The relationship between government, virtue, and wealth has held a special fascination
since Aristotle, and the importance of each frames policy debates today in both developed …

We need political trust, Hetherington (2006) argues, because such confidence provides the
support leaders need to enact programs to make people's lives better. Higher quality …

The recent growth in research on “good governance” and the quality of government
institutions has been propelled by empirical findings that show that such institutions may …

In development policy, international organizations have shifted their focus to the importance
of good governance and sound institutions. The theory behind this is that only with a high …

In a memorable address to the Ghanaian Parliament on July 11, 2009, US President Barack
Obama asserted that “Africa doesn't need strongmen; it needs strong institutions.” He went …

Corruption flouts rules of fairness and gives some people advantages that others do not
have. Corruption transfers resources from the mass public to the elites–and generally from …

“Quality of government” and its close cousins “good governance” and “state capacity” are
relatively new concepts that have made a strong impact in research as well as in some of the …

Corruption interferes with and distorts the processes of political decision making and
implementation, often to the disadvantage of the already disadvantaged. Yet our …

Why are some countries less corrupt and better governed than others? Challenging
conventional explanations on the remarkable differences in quality of government …

From a comparative perspective, systems of public administration vary tremendously in their
relation to societal actors and the public at large. One could mention variation in degrees of …