The Governance Gauge: The Integrity of Governance

We hope you enjoy this Wednesday’s Governance Gauge: for more reading material, you can always visit our reading list for more on governance, special economic zones, best practices and studies!

“The Integrity of Governance” is an academic book written by Leo Huberts of the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. The book primarily focuses on the subject of “integrity” — how it’s defined, exercised, and particularly how it’s enforced at the government level, on actors within the government. The book’s tone varies from philosophical while defining the term “integrity” to objective reporting when regarding the cases of integrity and the lack thereof in the world’s governments.

The book is split into 9 chapters, which regard the ethics of governance, the defining of integrity, existing incentive structures in the successful and corrupt governments of the world, closing with prescriptions for zones.

Creators of zones and societies will find chapters 7 and 8 most useful, as they regard the recruitment process for governmental decision-makers and creating an incentive system that can minimize the level of abuse.

Policymakers and analysts can take a look at chapters 3, 5 and 6: these explain how existing systems can incrementally adapt to make their systems have more integrity and consistency in value delivery.

Scholars and experts may use chapters 2, 4 and 9 — plenty of well-sourced information regarding the quality of governance as well as theoretical explanations for the book’s arguments.

The book can be purchased here.