Interactive · Governance data

Governance Compass

An interactive map combining eight major governance indices. Select an index and year, then click any country to explore its scores.

About the Governance Compass

Governance is multidimensional. No single index tells the full story — corruption scores miss civic freedoms; press freedom rankings say nothing about rule of law. The Governance Compass brings these dimensions together into a single comparable score.

It combines up to eight internationally recognised indices — from Transparency International, the World Bank, Freedom House, the World Justice Project, Reporters Without Borders, the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, the Chandler Institute of Governance, and the Bertelsmann Stiftung — normalised to 0–100 and averaged equally. Only countries with data from at least four indices are shown.

This is an editorial synthesis, not a new index. Click any country to see which indices contributed to its score and how governance has changed over five years.

◈ Governance Compass (Composite)
Editorial synthesis · Equal-weighted average
An equal-weighted composite of all nine indices below, normalised to a common 0–100 scale. Countries are included in the composite only when data from at least four indices is available for that year. OBI (Open Budget Index) is included but only covers four years (2015, 2019, 2021, 2023) — in other years it simply contributes nothing, leaving the other eight indices unchanged.
Dimensions: All nine governance dimensions combined — corruption, effectiveness, rule of law, accountability, freedom of press, political rights, development trajectory, fiscal transparency
Limitation: Averaging across different measurement philosophies can mask important divergences between dimensions. Always inspect individual indices alongside the composite. Coverage drops for years and countries where fewer indices report.
View methodology →
Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI)
Transparency International · Annual
Aggregates expert assessments from 13 independent institutions measuring perceived public sector corruption.
0–100180 countries
Dimension: Control of corruption in the public sector
Limitation: Measures perception, not objective corruption levels. Expert bias toward high-profile cases; petty everyday corruption may be underweighted.
World Bank Governance Indicators
World Bank · Annual
Six governance dimensions averaged: Voice & Accountability, Political Stability, Government Effectiveness, Regulatory Quality, Rule of Law, Control of Corruption. Compiled from 35 data sources.
0–100 (2025 scale)215 economies
Dimensions: Six — Voice & Accountability, Political Stability, Government Effectiveness, Regulatory Quality, Rule of Law, Control of Corruption
Limitation: Margins of error are wide, especially for small states. The 2025 methodological revision (WGI 2.0) changes the scale; pre-2015 comparisons require care.
Mo Ibrahim Index (IIAG)
Mo Ibrahim Foundation · Annual
Security, participation, economic opportunity and human development across 54 African countries.
0–100Africa only
Dimensions: Security & Rule of Law, Participation & Rights, Economic Opportunity, Human Development
Limitation: Africa only. Published biennially with a one-year lag — the 2024 edition covers data through 2023.
Freedom in the World
Freedom House · Annual
Political rights and civil liberties assessed against the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
0–100195 countries
Dimensions: Political rights (electoral process, pluralism) and civil liberties (rule of law, personal freedoms)
Limitation: Scores can reflect US-centric democratic norms. Binary Free/Partly Free/Not Free categories oversimplify gradations.
Press Freedom Index
Reporters Without Borders · Annual
Political, legal, economic and security contexts for journalism. Score inverted: 100 = most free.
0–100180 countries
Dimension: Operating environment for journalism across political, legal, economic, sociocultural and safety indicators
Limitation: Methodology changed significantly in 2022 — pre-2022 and post-2022 scores are not directly comparable. Country coverage gaps exist.
WJP Rule of Law Index
World Justice Project · Annual
Eight rule-of-law dimensions assessed through surveys of 149,000+ households and 3,500+ legal experts.
0–100142 countries
Dimensions: Constraints on government, absence of corruption, open government, fundamental rights, order, regulatory enforcement, civil and criminal justice
Limitation: Based on household surveys in the three largest cities — may not capture rural or regional variation. Published annually since 2009.
Chandler Good Government Index
Chandler Institute · Annual
Seven pillars of government capability including leadership, institutions, and financial stewardship.
0–100120 countries
Dimensions: Leadership & Foresight, Robust Laws, Strong Institutions, Financial Stewardship, Attractive Marketplace, Global Influence, Helping People Rise
Limitation: Primarily measures government capabilities, not outcomes experienced by citizens. Composite structure may reward well-managed authoritarian states.
Open Budget Index (OBI)
International Budget Partnership · Biennial
Assesses whether governments publish eight key budget documents online, in a timely manner, and with sufficient detail for public scrutiny. Based on 109 questions scored by independent researchers in each country.
Dimension: Fiscal transparency — the degree to which budget formulation, execution and auditing are visible to citizens and oversight bodies. Distinct from political accountability: states can score well on OBI while suppressing press freedom.
Limitation: Measures availability of documents, not quality of budget management or whether published information is accurate. Published biennially (2019, 2021, 2023) — off-years carry forward the most recent value.
internationalbudget.org →
Bertelsmann Transformation Index
Bertelsmann Stiftung · Biennial
Governance quality in 137 developing and transition countries assessed by ~300 country experts. Excludes OECD members consolidated before 1989.
0–100137 countriesBiennial
Dimensions: Democracy status, market economy status, and governance/management quality
Limitation: Covers only developing and transition countries; excludes OECD members consolidated before 1989. Published every two years — may miss rapid change.
Index
Year
▸ Country profile
vs. global average
Peer country benchmarking
Filter:
Country comparison
Correlation explorer

Compare any two indices across all countries · click a dot to select a country

X axis: Y axis:
Regional overview

Average composite score by region · click a region to filter the peer table

Trend analysis
5-year change
AI analysis
Click "Analyse" to generate an AI assessment of current trends.
Data last updated:
Key references & further reading
GIZ — Practitioner resource
Democracy and the Rule of Law
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)
GIZ’s governance and democracy expertise hub, covering democratic participation, rule of law, administrative modernisation, anti-corruption, public finance, and gender equality in governance reform. The institutional context within which practitioners use tools like this compass.
giz.de →
Foundational framework
World Development Report 2017: Governance and the Law
World Bank Group
The most comprehensive recent framework for thinking about governance in development. Argues that governance failures are fundamentally about the interplay of power, norms and institutions — not just technical capacity gaps.
worldbank.org →
Conceptual
What is Governance?
Francis Fukuyama — Governance, 26(3), 2013
Argues that governance should be understood as government capacity and autonomy, separate from democracy and rule of law. Critiques composite indices for conflating distinct dimensions of state performance.
doi.org →
Practitioner guide
Building State Capability: Evidence, Analysis, Action
Andrews, Pritchett & Woolcock — Oxford University Press, 2017
Develops the concept of “isomorphic mimicry” — states that adopt the forms of good governance without the function. Essential reading for understanding why governance indicators can look good while delivery remains poor.
buildingstatecapability.com →
Measurement critique
Governance Indicators: Where Are We, Where Should We Be Going?
Kaufmann & Kraay — World Bank Research Observer, 2008
By the architects of the WGI, this paper honestly addresses measurement limitations: margins of error, perception bias, aggregation problems. An essential methodological companion to any use of composite governance data.
doi.org →
Political economy
Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty
Acemoglu & Robinson — Crown Publishers, 2012
Makes the case that inclusive political institutions are the root cause of long-run prosperity. Provides the historical and theoretical grounding for why governance — not geography or culture — explains divergent development paths.
whynationsfail.com →
African governance
Mo Ibrahim Index of African Governance: Methodology
Mo Ibrahim Foundation — Annual
The most granular governance dataset for Africa, covering 54 countries across four dimensions and 100+ indicators. The methodology report explains how African-specific governance challenges are captured that global indices miss.
mo.ibrahim.foundation →
Rule of law
WJP Rule of Law Index: Methodology
World Justice Project — Annual
Unlike most governance indices, WJP uses household and expert surveys in the three largest cities of each country. The methodology paper explains how its “experienced” rule of law concept differs from institutional measures.
worldjusticeproject.org →
OECD framework
Government at a Glance
OECD — Biennial
Comparative public governance data for OECD and partner countries covering budget, employment, procurement and public services. Useful complement to perception-based indices for OECD-member analysis, grounded in administrative data.
oecd.org →
Sources: Transparency International · World Bank WGI · Mo Ibrahim Foundation · Freedom House · Reporters Without Borders · World Justice Project · Chandler Institute · Bertelsmann Stiftung