copy the linklink copied! Annex C. Contextual factors
This section provides data on administrative and institutional features of each country, including: the regime type; the composition and electoral system of the legislature; the structure of the executive branch; the division of power between one central and several regional or local governments; and key characteristics of the judicial system. It also provides basic data on population and gross domestic product (GDP) for 2018 and data on the number of municipalities, provinces, states and/or regions.
Political and institutional frameworks influence those who formulate and implement policy responses to the challenges faced by governments. For example, the type of electoral system employed has a number of potential consequences on the nature and tenure of government, including the diversity of views represented and the ability of the legislature to create and amend laws. Major differences in legislative institutions can affect the way a country’s bureaucratic system works. The extent that power is shared between the legislative and executive branches, exemplified by the system of executive power (parliamentary, presidential or dual executive), the frequency of elections and term limits, the ease of constitutional amendments, and the ability of the judiciary to review the constitutionality of laws and actions, set the constraints within which policies and reforms can be enacted and implemented. The way that governments are structured, including the division of responsibilities vertically (across levels of governments) and horizontally (between departments or ministries), is a key factor underlying the organisational capacity of government. Different structures and responsibilities require different sets of competencies, including oversight, monitoring and evaluation and co-ordination.
While many contextual factors are products of a country’s historical development and cannot be easily changed by policy makers, they can be used to identify countries with similar political and administrative structures for comparison and benchmarking purposes. In addition, for countries considering different policies and reforms, the indicators can illustrate structural differences that may affect their passage and implementation.
copy the linklink copied! Methodology and definitions
GDP data are from the IMF World Economic Outlook Database.
Federal states have a constitutionally delineated division of political authority between one central and several regional or state autonomous governments. While unitary states often include multiple levels of government (such as local and provincial or regional), these administrative divisions are not constitutionally defined.
Under the parliamentary form of executive power, the executive is usually the head of the dominant party in the legislature and appoints members of that party or coalition parties to serve as ministers. The executive is accountable to parliament, who can end the executive’s term through a vote of no confidence. Several countries with parliamentary systems also have a president, whose powers are predominantly ceremonial in nature. Under the presidential system, the executive and members of the legislature seek election independently of one another. Ministers are not elected members of the legislature but are nominated by the president and may be approved by the members of the legislature. The dual executive system combines a powerful president with an executive responsible to the legislature, with both responsible for the day-to-day activities of the state. It differs from the presidential system in that the cabinet (although named by the president) is responsible to the legislature, which may force the cabinet to resign through a motion of no confidence.
Data on the frequency of governments cover the period between 1 January 1998 and 31 August 2018. The number of governments is determined by the number of terms served by the head of the executive branch (where a term is either defined by a change in the executive or an election that renewed support for the current government).
A ministry is an organisation in the executive branch that is responsible for a sector of public administration. Common examples include ministries of health, education and finance. While sub-national governments may also be organised into ministries, the data only refer to central government. Ministers advise the executive and are in charge of either one or more ministries, or a portfolio of government duties. In most parliamentary systems, ministers are drawn from the legislature and keep their seats. In most presidential systems, ministers are not elected officials and are appointed by the president. The data refer to the number of ministers that comprise the cabinet at the central level of government and exclude deputy ministers.
Bicameral legislatures have two chambers (usually an upper house and a lower house), whereas unicameral legislatures are composed of only a lower house. Electoral systems are usually characterised as single member (first-past-the-post or Preferential and two-round) or multi member (proportional representation or semi-proportional representation). The types of electoral systems are defined as follows:
Under first-past-the-post, the winner is the candidate with the most votes but not necessarily an absolute majority of votes.
Under preferential and two-round, the winner is the candidate who receives an absolute majority (i.e. over 50%) of votes. If no candidate receives over 50% of votes during the first round of voting, the preferential system makes use of voters’ second preferences while the two-round system uses a second round of voting to produce a winner.
Proportional representation (PR) systems allocate parliamentary seats based on a party’s share of national votes.
Metadata, Legal and Rights
https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264305915-en
© OECD, ADB 2019
This Work is available under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives 3.0 IGO (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO) public license.