Ranking the World: Grading States as a Tool of Global Governance

258 Pages·2015·1.097 MB·English

by  Alexander Cooley, Jack Snyder

Ranking the World
Overthelastdecade,internationalrankingshaveemergedasacriticaltool
usedbyinternationalactorsengagedinglobalgovernance.Statepractices
and performance are now judged by a number of high-profile indices,
includingassessmentsoftheirlevelsofcorruption,qualityofdemocracy,
creditworthiness, media freedom, and business environment. However,
these rankings always carry value judgments, methodological choices,
and implicit political agendas. This volume expertly addresses the
important analytical, normative, and policy issues associated with the
contemporary practice of “grading states.” The chapters explore how
rankingsaffectourperceptionsofstateperformance,howstatesreactto
beingranked,whysomerankingsexertmoreglobalinfluencethanothers,
and how states have come to strategize and respond to these public
judgments.Thebookalsocriticallyexamineshowtreatingstaterankings
like popular consumer choice indices may actually lead policymakers to
internalize questionable normative assumptions and lead to poorer, not
improved,publicpolicyoutcomes.
alexandercooleyisProfessorofPoliticalScienceatBarnardCollege,
ColumbiaUniversityinNewYorkandColumbia’sHarrimanInstitute.He
haspublishedcommentariesandopinionsinleadingvenues,includingthe
New York Times, Foreign Affairs, and Foreign Policy, and serves on a
numberofinternationalcommittees,advisoryboards,andworkinggroups
engagedinglobalgovernanceinthepost-Communistregion.
jack snyder is the Robert and Renée Belfer Professor of International
RelationsinthePoliticalScienceDepartmentandtheHarrimanInstituteat
ColumbiaUniversity.HeisaFellowoftheAmericanAcademyofArtsand
Sciences and in 2012 received the International Security Studies
DistinguishedScholarAwardoftheInternationalStudiesAssociation.

Ranking the World
Grading States as a Tool of Global
Governance
Editedby
alexander cooley
BarnardCollege
and
jack snyder
ColumbiaUniversity
UniversityPrintingHouse,CambridgeCB28BS,UnitedKingdom
CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge.
ItfurtherstheUniversity’smissionbydisseminatingknowledgeinthepursuitof
education,learningandresearchatthehighestinternationallevelsofexcellence.
www.cambridge.org
Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107098138
©CambridgeUniversityPress2015
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
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noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten
permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublished2015
AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloguinginPublicationdata
Rankingtheworld:gradingstatesasatoolofglobalgovernance/editedby
AlexanderCooleyandJackSnyder.
pages cm
ISBN978-1-107-09813-8(hardback)
1. Nation-stateandglobalization. 2. Internationalrelations–Statistics–
Politicalaspects. 3. Internationaleconomicrelations–Statistics–Political
aspects. 4. Worldpolitics–21stcentury. I. Cooley,Alexander,1972–editor
ofcompilation. II. Snyder,JackL.,editorofcompilation.
JZ1316.R36 2015
320.072–dc23
2014044750
ISBN978-1-107-09813-8Hardback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyof
URLsforexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication,
anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis,orwillremain,
accurateorappropriate.
Contents
Listoffigures pagevii
Listoftables ix
Listofcontributors x
Prefaceandacknowledgments xi
Listofabbreviations xiii
1 Theemergingpoliticsofinternationalrankingsandratings:
Aframeworkforanalysis 1
alexander cooley
2 Justwhoputyouincharge?Wedid:CRAsandthepolitics
ofratings 39
rawi abdelal and mark blyth
3 Corruptionrankings:Constructingandcontestingthe
globalanti-corruptionagenda 60
mlada bukovansky
4 Measuringstateness,rankingpoliticalorders:Indicesof
statefragilityandstatefailure 85
nehal bhuta
5 Lostinthegrayzone:Competingmeasuresofdemocracyin
theformerSovietrepublics 112
seva gunitsky
6 Winningtherankingsgame:TheRepublicofGeorgia,
USAID,andtheDoingBusinessProject 151
sam schueth
7 Conclusion–Ratingtheratingscraze:Fromconsumer
choicetopublicpolicyoutcomes 178
jack snyder and alexander cooley
v
vi Contents
Appendix1: Listofprominentrankingsandratings,
categorizedaccordingtoissuearea 194
Appendix2: Comparingdemocracymeasureswithinthe
formerSovietrepublics 204
References 213
Index 234
Figures
1.1 RROemergence,annual1990–2014,N=83 page10
1.2 MonthlymediacoverageofTransparencyInternational’s
CPI,2012(Proquest) 23
5.1 Divergentpoliticaltrajectoriesinthepost-Sovietspace 113
5.2 TheunevendistributionofPolityscoressuggeststhe
measuremaybecategoricalratherthancontinuous 124
5.3 Twomethodsofaggregatingcontestationand
inclusivenessintoasinglemeasure 126
5.4 AdjustingtheEIUscoreforredundantsub-components 129
5.5 Distributionoforiginal(a)andmodified(b)EIUscores 130
5.6 Relationshipbetweenelectionqualityandoverall
democraticquality 131
5.7 Therelationshipbetweenelectionqualityandpercentage
turnout 132
5.8 Measuresensitivity:averagemagnitudeofannualchanges
inscoresforeachmeasure,comparedtotheproportionof
country-yearsinwhichachangewasrecorded 135
5.9 ComparisonsofFreedomHouseandPolityIVevaluations
ofdemocracyintheformerSovietrepublics,1991–2010 136
5.10 ComparingassessmentsofdemocracyinKazakhstan 138
5.11 Disagreementamongmeasuresbyregimetype 139
5.12 Disagreementamongmeasuresbycountry 140
5.13 AverageregionalmeasuresofdemocracyinformerSoviet
republicsforfivedifferentindices,1991–2010 141
5.14 AveragelevelofdemocracyintheformerSovietrepublics,
asaproportionoftheaveragelevelofdemocracyin
EasternEurope 141
5.15 EvaluationsofdemocraticqualityinArmeniabyFreedom
HouseandPolityIV 143
5.16 EvaluationsofdemocraticqualityinRussiabyFreedom
HouseandPolityIV 145
vii
viii Listoffigures
5.17 AssessmentofdemocracyinRussiausingsixdifferent
measures 148
6.1 Scattergramof2009DBIandGCIpercentileranksfor
134states 160
6.2 AmountofdevelopmentassistanceandFDIreceivedby
Georgiaannually 162