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Public Opinion on Dimensions of Governance in East Asia: An Analysis of Citizen and Expert Evaluations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 December 2007

MATTHEW CARLSON*
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, University of VermontMatthew.Carlson@uvm.edu

Abstract

In recent years, institutional financial institutions such as the World Bank have taken a keen interest in the links between governance and economic development in East Asia and in other regions of the world. However, the concept of governance has proven difficult to measure in cross-national studies and its meaning in the minds of citizens and experts may differ noticeably. This article examines elite and mass perceptions of governance using the World Governance Indicators developed by scholars affiliated with the World Bank and survey data derived from the 2006 wave of the AsiaBarometer Survey conducted in seven ‘Confucian’ societies. The results of the analysis capture considerable variation at the country and individual levels for how citizens and experts perceive governance in this region of the world. In addition, a multivariate test uncovered some convergence between citizen and expert assessments but only for some of the various governance components.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007

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