Data for 2008

Meritocratic Appointment in the State Administration, 2008

Name: Meritocratic Appointment in the State Administration, 2008
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

2008, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

V-Dem's measure of meritocratic appointment asks whether people are hired, promoted and fired in a country's civil service on the strength of their skills and merit, or through personal and political connections. It is an expert-coded estimate on an open-ended scale centred near zero, and a higher figure means more appointments on merit.

Meritocratic Appointment in the State Administration, 2008 covers 175 countries. Singapore is highest, at 3.447; Eritrea is lowest, at -2.150. The middle country reads 0.410. Against 2007, 17 values changed (8 up, 9 down), the same countries are covered.

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Meritocratic Appointment in the State Administration · Data for 2008

HighestSingapore

3.447

LowestEritrea

-2.150

Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the better end.

175countries
1measure
2008the year it describes
171distinct values3 decimals, as published
Sep 29, 2026read from the publisher
CC BY-SA 4.0licence

01Position · derived

The table

Every country and every column of Meritocratic Appointment in the State Administration, 2008, as published. V-Dem Institute ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. “=” marks a shared position.

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Showing 25 of 175 countries · select a heading to sort

Meritocratic Appointment in the State Administration, 2008: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
1	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	3.447
2	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	2.773
3	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	2.768
4	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	2.691
5	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	2.357
6	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	2.340
7	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	2.336
8	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	2.230
9	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	2.222
10	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	2.182
11	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	2.152
12	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	2.149
13	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	2.148
14	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	2.126
15	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	2.116
16	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	2.051
17	France`FRA`Western Europe	1.985
18	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	1.969
19	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	1.959
20	United States`USA`Northern America	1.924
21	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	1.847
22	Uruguay`URY`South America	1.804
23	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	1.737
24	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	1.721
25	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	1.680
26	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	1.624
27	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	1.552
28	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	1.520
29	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	1.518
30	Canada`CAN`Northern America	1.505
31	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	1.491
32	India`IND`Southern Asia	1.468
=33	Brazil`BRA`South America	1.444
=33	Chile`CHL`South America	1.444
=35	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	1.399
=35	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	1.399
37	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	1.398
38	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	1.394
39	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	1.363
40	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	1.324
41	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	1.303
42	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	1.298
43	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	1.274
44	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	1.262
45	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	1.238
46	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	1.153
47	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	1.137
48	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	1.134
49	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	1.125
50	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	1.114
51	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	1.086
52	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	1.078
53	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	1.034
54	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	1.016
55	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.997
56	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.968
57	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.906
58	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.870
59	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	0.861
60	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.825
61	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.815
62	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.802
63	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.760
64	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.755
65	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.742
66	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.733
67	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.719
68	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.713
69	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.704
70	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.696
71	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.664
72	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.655
73	Colombia`COL`South America	0.653
74	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.645
75	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.641
76	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.556
77	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.545
78	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.544
79	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.537
80	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.478
81	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.477
82	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.471
83	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.467
84	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.460
85	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.452
86	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.418
=87	Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	0.410
=87	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.410
89	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.390
90	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.379
91	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.350
92	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.343
93	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.320
94	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.318
95	Peru`PER`South America	0.305
96	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.296
97	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.270
98	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.227
99	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.188
100	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.184
101	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.170
102	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.160
103	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.131
104	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.122
105	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.115
106	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.105
107	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.090
108	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.060
=109	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.034
=109	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.034
111	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.029
112	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.008
113	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	-0.012
114	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	-0.052
115	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	-0.069
116	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	-0.097
117	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	-0.103
118	Suriname`SUR`South America	-0.133
119	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	-0.174
120	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	-0.177
121	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	-0.182
122	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	-0.189
123	Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	-0.208
124	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	-0.258
125	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	-0.266
126	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	-0.299
127	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	-0.316
128	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	-0.343
129	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	-0.345
130	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	-0.394
131	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	-0.399
132	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	-0.406
133	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	-0.435
134	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	-0.442
135	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	-0.486
136	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	-0.506
137	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	-0.527
138	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	-0.541
139	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	-0.556
140	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	-0.569
141	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	-0.603
142	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	-0.608
143	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	-0.609
144	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	-0.620
145	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	-0.630
146	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	-0.674
147	Honduras`HND`Central America	-0.686
148	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	-0.709
149	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	-0.747
150	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	-0.769
151	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	-0.793
152	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	-0.850
153	Paraguay`PRY`South America	-0.878
154	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	-0.892
155	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	-0.903
156	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	-0.947
157	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	-1.084
158	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	-1.130
159	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	-1.139
160	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	-1.167
161	Venezuela`VEN`South America	-1.186
162	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	-1.310
163	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	-1.337
164	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	-1.360
165	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	-1.468
166	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	-1.498
167	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	-1.512
168	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	-1.568
169	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	-1.581
170	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	-1.617
171	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	-1.676
172	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	-1.705
173	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	-1.738
174	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	-1.898
175	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	-2.150

02In 2008

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Singapore3.447
2Luxembourg2.773
3Estonia2.768
4Denmark2.691
5United Kingdom2.357

Lowest

175Eritrea-2.150
174Equatorial Guinea-1.898
173DR Congo-1.738
172Azerbaijan-1.705
171Burundi-1.676

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.410. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032007 → 2008

Since 2007

+0 / −0countries joined / left
17values changed, of 175 in both
8 · 9rose · fell
158unchanged

Rose most

Maldives0.462 → 1.394+0.932
Montenegro0.511 → 0.861+0.350
Ecuador-0.176 → 0.105+0.281
Indonesia1.053 → 1.298+0.245
Poland1.181 → 1.398+0.217

Fell most

Guinea-0.513 → -1.139−0.626
Sierra Leone0.049 → -0.399−0.448
Benin0.509 → 0.131−0.378
Türkiye1.117 → 0.870−0.247
Mauritania-1.083 → -1.310−0.227

04Caveats

Read before you use

How values are stored

One year of the 2026 release
Every year in this series comes from V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release, recalculated on one method, so a change from one year to the next is not a revision. It can differ from what was first published for 2008.
171 distinct values among 175
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 2 countries share 1.444. Countries sharing a value share a position too.
Nothing missing
Every one of the 175 countries has every column.

05The files

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.csv
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175 rows · 4.9 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download meritocratic-appointment-2008-nations-inquiry.csv
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The publisher’s original
V-Dem Institute’s own file, on its own site.
V-Dem-CY-FullOthers-v16_csv.zip

What this site changed: Reshaped to one row per country, with its ISO code; no value recalculated, rescaled or rounded. In full

Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 · what it allows, in plain words

Cite this edition

V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg (2008). Meritocratic Appointment in the State Administration, 2008 [data set], describing 2008. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/meritocratic-appointment/2008

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Meritocratic Appointment in the State Administration, 2007
175 countries
The year after ›
Meritocratic Appointment in the State Administration, 2009
175 countries
All of them
Meritocratic Appointment in the State Administration: every year
36 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
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