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This book examines the origins of the rise of international rankings, assessing their impact on global governance, and exploring how governments react to being ranked.
List of contents
1. The emerging politics of international rankings and ratings: a framework for analysis Alexander Cooley; 2. Just who put you in charge? We did: CRAs and the politics of ratings Rawi Abdelal and Mark Blyth; 3. Corruption rankings: constructing and contesting the global anti-corruption agenda Mlada Bukovansky; 4. Measuring stateness, ranking political orders: indices of state fragility and state failure Nehal Bhuta; 5. Lost in the gray zone: competing measures of democracy in the former Soviet republics Seva Gunitsky; 6. Winning the rankings game: the Republic of Georgia, USAID, and the Doing Business Project Sam Schueth; 7. Conclusion. Rating the ratings craze: from consumer choice to public policy outcomes Jack Snyder and Alexander Cooley.
About the author
Alexander Cooley is Professor of Political Science at Barnard College, Columbia University and Columbia's Harriman Institute. He has published commentaries and opinions in leading venues including the New York Times, Foreign Affairs and Foreign Policy, and serves on a number of international committees, advisory boards and working groups engaged in global governance in the post-Communist region.Jack Snyder is the Robert and Renée Belfer Professor of International Relations in the Political Science Department and the Harriman Institute at Columbia University, New York. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and in 2012 received the International Security Studies Distinguished Scholar Award of the International Studies Association.
Summary
Global actors publicly rank state performance in areas such as corruption, quality of democracy, creditworthiness, media openness and/or business environment. These international rankings always carry value judgments, methodological choices, and political agendas. This volume addresses the theoretical, normative and policy issues associated with 'grading states'.
