Publications

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

As a consensus-driven democracy, blessed with generous natural resources managed in a responsible way, Norway performs well in most international comparisons of governance, quality of life, and in rankings of economic and social conditions. Continuity and pragmatic solutions...

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...

Poland has been governed by the right-wing populist PiS since 2015. In 2020, PiS reaffirmed its hold on power through Andrzej Duda’s re-election as president of the republic in June. However, this was a narrow victory with Duda winning only 420,000 more votes (in a country...

Greece’s political and economic environment improved during the period under review, despite the constraints of the COVID-19 pandemic. By 2018, Greece had exited the third Economic Adjustment Program (2015–2018), and by 2019 a new, more predictable and more reform-oriented...

The period under review covers the first two years in office of the second António Costa government. The period was inevitably overshadowed by the pandemic. However, it also saw the eventual demise of the Costa government in December 2021.