Two topics dominated the United Kingdom during the two-year period reviewed in this report: the completion of the process of exiting the European Union and the coronavirus pandemic. The 2019 general election provided Prime Minister Johnson with a substantial majority (80...

In many respects, Estonia has successfully established a sustainable democracy. Among the 41 countries in the SGI, Estonia ranks seventh for democracy, eighth for policy performance and 11th for governance. These positions remain the same as in 2019. As in 2019, performance...

In 2020 and 2021, Malta had to deal with a period of extensive upheaval, which included the coronavirus pandemic, the election of a new prime minister and extensive constitutional reform. As elsewhere, the pandemic impacted economic performance, healthcare resources and...

In terms of the SGI, the United States continues to receive high scores in some areas of long-term strength, including economic policy, labor market efficiency and innovation. Compared to the situation prevailing during the Trump years, the United States performed better in...

Finland is among the richest and happiest countries in the world. In spite of cuts in public spending over the past few decades, welfare state arrangements are an important cause of citizens’ satisfaction. Given this, Finland may also have been in a better position than many...

Considering Mexico’s experience with military and corporatist autocratic rule, the country has made significant progress over the last three decades with regard to electoral competition and its overall regulatory environment, including market-oriented reforms. Economic and...

France enjoys solid institutions of governance, and under the Fifth Republic has benefited from the most stable, consensual and efficient period of the past 200 years. Yet the country has struggled to effectively address the challenges associated with Europeanization and...

The years 2020-2021 were the last of the Rutte III government that came to power in March 2017. This was an uneasy four-party coalition between centerright parties (the conservative-liberal People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and the largely ideology-free...

Throughout the reporting period, the challenges associated with the pandemic were the dominating issue. Overall, the country and its institutions have proved considerably resilient in this crisis. The country benefited from its strong institutions, sound public budgets, and...

New Zealand has weathered the global COVID-19 pandemic relatively well, both in terms of public health and economic performance. As of December 2021, the country had only recorded nine deaths per million population – the lowest such figure in the OECD. New Zealand’s economy...