The Quality of Government in a Comparative Perspective

Corruption and its related problems are now seen as having devastating effects not only on economic growth, but also on the viability of democratic processes, the legitimacy of public policies in areas such as social insurance, employment and education and, not least, the overall social fabric of society. In this course, you will study the importance of the quality of government (QoG) institutions for economic and democratic development as well as social and environmental sustainability. We will critically evaluate questions such as how QoG might be defined; the importance of QoG for democracy, economic growth, the rule of law, social capital, inequality, social policies and citizens individual well-being; and, whether the concept of QoG is universally applicable or limited to the Western liberal democracies. For those who aspire to win the Nobel Prize, answer this: what does it take for countries to change from low to high quality political institutions?