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Citizens are increasingly concerned with their quality of life. A consensus is growing around the need to develop a more comprehensive view of progress – one that takes into account social, environmental and economic concerns - rather than focussing mainly on economic indicators like Gross Domestic Product, which, while an important measure of economic activity, was not developed to be the sole measure of a nation’s progress. There is also a broad recognition that the development of cross-cutting, high quality, shared, accessible information about how a society is doing is crucial to ensure that decision-making is simultaneously responsive and responsible at all levels (policy makers, businesses, citizens, etc.). This is a key issue for democracy. The better an electorate is able to hold its policy makers accountable through evidence of their performance, the greater the incentive for policy makers to make better policy. And smarter indicators of progress could help society to achieve more relevant goals with fewer resources.
Measuring progress initiatives are being run in many countries, developed and developing. A Global Movement of iniatitves are happening in all areas of societie. Initiatives are being run by governments, by civil society, by academics and the private sector. Some of the most successful have been run in novel partnerships that span the different sectors. They are being run at the country and international levels. Some are being done for local communities. But for the most part, those working in this field are working in isolation. They have few opportunities to discuss with their peers their common experiences or develop best practice. When practitioners do meet their vocabularies and methodologies differ to such a great extent that discussions usually result in more heat than light.
Several international and supranational organisations have established collections of statistical indicators to measure economic, social and environmental phenomena. Some of these measures are used to design sectoral policies and/or to monitor their effects. Private and public research institutes and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) have also developed indicators to measure particular phenomena and use these measures for analysis and advocacy.
In 2000 the world’s heads of state agreed on the United Nation’s Millennium Declaration: a plan to substantially improve the lives of people in developing countries. The plan led to the Millennium Development Goals, and an aim of reaching the targets by 2015. Statistical indicators have been developed to monitor this process and are used both to direct aid flows and for advocacy. But leaders and citizens still lack a global monitoring system to evaluate whether the whole world, and not only developing countries, is progressing.
OECD World Forums and the Istanbul Declaration
In June 2007, three years after its first World Forum on “Statistics, Knowledge and Policy” held in Italy, the OECD, in collaboration with other international organizations, ran the second World Forum in Istanbul on “Measuring and Fostering the Progress of Societies”, see Videos. Some 1200 people, from over 130 countries attended. Presidents and ministers rubbed shoulders with the leaders of civil society. Captains of industry met the heads of charitable foundations and leading academics. They shared a common interest in wanting to develop better measures of how the world is progressing. Webcast and Agenda of Second OECD World Forum in Istanbul 2007
The conference led to the Istanbul Declaration, English version, signed by the European Commission, the Organisation of the Islamic Countries, the OECD, the United Nations, the United Nations Development Programme, UNICEF, UNESCO, the United Nations Fund for Partnership, the World Bank, and several other organisations, which calls for action to identify what “progress” means in the 21st century and to stimulate international debate, based on solid statistical data and indicators, on both global issues of societal progress and how societies compare. In particular, the Declaration calls for actions to:
• encourage communities to consider for themselves what “progress” means in the 21st century;
• share best practices on the measurement of societal progress and increase the awareness of the need to do so using sound and reliable methodologies;
• stimulate international debate, based on solid statistical data and indicators, on both global issues of societal progress and comparisons of such progress;
• produce a broader, shared, public understanding of changing conditions, while highlighting areas of significant change or inadequate knowledge;
• advocate appropriate investment in building statistical capacity, especially in developing countries, to improve the availability of data and indicators needed to guide development programs and report on progress toward international goals, such as the Millennium Development Goals.
The World Forum participants shared the view that the world needs leadership in this area and the Global Project on “Measuring the Progress of Societies” can provide it. The World Forum encouraged the OECD to begin a Global Project in collaboration with others Videos of the main sessions of the Istanbul World Forum
A Global Movement
There is an ever growing Global Movement on activities related to the work of "Measuring the Progress of Societies" read more about it A Global Movement
The links between information and democracy
Although political scientists disagree about much, there is a widespread agreement on three key constraints to the organisation of a democracy:
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The inclusive constraint: all those voting should have equal entitlement to vote.
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The judgemental constraint: those voting should deliberate on the basis of common concerns about the issue.
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The dialogical constraint: they should conduct this deliberation in open and unforced dialogue.
Of course evidence is a key part of the decision-making progress. And the parallels between the organisation of democracy and the need for a shared set of information about key issues of concern are clear. It is a natural corollary to argue that:
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The inclusive constraint: all those voting should have equal access to the key information.
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The judgemental constraint: that information should relate to the key issues of common concern.
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The dialogical constraint: the information should have been constructed objectively and transparently
Democracy and the “information age”: opportunities and risks
The “Statistics, Knowledge and Policy” Chain
Beyond GDP: towards a shared measure of societal progress
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