Russia’s Governance Worse Than That of Zambia, Uganda and Swaziland — WB

Created: 18.09.2006 11:18 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 11:18 MSK

MosNews

According to a World Bank report that was released on Friday, Sept. 15, Russia is comparable to Swaziland, Zambia and Kazakhstan in how it governs. The report, titled “Governance Matters: A Decade of Measuring the Quality of Governance”, ranked Russia 151st among 208 countries in terms of voice and accountability, political stability, effectiveness of the government, the quality of regulatory bodies, the rule of law and control over corruption.

The indicators were crucial, the report said, in determining a country’s level of economic development.

Ahead of Russia were Zambia (148), Uganda (149) and Swaziland (150), while Niger (152), Kazakhstan (153) and East Timor (154) were just behind.

Scandinavian countries and Finland topped the list as having the best governance, while at the bottom were Iraq, Somalia, Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Voice and accountability, the report said, deals with a country’s freedom to choose its own government and the possibility to express individual opinion and other social liberties, including freedom of the media. In that category, Russia ranked among countries such as Qatar, Lebanon and many African nations, including Gambia, Congo and Algeria

Russia fell into a similar percentile as the Philippines, Kyrgyzstan and Israel in terms of political stability. The bank defined political stability as the perceived likelihood that a country’s government will be destabilized or overthrown by unconstitutional or violent means, including domestic violence and terrorism. Iceland, in the top percentile, was seen as being entirely politically stable, whereas Iraq registered a zero on the scale.

For effectiveness of government —- the quality of public services and credibility of the state’s commitment to policy formation and implementation —- Russia was lumped together with Pakistan, San Marino and Tanzania. For quality of regulation, it was ranked on a similar level to Ukraine, Madagascar and Senegal.

Rule of law in Russia was as effective as in Ecuador, Indonesia and Bangladesh. Rule of law was defined as the “extent to which agents have confidence in, and abide by, the rules of society and, in particular, the quality of contract enforcement, the police, and the courts,” as well as the likelihood of crime and violence.

Nicaragua, East Timor and China showed a similar ability to control corruption as Russia.