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Quality of Government: Toward a More Complex Definition

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  • AGNAFORS, MARCUS

Abstract

Concepts such as “quality of government” and “good governance” refer to a desired character of the exercise of public authority. Recently the interest in good governance, the quality of government, and similar concepts has increased considerably. However, despite this increasing interest and use, an adequate definition of the concept of quality of government has proved difficult to find. This article criticizes recent attempts at such a definition and proposes an alternative, more complex definition that includes moral content and also encompasses a plurality of values and virtues at its core. An acceptable definition of the quality of governance must be consistent with the demands of a public ethos, the virtues of good decision making and reason giving, the rule of law, efficiency, stability, and a principle of beneficence. The article describes these components in detail and the relations among them.

Suggested Citation

  • Agnafors, Marcus, 2013. "Quality of Government: Toward a More Complex Definition," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 107(3), pages 433-445, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:apsrev:v:107:y:2013:i:03:p:433-445_00
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    Cited by:

    1. Momi Dahan & Michel Strawczynski, 2020. "Budget institutions and government effectiveness," Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 32(2), pages 217-246, April.
    2. Luhao Liu & Xudong Hu & Zhongxiu Zhao, 2022. "Does Horizontal‐Paradigm Aid Weaken the Governance of Recipient Countries? Evidence from China," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 30(2), pages 1-27, March.
    3. Daniel Albalate & Germà Bel, 2018. "“Do government formation deadlocks damage economic growth? Evidence from history’s longest period of political deadlock”," IREA Working Papers 201817, University of Barcelona, Research Institute of Applied Economics, revised Jul 2018.
    4. Adel Daoud & Björn Halleröd & Debarati Guha-Sapir, 2016. "What Is the Association between Absolute Child Poverty, Poor Governance, and Natural Disasters? A Global Comparison of Some of the Realities of Climate Change," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(4), pages 1-20, April.
    5. Sunhee Kim & Jaesun Wang, 2019. "Does Quality of Government Matter in Public Health?: Comparing the Role of Quality and Quantity of Government at the National Level," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-24, June.
    6. Siudek, Tomasz & Zawojska, Aldona, 2014. "Quality of national governance and rural development: The case of the European Union countries," 2014 International Congress, August 26-29, 2014, Ljubljana, Slovenia 182793, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    7. Daniel Appiah & Abdul-Gafaru Abdulai, 2023. "Conceptualizing and Measuring State Effectiveness as Impartiality," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 1417-1436, December.
    8. Kimberly A. Nolan García & Mark Aspinwall, 2019. "Restraining Gulliver: Institutional reform and the strengthening of state capacity and compliance," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 13(3), pages 321-339, September.
    9. Cristina Bicchieri, 2002. "Covenants without Swords," Rationality and Society, , vol. 14(2), pages 192-228, May.
    10. Tobin Im & Youngmi Choi, 2018. "Rethinking National Competitiveness: A Critical Assessment of Governmental Capacity Measures," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 135(2), pages 515-532, January.
    11. Adel Daoud, 2015. "Quality of Governance, Corruption and Absolute Child Poverty in India," Journal of South Asian Development, , vol. 10(2), pages 148-167, August.
    12. Anja Shortland & Andrew Shortland, 2020. "Governance under the shadow of the law: trading high value fine art," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 184(1), pages 157-174, July.

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