integrity Report: 2010, our staff has been in the midst of revisiting the labels attached to the major categories and sub-categories that organize our national scorecards. Remember that discussion in the Users’ Guide about the imprecision of the “rule of law,” for instance? In a recent staff meeting, we arrived at some consensus that the more descriptive heading Judicial Independence, Fairness, and Citizen Access to Justice might better capture the questions we are in fact posing than using the overly broad “Rule of Law” label. We’ve also attempted to clarify previously confusing labels such as “Government Accountability” and “Anti-Corruption Commission.” Our new labels may be clunky, but it’s probably worth sacrificing elegance for precision in this instance.
We’ve taken a first crack at revising our own labels. We’d now like to open up the process and invite public feedback on all category and sub-category headings, including our proposed revised labels. This is not, we like to think, a token gesture at transparency and public “participation.” We genuinely want to hear from you about what you think we could do better. All suggestions will be considered. For easy reference, we’ve included the national scorecard categories and sub-categories below with our proposed revised labels in italics adjacent to the existing headings. You can register your suggestions in Comments to this post (note: all comments will be public). To review the actual indicators contained in each sub-category (which should conceptually fit into our new labels, hopefully!), please visit our Downloads page to access the most recent Excel version of the national-level indicators. Thanks in advance!
An important final note: none of these potential labeling changes involve changes to the actual indicators we field and score, including the way in which we cluster indicators into categories. You will still be able to track change over time at the disaggregated (category and sub-category) level for a country (fear not, intrepid econometricians!). What we’re attempting here is not a methodological change per se, but rather an important improvement in better communicating the concepts we’ve actually been attempting to measure all along.
Global Integrity’s national-level assessment categories and sub-categories (with potential revisions):
I. Civil Society, Public Information and Media
[new label: Non-Governmental Organizations, Public Information and Media]
1. Civil Society Organizations [new label: Anti-Corruption Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)]
2.Media [new label: Media’s Ability to Report on Corruption]
3.Public Access to Information [new label: Public Requests for Government Information]
II. Elections
1. Voting & Citizen Participation [new label: Voting & Party Formation]
2. Election Integrity
3. Political Financing [new label: Political Financing Transparency]
III. Government Accountability
[new label: Government Conflicts of Interest Safeguards & Checks and Balances]
1. Executive Accountability [new label: Conflicts of Interest Safeguards & Checks and Balances: Executive Branch]
2. Legislative Accountability [new label: Conflicts of Interest Safeguards & Checks and Balances: Legislative Branch]
3. Judicial Accountability [new label: Conflicts of Interest Safeguards & Checks and Balances: Judicial Branch]
4. Budget Processes [new label: Budget Process Oversight & Transparency]
IV. Administrative and Civil Service
[new label: Public Administration and Professionalism]
1. Civil Service Regulations [new label: Civil Service: Conflicts of Interest Safeguards and Political Independence]
2. Whistle-blowing Measures [new label: Whistle-blowing Protections]
3. Procurement [new label: Government Procurement: Transparency, Fairness, and Conflicts of Interest Safeguards]
4. Privatization
V. Oversight and Regulation
[new label: Government Oversight and Controls]
1. National Ombudsman
2. Supreme Audit Institution
3. Taxes and Customs [new label: Taxes and Customs: Fairness and Capacity]
4. State-Owned Enterprises [new label: Oversight of State-Owned Enterprises]
5. Business Licensing and Regulation
VI. Anti-Corruption and Rule of Law
[new label: Anti-Corruption Legal Framework, Judicial Impartiality, and Law Enforcement Professionalism]
1. Anti-Corruption Law
2. Anti-Corruption Agency [new label: Anti-Corruption Agency or Equivalent Mechanisms]
3. Rule of Law [new label: Judicial Independence, Fairness, and Citizen Access to Justice]
4. Law Enforcement [new label: Law Enforcement: Conflicts of Interest Safeguards and Professionalism]
– Raymond June & Global Integrity
