Stateness 2022 - Context Measurement

Categories over Time - 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 2022 based on the total Value of the Context Measurement.

 

Ranking 2022 - Context Measurement

RankCountryTotal Value ClassificationMonopoly of Monopoly ofMonopoly of
IndexLawViolenceAdministration
1Singapore0,930High functioning State0,8790,9590,953
2Australia0,919High functioning State0,9290,9260,902
3Denmark0,914High functioning State0,9080,9210,913
4Netherlands0,906High functioning State0,9040,9220,892
5Estonia0,906High functioning State0,9250,9500,846
6Luxembourg0,906High functioning State0,8710,9670,882
7Norway0,900High functioning State0,9030,8760,923
8Belgium0,900High functioning State0,8860,9290,885
9New Zealand0,900High functioning State0,9100,9200,869
10Germany0,899High functioning State0,9380,8900,871
11Finland0,894High functioning State0,9190,9080,856
12Seychelles0,890High functioning State0,9010,9220,847
13United Kingdom0,881High functioning State0,9030,9180,824
14Sweden0,872High functioning State0,8760,8960,845
15Portugal0,872High functioning State0,8850,9200,814
16Latvia0,864High functioning State0,8590,9180,819
17Uruguay0,862High functioning State0,8840,9340,775
18Switzerland0,861High functioning State0,9200,8070,861
19Japan0,861High functioning State0,8920,8060,888
20France0,860High functioning State0,8810,8350,864
21Spain0,857High functioning State0,8860,9580,742
22Malta0,849High functioning State0,8530,9030,796
23United States of America0,849High functioning State0,8940,8310,824
24Czechia0,848High functioning State0,7920,9690,795
25Austria0,847High functioning State0,8820,8650,798
26Canada0,846High functioning State0,8470,8710,820
27Barbados0,844High functioning State0,8090,9290,800
28South Korea0,843High functioning State0,8150,9110,808
29Ireland0,840High functioning State0,8200,8650,838
30Lithuania0,838High functioning State0,8840,8140,819
31Costa Rica0,838High functioning State0,8920,8910,741
32United Arab Emirates0,831High functioning State0,8650,8560,776
33Slovenia0,829High functioning State0,7770,8930,821
34Iceland0,816High functioning State0,8840,7440,827
35Botswana0,807High functioning State0,8290,8960,707
36Chile0,807High functioning State0,8830,7910,751
37Slovakia0,804High functioning State0,8300,8770,714
38Italy0,803High functioning State0,8570,7930,761
39Jamaica0,802High functioning State0,8480,8110,751
40Israel0,802High functioning State0,8810,7200,812
41Poland0,794High functioning State0,8530,8230,713
42Trinidad and Tobago0,788High functioning State0,7070,8820,784
43Taiwan0,773High functioning State0,7380,8020,781
44Bulgaria0,772Moderate functioning State0,7520,9300,658
45Greece0,772High functioning State0,8020,7530,761
46Montenegro0,770High functioning State0,6970,9110,719
47Hungary0,770Moderate functioning State0,7660,8580,693
48Oman0,753Moderate functioning State0,8650,7290,678
49Bhutan0,745High functioning State0,6960,7360,808
50Argentina0,724Moderate functioning State0,6840,8140,681
51The Gambia0,723Moderate functioning State0,6870,8350,659
52Qatar0,719Moderate functioning State0,7330,8140,624
53Indonesia0,717Moderate functioning State0,7370,7820,639
54Croatia0,710Moderate functioning State0,6210,8820,653
55Romania0,706Moderate functioning State0,8310,8160,519
56Vanuatu0,704Moderate functioning State0,7670,8410,540
57Cuba0,703Moderate functioning State0,8100,7580,565
58Suriname0,702Moderate functioning State0,7300,7140,663
59Maldives0,700Moderate functioning State0,7570,8240,550
60Kuwait0,697Moderate functioning State0,8110,6850,609
61China0,697Moderate functioning State0,8440,7180,558
62Serbia0,683Moderate functioning State0,6610,7500,643
63Saudi Arabia0,681Moderate functioning State0,7940,7650,520
64Namibia0,679Moderate functioning State0,7990,7890,498
65Panama0,678Moderate functioning State0,7440,6420,654
66Jordan0,677Moderate functioning State0,6960,7860,567
67Albania0,672Moderate functioning State0,6550,8250,562
68North Korea0,666Defective State0,7900,7820,479
69Guyana0,661Defective State0,7130,8370,483
70Russia0,661Moderate functioning State0,7690,7300,514
71Brazil0,661Moderate functioning State0,7040,6700,611
72Kazakhstan0,657Moderate functioning State0,6650,7410,576
73Malaysia0,655Moderate functioning State0,5470,7990,645
74Cape Verde0,652Defective State0,7590,8880,412
75Benin0,650Moderate functioning State0,7190,6300,606
76Vietnam0,648Defective State0,7190,7850,483
77Ghana0,648Defective State0,7930,7910,434
78Thailand0,646Moderate functioning State0,6730,6790,590
79Mongolia0,634Defective State0,6330,8690,464
80Mauritius0,633Moderate functioning State0,7140,5150,690
81Kenya0,633Moderate functioning State0,8220,6170,500
82Tanzania0,632Moderate functioning State0,7290,5150,674
83Ecuador0,630Defective State0,7080,7640,462
84Zambia0,629Defective State0,8410,8430,351
85South Africa0,629Defective State0,7970,8730,358
86Sri Lanka0,628Moderate functioning State0,5910,8240,508
87North Macedonia0,628Moderate functioning State0,5640,7830,561
88Uganda0,616Defective State0,7100,7330,450
89Algeria0,616Defective State0,6250,8040,465
90Philippines0,612Defective State0,7730,7720,384
91Georgia0,612Moderate functioning State0,6350,5330,676
92Uzbekistan0,607Defective State0,6430,8130,428
93Fiji0,596Defective State0,7380,7520,381
94Eswatini0,594Defective State0,6160,7010,484
95Sao Tome and Principe0,590Defective State0,8200,7890,318
96Turkey0,590Moderate functioning State0,7300,5600,501
97Morocco0,588Defective State0,6270,6940,468
98Sierra Leone0,581Defective State0,7680,6000,425
99Mexico0,578Defective State0,7010,6490,425
100Kosovo0,576Moderate functioning State0,5800,5540,594
101Angola0,575Defective State0,7260,7360,355
102Cyprus0,572Defective State0,6800,3700,742
103Moldova0,566Defective State0,7510,4030,600
104Kyrgyzstan0,564Defective State0,5180,7710,450
105Laos0,562Defective State0,5880,7170,421
106Peru0,561Defective State0,7590,6010,387
107Malawi0,555Profound defective State0,7350,8850,262
108Lesotho0,555Defective State0,6540,6660,391
109Colombia0,554Defective State0,7400,5810,396
110India0,553Defective State0,6600,6530,391
111Turkmenistan0,551Defective State0,6740,7070,350
112Dominican Republic0,550Profound defective State0,7500,7690,289
113Timor-Leste0,544Defective State0,7860,6270,326
114Bosnia and Herzegovina0,543Defective State0,4880,6060,540
115Senegal0,538Defective State0,7120,6020,364
116Armenia0,533Defective State0,4510,6440,520
117Bolivia0,532Defective State0,6980,4500,479
118Zimbabwe0,532Defective State0,7140,6480,325
119Gabon0,520Defective State0,5770,5770,421
120El Salvador0,516Defective State0,6560,6480,322
121Ivory Coast0,514Defective State0,7160,6190,307
122Honduras0,511Defective State0,5630,5470,433
123Belarus0,505Profound defective State0,2870,7350,611
124Bangladesh0,504Profound defective State0,5550,8280,278
125Nepal0,500Profound defective State0,7200,6370,272
126Rwanda0,494Profound defective State0,6540,7260,253
127Mauritania0,486Profound defective State0,6950,6850,241
128Djibouti0,483Defective State0,5580,6020,336
129Ukraine0,482Defective State0,5280,3660,580
130Nicaragua0,481Defective State0,5990,5650,329
131Burundi0,478Profound defective State0,6350,7180,240
132Iran0,476Defective State0,5430,4590,434
133Egypt0,473Profound defective State0,7090,5870,255
134Burkina Faso0,473Defective State0,5180,3040,674
135Solomon Islands0,473Profound defective State0,7280,5590,260
136Nigeria0,471Defective State0,7130,4900,300
137Paraguay0,458Defective State0,6060,4900,325
138Cambodia0,449Defective State0,5140,5280,333
139Madagascar0,448Defective State0,5710,4470,353
140Togo0,445Defective State0,5810,4450,342
141Sudan0,441Defective State0,6500,3730,355
142Azerbaijan0,439Profound defective State0,4920,5950,289
143Tajikistan0,437Profound defective State0,5480,5730,265
144Comoros0,434Defective State0,4220,3710,523
145Cameroon0,424Profound defective State0,5770,5640,235
146Mozambique0,415Profound defective State0,6310,5330,212
147Mali0,401Profound defective State0,6740,3600,267
148Guatemala0,397Profound defective State0,5130,5320,230
149Iraq0,388Defective State0,3430,5400,316
150Pakistan0,388Profound defective State0,4630,5200,243
151Equatorial Guinea0,377Profound defective State0,6040,6460,137
152Bahrain0,374Profound defective State0,1510,6290,551
153Guinea-Bissau0,368Profound defective State0,4890,4160,245
154Lebanon0,363Defective State0,3270,3460,425
155Burma/Myanmar0,357Profound defective State0,6950,2200,297
156Eritrea0,356Profound defective State0,6130,4390,168
157Liberia0,345Profound defective State0,5720,6200,116
158Niger0,345Profound defective State0,6770,3340,181
159Guinea0,331Profound defective State0,4980,2940,249
160Democratic Republic of the Congo0,324Profound defective State0,4810,3070,231
161Ethiopia0,316Profound defective State0,6130,2170,236
162Republic of the Congo0,304Profound defective State0,5030,3290,170
163Papua New Guinea0,296Collapsed State0,6800,5510,069
164Venezuela0,290Profound defective State0,3410,4060,176
165Syria0,279Profound defective State0,2170,3590,279
166Somalia0,278Profound defective State0,5540,2640,148
167Haiti0,251Profound defective State0,3710,3490,122
168Central African Republic0,239Profound defective State0,3970,2660,129
169Chad0,232Profound defective State0,2930,4070,104
170Afghanistan0,220Profound defective State0,1810,3710,157
171South Sudan0,154Collapsed State0,4980,0630,115
172Yemen0,114Collapsed State0,1460,1180,085
173Libya0,029Collapsed State0,0010,0680,369