Defining Good Governance Assessment Frameworks
Objective 9.1 – Promote transparency, accountability
and anticorruption
Objective 9.2 – Enforce the rule of law
Marie Laberge
UNDP Oslo Governance Centre
Outline
1) Objective 9.2 – Enforce the rule of law
• UNDP framework for assessing access to justice
• Balanced baskets of indicators
2) Objective 9.1 – Promote transparency,
accountability and anticorruption
• Users’ Guide to Measuring Corruption
• How to measure integrity (as opposed to corruption)
• Survey data: Public servants (Afghanistan)
3) Relevant regional frameworks
• Arab Democracy Index: What indicators are used?
• Public survey: Arab Barometer
Objective 9.2 – Enforce the Rule of Law
Rule of law: What, why, how to measure it
1) Principle of equality:
•
Ensure that no one is immune from the law
•
“By ‘rule of law’ [we refer to] efforts to extend
rights usually first enjoyed by elites to the wider
population”
2) Particular importance in post-conflict setting:
•
Rule of law is crucial to the legitimacy of the state
•
When laws are too far detached from reality 
disillusionment within society about legitimacy of
state (unable to enforce one set of rules)
Rule of law: What, why, how to measure it
3) Measurement implications:
•
Need to go beyond assessing the mere existence of
laws (de jure indicators)
•
Need to measure whether a new constitution or a
new set of laws leads to actual changes on how a
government is run, business is done, conflict is
managed, or criminal activity is curbed (de facto
indicators)
Rule of law: What does the NDP say
Some key issues:
1) Regulations/instructions for the efficient
implementation of the NDP
2) Division of powers between central and local
governments
3) Leadership & decision-making power not
concentrated into the hands of a few
4) Investment climate
5) Fiscal decentralization
6) Procurement procedures
7) Fiscal policy
World Bank – ‘Rule of Law’ Indicator:
Measures the extent to which agents have
confidence in and abide by the rules of society,
and in particular the quality of contract enforcement,
the police, and the courts, as well as the likelihood
of crime and violence.
“Implementation efficiency” of the NDP (1)
In order for ministries, related bodies and
governorates to adhere to the implementation of the
plan within the timeframes and estimated project
costs, there should be legislation for the plan issued
by the state along with certain regulations and
instructions.
A) Expenditures:
• Difference between actual expenditure and the
originally budgeted expenditure (in approved
budget)
• Composition of expenditure compared to original
approved budget (change in allocations to sectors of
interest to the poor / vulnerable groups / women that
have been)
“Implementation efficiency” of the NDP (1)
B) Planning:
• Multi-year perspective in fiscal planning,
expenditure policy and budgeting
• Existence of sector strategies with multi-year
costing of recurrent and investment expenditure
• Linkages between investment budgets and forward
expenditure estimates
C) Control systems:
• Coverage and quality of the internal audit function.
• Frequency and distribution of audit reports
• Extent of management response to internal audit
findings
Define and separate the powers and functions of
governorates and central ministries (2)
• Existence (and awareness/understanding by key actors) of
laws that regulate the operations of governorates
• Existence and effective functioning of a mechanism for
coordination between central & governorate level
• Number of decentralized social services implemented in
governorates (disag.)
• % key positions filled in the local civil service vs. vacancies
Decentralized disbursement through governorate
treasuries (5)
• Evidence of a transparent and rule-based systems in
the allocation among local governments of transfers
from central government (both budgeted and actual
allocations)
• Timeliness of reliable information to local
governments on their allocations from central
government for the coming year
• Availability of information on resources received by
service delivery units (health clinics, schools): Routine
data collection or accounting systems providing reliable
information on all types of resources received in cash
and in kind
Assign powers and leadership at ministerial and
governorate levels rather than limiting such authority to
ministers, deputy ministers and governors (3)
For instance, who participates in the annual budget
process? At which stage?
• Existence of and adherence to a fixed budget formulation
calendar
• Extent of political involvement (& at what level) in the
guidance on the preparation of budget submissions
Create a productive investment climate for local and
foreign private sector (4)
Two useful methodologies to examine the quality of the
‘business environment’ (unofficial payments & corruption,
crime, regulations and red tape, customs and taxes, labor
issues, firm financing, legal and judicial issues,
infrastructure)
1) Business Environment and Enterprise Performance
Survey (BEEPS) – by WB & EBRD
2) ‘Ease of Doing Business’ index (WB)
Review & modify procurement procedures (6)
• Evidence on the use of open competition for award of
contracts that exceed the nationally established monetary
threshold for small purchases
• Extent of justification for use of less competitive
procurement methods
• Existence and operation of a procurement complaints
mechanism
Sound fiscal policy (7)
• Effectiveness in collection of tax payments
• The level of extra-budgetary expenditure (other than donor
funded projects) which is unreported i.e. not included in
fiscal reports (audit report)
• Public access to key fiscal information (annual budget
documentation)
 Open Budget Index
Open Budget Index (122 indicators)
A) Availability, timeliness of release & public access
to budget documents (budget proposals, enacted budget,
in-year budget execution reports, year-end financial
statements, etc.)
B) Budget process:
•
Opportunity for public participation in budget process?
•
Legislative approval of the budget formulated by the
Executive?
•
Ability of key oversight institutions to hold the executive
accountable? (e.g. Does the executive present more
details on any budget proposal if members of the
legislature (including from minority parties) request such
information?)
And the justice system?
• How long does it typically take for the courts to resolve a criminal
case such as petty theft? …to resolve a civil case such as tenantlandlord disputes?
• % citizens who say that they have access to the court system,
disaggregated by gender, income level, region, etc.
• % citizens who say that the police will respond to them without
requiring a bribe if called to resolve a dispute, disaggregated by
gender, income level, region, etc.
• % accused persons legally represented at court appearances,
disaggregated by gender, income level, region, etc.
• Ratio of prosecution caseloads in courts serving wealthier
communities to those in courts serving marginalized communities
UNDP framework for assessing access to justice: Parameters
1. Citizens’ trust in the justice system
2. Legal protection of rights & remedies
3. Legal awareness
4. Legal aid and counsel
5. Investigation
6. Detention
7. Prosecution
8. Judicial adjudication
9. Administrative dispute resolution
10. Informal and traditional dispute resolution
11. Enforcement
12. Civil society & parliamentary oversight
The Arab Democracy Index
• First governance index produced by an Arab institution
(Arab Reform Initiative)
• Data collected by consortium of Arab research centres &
universities
• Covers 10 countries
• 40 indicators
 Some measure the ‘tools’ (means) of democratic
transition (legislation) – ‘de jure’ indicators
 Some measure the ‘practices’ (results) of democratic
transition – ‘de facto’ indicators
• Sources of data:
 Government & non-govt
 Citizen’s impressions used for 25% indicators
The Arab Democracy Index
4 thematic areas:
1) Strong & accountable public institutions
 E.g. Separation of powers, accountability of
government
2) Rule of law
 E.g. Independence of judiciary, prevalence of
arbitrary detention
3) Respect for rights & freedoms
 E.g. Freedom of political parties, ability to organize
demonstrations
4) Equality & social justice
 E.g. Illiteracy rates among men & women, % of male
& female university graduates, etc.