The Quality of Government Basic Dataset made from The Quality of Government Dataset, Version 15May13

Abstract

One aim of the QoG Institute is to make publicly available cross-national comparative data on QoG and its correlates. To accomplish this objective we have compiled both a cross-sectional data-set with global coverage pertaining to the year 2009 (or the closest year available), and a cross-sectional time-series data-set with global coverage spanning the time period 1946–2012. The data-sets draw on a number of freely available cross-sectional data sources, including aggregated individual-level data, and contain three types of variables:

▪ WII (What It Is) variables, that is, variables pertaining to the core features of QoG (such as corruption, bureaucratic quality and democracy)
▪ HTG (How To Get it) variables, that is, variables posited to promote the development of QoG (such as electoral rules, forms of government, federalism, legal & colonial origin, religion and social fractionalization); and
▪ WYG (What You Get) variables, that is, variables pertaining to some of the posited consequences of QoG (such as economic and human development, international and domestic peace, environmental sustainability, gender equality, and satisfied, trusting and confident citizens).