Stateness 2023 - Context Measurement

Concept and Components

Conceptual Organization and logical structure

Informal Institutions and the State

Publication

Dieter Neubert, Hans-Joachim Lauth, Christoph Mohamad-Klotzbach (Hrsg.) 2022: Local Self-Governance and Varieties of Statehood. Tensions and Cooperation.

Publication

Stawski, Theresa Paola 2022: Staat und Regimetransition. Konzeption und interregionaler Vergleich. Wiesbaden: Springer VS.

 

Composite Index: Three Dimensions

The Stateness Index is a tool for measuring stateness and state quality that includes country-ranking through aggregated and disaggregated data to advance performance comparison and policy analysis.

We provide a composite index that compiles three central dimensions as main components – the monopoly of law, monopoly of violence and monopoly of administration – into a single index and simultaneously keeps the multidimensionality of stateness through disaggregated scores.

Drawing on data from the Varieties-of-Democracy-Project (V-Dem), the index offers data for more than 170 countries in the period between 1950 until today. One exceptional strength of our index rests on both country and year coverage that surpasses existing indices that measure stateness by far.

The StIx data set can be visualised on the homepage, edited according to  own selection criteria and downloaded.

 

Two layers of conceptualization and operationalization

The innovation of the Stateness Index is the distinction between two layers of conceptualization and operationalization: the first layer of the concept presents the formal state and stateness that is measured through a set of indicators that represent formal or “official” institutions. The second layer of informality enriches the formal concept with informal institutions that exist alongside the formal institutional framework of a state. The inclusion of the second layer of measurement enhances the concept and captures the “reality” of stateness more accurately than the sole measurement of formal institutions.

Defining State and Stateness

The State is an institutionalized social and political order and organization of hierarchical authority that is in exclusive control of the Monopoly of Law, Monopoly of Violence and Monopoly of Administration throughout a given territory and its inhabitants.

Stateness as the performance of institutions denotes that a state can insert and uphold the laws enacted by the regime, possesses the means necessary to control both territory and populations and commands a bureaucratic infrastructure to implement and exert territorial sovereignty throughout the state territory.


Monopoly of Law, Monopoly of Violence, Monopoly of Administration

The three monopolies/dimensions - Monopoly of Law, Monopoly of Violence, Monopoly of Administration - capture the central functions of the state: legislative, judiciary and executive. These are represented by central institutions. While the first two functions are linked to parliament (rule making) and courts (rule control and interpretation), the executive is divided into the function of enforcement (military, police) and implementation (government and state bureaucracy).


Two layers of Measurement: Formal and informal Institutions

In a comprehensive understanding of the state, empirical cases are always a mixture of formal and informal institutions and practices, which together shape the specific appearance of the state.

Formal institutions legally construct a state through written rules and regulations that are implemented and enforced by the state. The authority of informal institutions is not based or originated from the state´s sovereign claim to the monopoly of law but evolves from the “power of the facts” as actual enforcement power of non-state actors and groups that enables them to legislate and enforce their own rules.

The impact formal and informal institutions have on each other varies significantly. The impact is ambiguous because it depends on a multitude of factors like prevalence, autonomy, role, and authority of non-state legal orders, which in turn vary across contexts, institutional settings, and dynamic factors.

For our Index, we oversimplify the interactions between state and informality with a restriction to competing or conflictual relations and negative effects between formal and informal institutions.


To learn about Aggregation and Typology, click here. The Typology of StIx is primarily designed to outline discrepancies between types (high functioning to collapsed state), not within types.

The table below displays the Stateness Ranking for 2023 based on the total Value of the Context Measurement.

 

Ranking 2023 - Context Measurement

RankCountryTotal Value Classification

Monopoly

of Law

Monopoly

of Violence

Monopoly

of Administration

1Singapore0,92High functioning State0,870,960,93
2Estonia0,92High functioning State0,930,960,86
3Denmark0,91High functioning State0,910,920,89
4Germany0,90High functioning State0,940,910,86
5Luxembourg0,90High functioning State0,870,970,87
6Netherlands0,90High functioning State0,900,930,88
7New Zealand0,90High functioning State0,910,930,85
8Seychelles0,89High functioning State0,910,920,84
9United Kingdom0,89High functioning State0,900,930,83
10Belgium0,88High functioning State0,890,910,85
11Norway0,88High functioning State0,870,870,89
12Uruguay0,87High functioning State0,900,940,78
13Sweden0,87High functioning State0,880,910,83
14Finland0,87High functioning State0,880,860,87
15Australia0,87High functioning State0,930,790,90
16Japan0,87High functioning State0,840,860,90
17Austria0,86High functioning State0,900,900,80
18Switzerland0,86High functioning State0,920,810,85
19Czechia0,86High functioning State0,810,970,80
20France0,85High functioning State0,880,810,87
21United States of America0,85High functioning State0,900,830,83
22Spain0,85High functioning State0,890,950,73
23Canada0,85High functioning State0,860,870,82
24Latvia0,85High functioning State0,870,860,82
25Malta0,85High functioning State0,860,900,79
26Slovenia0,85High functioning State0,830,900,82
27Portugal0,85High functioning State0,860,910,78
28Lithuania0,85High functioning State0,880,840,82
29Barbados0,84High functioning State0,810,930,79
30Ireland0,84High functioning State0,830,860,83
31Costa Rica0,83High functioning State0,890,900,72
32United Arab Emirates0,83High functioning State0,850,870,76
33Slovakia0,82High functioning State0,830,930,72
34Iceland0,81High functioning State0,870,740,82
35Poland0,80High functioning State0,860,850,72
36South Korea0,80High functioning State0,800,840,77
37Jamaica0,80High functioning State0,850,810,74
38Greece0,79High functioning State0,800,790,79
39Chile0,79High functioning State0,880,800,71
40Taiwan0,78High functioning State0,750,810,78
41Italy0,78High functioning State0,850,700,78
42Bhutan0,77Moderate functioning State0,690,860,77
43Botswana0,77Moderate functioning State0,840,900,60
44Montenegro0,77High functioning State0,730,890,70
45Bulgaria0,76Moderate functioning State0,740,930,64
46Trinidad and Tobago0,75High functioning State0,700,800,76
47Israel0,75Moderate functioning State0,830,660,78
48Hungary0,75Moderate functioning State0,770,810,67
49Qatar0,75Moderate functioning State0,760,840,66
50Maldives0,75Moderate functioning State0,780,860,62
51Tanzania0,74Moderate functioning State0,730,870,64
52Oman0,74Moderate functioning State0,890,680,67
53Croatia0,74Moderate functioning State0,700,890,64
54Argentina0,74Moderate functioning State0,740,840,64
55Kuwait0,73Moderate functioning State0,880,710,64
56Romania0,73Moderate functioning State0,750,850,61
57China0,71Moderate functioning State0,830,770,56
58Brazil0,71Moderate functioning State0,740,720,66
59Saudi Arabia0,70Moderate functioning State0,810,820,51
60Serbia0,69Moderate functioning State0,700,740,63
61Panama0,68Moderate functioning State0,780,650,63
62Benin0,68Moderate functioning State0,750,690,61
63Mauritius0,68Moderate functioning State0,750,580,73
64Vanuatu0,68Defective State0,770,850,48
65The Gambia0,68Defective State0,790,830,47
66Kazakhstan0,67Moderate functioning State0,660,760,61
67Albania0,67Moderate functioning State0,640,830,57
68Jordan0,66Moderate functioning State0,700,810,51
69Namibia0,66Defective State0,810,770,46
70Malaysia0,66Moderate functioning State0,560,790,64
71North Korea0,66Defective State0,790,800,45
72Vietnam0,65Defective State0,730,800,48
73Cuba0,65Defective State0,810,750,46
74Indonesia0,65Moderate functioning State0,600,740,62
75Ghana0,64Defective State0,800,780,42
76Mongolia0,64Defective State0,630,880,47
77Kyrgyzstan0,63Moderate functioning State0,590,840,51
78Zambia0,63Defective State0,850,850,35
79Russia0,63Defective State0,750,700,48
80Georgia0,63Moderate functioning State0,660,530,71
81Cape Verde0,63Defective State0,760,920,35
82Fiji0,63Defective State0,770,830,39
83Thailand0,63Moderate functioning State0,690,640,55
84Sri Lanka0,62Defective State0,630,860,45
85Tunisia0,62Defective State0,690,810,43
86Moldova0,62Moderate functioning State0,750,520,61
87North Macedonia0,62Moderate functioning State0,550,780,55
88Guyana0,61Defective State0,580,820,48
89Algeria0,61Defective State0,590,790,49
90Mexico0,60Defective State0,770,700,40
91Uzbekistan0,60Defective State0,640,830,40
92Nepal0,60Defective State0,760,830,34
93South Africa0,59Defective State0,750,840,33
94Kosovo0,59Moderate functioning State0,530,620,62
95Turkey0,58Defective State0,710,590,47
96Sao Tome and Principe0,58Defective State0,820,780,30
97India0,58Defective State0,650,780,38
98Eswatini0,58Defective State0,600,720,44
99Cyprus0,56Defective State0,660,370,73
100Uganda0,56Defective State0,650,660,42
101Kenya0,56Defective State0,820,520,42
102Dominican Republic0,56Defective State0,740,760,31
103Philippines0,55Defective State0,630,790,35
104Bolivia0,55Defective State0,690,550,45
105Senegal0,55Defective State0,690,570,44
106Azerbaijan0,55Defective State0,580,720,40
107Peru0,55Defective State0,750,560,40
108Colombia0,55Defective State0,760,550,39
109Burkina Faso0,55Defective State0,760,360,60
110Angola0,55Defective State0,730,740,30
111Timor-Leste0,55Defective State0,810,640,32
112Laos0,55Defective State0,580,690,40
113Morocco0,54Defective State0,560,690,42
114Lesotho0,54Defective State0,660,610,39
115Armenia0,54Defective State0,550,640,45
116Turkmenistan0,53Defective State0,670,700,32
117Ecuador0,53Defective State0,680,540,41
118El Salvador0,53Defective State0,670,720,30
119Bosnia and Herzegovina0,53Defective State0,440,620,53
120Egypt0,52Profound defective State0,720,700,28
121Suriname0,52Defective State0,660,460,47
122Zimbabwe0,52Profound defective State0,700,720,27
123Iran0,51Defective State0,620,530,41
124Ivory Coast0,51Defective State0,690,640,30
125Rwanda0,51Profound defective State0,660,720,28
126Belarus0,50Profound defective State0,270,750,61
127Malawi0,50Profound defective State0,640,860,23
128Sierra Leone0,50Profound defective State0,750,670,25
129Nigeria0,49Defective State0,710,550,30
130Togo0,48Defective State0,530,560,37
131Ukraine0,48Defective State0,570,370,52
132Bangladesh0,46Profound defective State0,550,810,22
133Cambodia0,46Defective State0,530,580,32
134Mauritania0,46Profound defective State0,720,610,22
135Nicaragua0,46Profound defective State0,620,550,28
136Djibouti0,45Defective State0,550,490,34
137Solomon Islands0,45Profound defective State0,720,610,21
138Honduras0,45Defective State0,540,480,34
139Paraguay0,44Profound defective State0,600,490,29
140Guinea0,44Profound defective State0,750,440,25
141Mali0,44Profound defective State0,680,480,25
142Cameroon0,43Profound defective State0,590,510,27
143Mozambique0,43Profound defective State0,600,610,22
144Guatemala0,42Profound defective State0,480,590,27
145Pakistan0,42Profound defective State0,490,580,26
146Gabon0,42Defective State0,410,450,39
147Tajikistan0,40Profound defective State0,540,600,20
148Burundi0,38Profound defective State0,600,720,13
149Equatorial Guinea0,37Profound defective State0,590,650,14
150Liberia0,37Profound defective State0,640,650,13
151Bahrain0,37Profound defective State0,150,610,55
152Guinea-Bissau0,36Profound defective State0,490,400,25
153Comoros0,35Profound defective State0,390,410,28
154Eritrea0,35Profound defective State0,610,430,17
155Syria0,35Defective State0,400,360,30
156Iraq0,35Profound defective State0,350,440,27
157Madagascar0,34Profound defective State0,600,450,14
158Burma/Myanmar0,34Profound defective State0,720,210,26
159Niger0,34Profound defective State0,480,420,19
160Lebanon0,33Defective State0,300,330,37
161Ethiopia0,33Profound defective State0,630,260,22
162Sudan0,33Profound defective State0,460,210,37
163Republic of the Congo0,32Profound defective State0,510,420,16
164Democratic Republic of the Congo0,32Profound defective State0,470,330,21
165Afghanistan0,31Profound defective State0,340,370,24
166Papua New Guinea0,28Collapsed State0,650,570,06
167Venezuela0,27Profound defective State0,360,380,15
168Chad0,25Collapsed State0,410,390,09
169Somalia0,24Collapsed State0,570,290,08
170Central African Republic0,22Profound defective State0,290,300,12
171South Sudan0,18Collapsed State0,420,170,09
172Haiti0,17Profound defective State0,270,200,10
173Yemen0,12Collapsed State0,170,160,06
174Libya0,03Collapsed State0,000,090,31