Benutzer:SteRolf/Bertelsmann Transformation Index
The Bertelsmann Transformation Index (BTI) is an international study analysing transformation processes leading to a democracy based on the rule of law and a socially responsible market economy in international comparison. It is conducted and published every two years by the German Bertelsmann Stiftung. The BTI provides a performance ranking that combines qualitative, in-depth evaluations with quantitative scores for 129 developing and transition countries.
Status and Management Index
The BTI is an aggregated multi-level analysis composed of two main indices: The Status Index ranks countries according to their quality of democracy and a market economy while the Management Index ranks countries according to the performance of their leaderships’ political management.
The Status Index consists of a political and an economic transformation dimension. Transformation is in the BTI understood as a comprehensive and politically driven development in which an authoritarian system and a state-dominated or clientelist economic order evolves in the direction of democracy and a market-based economy.
Political transformation measures a country’s progress toward a political system defined by the rule of law, political participation, stable democratic institutions, political and social integration, as well as stateness as necessary conditions for sustainable democracy. Besides typical macroeconomic criteria such as overall economic performance, organisation of the market and competition, currency and price stability, and protection of private property, the economic transformation considers complementary social criteria such as the level of socio-economic development or welfare regime intensity in addition to environmental and educational sustainability as evenly important.
The Management Index evaluates to what extend political decision makers steer and nurture transformation processes. Relevant criteria are resource efficiency, consensus-building, steering capability and international cooperation. The Index is then offset against the assigned level of difficulty which factors in structural constraints, civil society traditions and high conflict intensities which may hamper effective implementation.
Methodology
The Status and Management Indexes are based on a qualitative expert survey translating in-depth written assessments into numerical ratings. Before their aggregation, ratings are scrutinised during a multi-stage review process to make them comparable both within and across regions. A standardised codebook provides a single reference framework for the experts. As a rule, one foreign and one local expert are involved in each country evaluation. This ensures that both external and internal perspectives are taken into account in the course of assessment and helps counteract subjective biases. In 2014, 246 experts took part in the study.
The first expert drafts a detailed report following the codebook instructions while the second expert reviews, comments and amends this country report. In the whole process, 49 questions (indicators) are taken into account. Independently of one another, the two country experts translate the assessment into a numerical rating on a scale of 1 (lowest value) to 10 (highest value).
The scores and responses provided by the experts for each indicator are then reviewed by seven regional coordinators who subsequently calibrate the scores regionally and inter-regionally. The BTI Board, an academic advisory council, discusses the ratings and approves the final rankings.
| Status Index | Management Index | ||||
| Political transformation | Economic transformation | Transformation management | |||
| Stateness | Level of socio-economic development | Level of difficulty | |||
| 1.1 | Monopoly on the use of force | 6.1 | Socioeconomic barriers | 13.1 | Structural constraints |
| 1.2 | State identity | Organization of the market and competition | 13.2 | Civil society traditions | |
| 1.3 | No interference of religious dogmas | 7.1 | Market-based competition | 13.3 | Conflict intensity |
| 1.4 | Basic administration | 7.2 | Anti-monopoly policy | 13.4 | GNI p.c. PPP rescaled |
| Political participation | 7.3 | Liberalization of foreign trade | 13.5 | UN Educ. Index rescaled | |
| 2.1 | Free and fair elections | 7.4 | Banking system | 13.6 | BTI Stateness & Rule of Law |
| 2.2 | Effective power to govern | Currency and price stability | Steering capability | ||
| 2.3 | Association/assembly rights | 8.1 | Anti-inflation / forex policy | 14.1 | Prioritization |
| 2.4 | Freedom of expression | 8.2 | Macrostability | 14.2 | Implementation |
| Rule of Law | Private property | 14.3 | Policy learning | ||
| 3.1 | Separation of powers | 9.1 | Property rights | Resource efficiency | |
| 3.2 | Independent judiciary | 9.2 | Private enterprise | 15.1 | Efficient use of assets |
| 3.3 | Prosecution of office abuse | Welfare regime | 15.2 | Policy coordination | |
| 3.4 | Civil rights | 10.1 | Social safety nets | 15.3 | Anti-corruption policy |
| Stability of democratic institutions | 10.2 | Equal opportunity | Consensus-building | ||
| 4.1 | Performance of democratic institutions | Economic performance | 16.1 | Consensus on goals | |
| 4.2 | Commitment to democratic institutions | 11.1 | Output strength | 16.2 | Anti-democratic actors |
| Political and social integration | Sustainability | 16.3 | Cleavage / conflict management | ||
| 5.1 | Party system | 12.1 | Environmental policy | 16.4 | Civil society participation |
| 5.2 | Interest groups | 12.2 | Education policy / R&D | 16.5 | Reconciliation |
| 5.3 | Approval of democracy | International cooperation | |||
| 5.4 | Social capital | 17.1 | Effective use of support | ||
| 17.2 | Credibility | ||||
| 17.3 | Regional cooperation | ||||
Country selection
The BTI excludes from its survey countries that it considers consolidated democracies with well advanced economic development. In the absence of a clearly defined “threshold of consolidation”, the Transformation Index excludes all countries that were members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 1989. The BTI also ignores small states with less than two million inhabitants (until the 2006 BTI: three million).
Exceptions to this rule have been made to allow the inclusion of particularly interesting examples of development and transformation, namely: Bahrain, Bhutan, Estonia, Kosovo, Mauritius and Montenegro. Since 2003, the number of countries surveyed has increased from 116 to 129. They are divided into seven regional groups: Asia and Oceania (21), Latin America and the Caribbean (21), Southern and East Africa (20 countries), Middle East and North Africa (19), West and Central Africa (18), East-Central and Southeast Europe (17) and Post-Soviet Eurasia (13).
Key Findings
Based on the BTI rankings, the studies point to a strong empirical and functional correlation between a socially responsible market economy and a democratic regime based on the rule of law. According to the results the group of democratically governed states is superior to autocratic political systems. However, the BTI authors also point out that such interdependencies do not necessarily mean that there is a predetermined, automatic course of development.
Since 2006 the BTI findings show a slight regression of political participation and rule of law in transition democracies. Especially in Eastern Europe and Latin America the average quality of elections and freedom of expression has fallen. Over this period, numerous democratically elected governments also placed severe restrictions on freedom of association and assembly, and increasingly infringed on civil liberties. In addition the BTI authors explain that average prosperity has increased while worldwide poverty has fallen. The studies also notice that expanding inequality and social exclusion have contributed to a surge in social unrest.
| Rank | Country | Value |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Uruguay | 9,95 |
| 2 | Estland | 9,70 |
| 3 | Taiwan | 9,65 |
| [...] | ||
| 127 | Eritrea | 2,08 |
| 128 | Syria | 2,03 |
| 129 | Somalia | 1,42 |
| Rank | Country | Value |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taiwan | 9,50 |
| 2 | Tschechien | 9,43 |
| 3 | Estland | 9,14 |
| [...] | ||
| 127 | Eritrea | 1,43 |
| 128 | North Korea | 1,36 |
| 129 | Somalia | 1,21 |
| Rank | Country | Value |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taiwan | 7,68 |
| 2 | Uruguay | 7,46 |
| 3 | Brasilien | 7,30 |
| [...] | ||
| 127 | North Korea | 1,38 |
| 128 | Syria | 1,36 |
| 129 | Eritrea | 1,34 |
Publications
Results of the BTI are published in the form of a book and detailed country and regional reports. Publications are generally in English and partly in German. Foreign think tanks initiated other translations for parts of the BTI study: the Gulf Research Center in Arabic in 2009, the Center for Post-Industrial Studies in Russian in 2010 and the Argentinian Centro para la Apertura y el Desarrollo de América Latina in Spanish in 2014.
The Transformation Atlas is an interactive online tool that presents the complete BTI data set.
Recognition
The BTI is recognised as a reliable tool for the systematic comparison of transformation processes. It is used by governments as a yardstick in assessing their partner countries. In addition, several international organisations use it in the course of their own analyses. Parts of the Worldwide Governance Indicators, Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index and the Ibrahim Index of African Governance are based on the BTI results.
The Sustainable Governance Indicators, another study by the Bertelsmann Stiftung, builds on the methodology of the BTI. The survey focusses on the needs for reform and the sustainability of democracies and market economies in OECD and EU member countries.
Further Information
External links
See also
- Democratization
- Governance
- Good Governance
- Development aid
- International development
- Sustainability
- Worldwide Governance Indicators
- Corruption Perceptions Index
- Ibrahim Index of African Governance
Literature
- Bertelsmann Stiftung (ed.), Bertelsmann Transformation Index 2003, Towards Democracy and a Market Economy, Gütersloh 2004, ISBN 978-3-89204-729-2
- Bertelsmann Stiftung (ed.), Bertelsmann Transformation Index 2006, Toward Democracy and a Market Economy, Gütersloh 2005, ISBN 978-3-89204-856-5
- Bertelsmann Stiftung (ed.), Bertelsmann Transformation Index 2008, Political Management in International Comparison, Gütersloh 2008, ISBN 978-3-89204-968-5
- Bertelsmann Stiftung (ed.), Transformation Index 2010, Political Management in International Comparison, Gütersloh 2009, ISBN 978-3-86793-056-7
- Bertelsmann Stiftung (ed.), Transformation Index 2012, Political Management in International Comparison, Gütersloh 2012, ISBN 978-3-86793-458-9
- Bertelsmann Stiftung (ed.), Transformation Index 2014, Political Management in International Comparison, Gütersloh 2014, ISBN 978-3-86793-520-3
