The 2024 Berggruen Governance Index Report: Democracy Challenged – A New Realism for the Future of Governance
As democracy faces unprecedented challenges worldwide, the 2024 Berggruen Governance Index (BGI) raises a profound question about its role in fostering public prosperity: is democracy becoming less relevant to public well-being than previously assumed?
The findings from this year's report—produced by the Berggruen Institute, the Hertie School, and the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs—question the conventional belief that democracy inherently provides a higher quality of life and robust public goods. For the first time, we are seeing evidence that non-democratic countries are performing well in areas traditionally associated with democratic governance, suggesting that alternative models of governance may provide a viable path to development. The report suggests a "new realism" is needed in assessing governance performance across democracies and non-democracies alike.
The Berggruen Governance Index evaluates the governance performance of 145 countries over 21 years, examining the interrelated dimensions of democratic accountability, state capacity, and public goods provision. Here are the key insights from the 2024 report:
A Shift in Public Goods Provision: Nearly half of the countries studied showed an increase in public goods provision despite experiencing a decline in democratic accountability. This shift suggests that non-democratic governance models are finding ways to provide essential services effectively, challenging assumptions about democracy’s unique role in delivering public goods.
Regional Stability and Economic Interplay: While established democratic states remain well-off and relatively stable, their futures are increasingly dependent on the dynamics of a globalized economy. Economic shifts significantly impact social cohesion and the provision of public goods, calling into question the sustainability of democracy in its current form among developed market economies.
State Capacity Variances: State capacity—a key indicator of governance effectiveness—has seen notable improvements in Africa and relative stability in Asia and Europe. However, it has declined in the Americas and Oceania since 2010, signaling the need for renewed focus on governance models and policies that can build resilience.
Narrowing of Global Gaps: Regions with historically lower overall scores in governance performance have shown the largest gains across democratic accountability, state capacity, and public goods provision, indicating a gradual convergence and narrowing of gaps over time.
Contradicting Development Models: The data presents ambiguous support for the “Washington Consensus,” which traditionally posits that democracy is the best system for delivering public prosperity, and the “Beijing Consensus,” which suggests that authoritarian regimes can be equally effective in ensuring a high quality of life. The results indicate a complex landscape where neither model has proven unequivocally superior.
The 2024 Berggruen Governance Index offers a crucial reminder that as the world changes, so too must our assumptions about governance. At The World Forum on the Future of Democracy, AI/Tech and Humankind on 18 & 19 March 2025, in Berlin, we believe these insights call for a rethinking of governance models to foster societies that can meet the challenges of the 21st century. This report is a call to action for policymakers, scholars, and citizens to seek a new equilibrium in governance—one that acknowledges the strengths of diverse models while striving for inclusive, resilient, and responsive governance systems worldwide.