Data for 2014

Meritocratic Appointment in the State Administration, 2014

Name: Meritocratic Appointment in the State Administration, 2014
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

2014, 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, 2014 covers 176 countries. Singapore is highest, at 3.447; Eritrea is lowest, at -2.150. The middle country reads 0.323. Against 2013, 17 values changed (4 up, 13 down), the same countries are covered.

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Meritocratic Appointment in the State Administration · Data for 2014

HighestSingapore

3.447

LowestEritrea

-2.150

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

176countries
1measure
2014the year it describes
173distinct 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, 2014, as published. V-Dem Institute ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. “=” marks a shared position.

Search this table

Showing 25 of 176 countries · select a heading to sort

Meritocratic Appointment in the State Administration, 2014: 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	2.323
8	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	2.222
9	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	2.152
10	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	2.149
11	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	2.148
12	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	2.126
13	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	2.117
14	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	2.051
15	France`FRA`Western Europe	1.985
16	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	1.969
17	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	1.959
18	United States`USA`Northern America	1.924
19	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	1.847
20	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	1.844
21	Uruguay`URY`South America	1.804
22	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	1.737
23	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	1.727
24	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	1.721
25	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	1.682
26	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	1.563
27	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	1.558
28	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	1.552
29	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	1.520
30	Canada`CAN`Northern America	1.505
31	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	1.491
=32	Brazil`BRA`South America	1.444
=32	Chile`CHL`South America	1.444
34	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	1.439
35	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	1.399
36	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	1.363
37	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	1.342
38	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	1.332
39	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	1.324
40	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	1.262
41	India`IND`Southern Asia	1.228
42	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	1.201
43	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	1.137
44	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	1.135
45	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	1.125
46	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	1.118
47	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	1.114
48	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	1.104
49	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	1.086
50	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	1.034
51	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	1.016
52	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	0.984
53	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.968
54	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.943
55	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.906
56	Colombia`COL`South America	0.876
57	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.802
58	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.755
59	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.742
60	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.736
61	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.719
62	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.713
63	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.711
64	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.696
65	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.694
66	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.692
67	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.673
68	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.656
69	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.655
70	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.645
71	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.611
72	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.607
73	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.556
74	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.545
75	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.544
76	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.537
77	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.498
78	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.478
79	Peru`PER`South America	0.473
80	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.471
81	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.467
82	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.461
83	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.452
84	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.418
85	Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	0.410
86	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.390
87	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.350
88	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.326
89	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.320
=90	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.318
=90	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.318
92	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.296
93	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.286
94	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.283
95	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.270
96	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.264
97	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.250
98	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.246
99	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.184
100	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.160
101	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.131
102	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.128
103	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.115
104	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.095
105	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.090
106	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.060
107	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.036
=108	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.034
=108	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.034
110	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.029
111	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	-0.011
112	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	-0.012
113	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	-0.019
114	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	-0.052
115	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	-0.054
116	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	-0.056
117	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	-0.069
118	Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	-0.078
119	Paraguay`PRY`South America	-0.099
120	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	-0.166
121	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	-0.174
122	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	-0.182
123	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	-0.189
124	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	-0.219
125	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	-0.221
126	Suriname`SUR`South America	-0.236
127	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	-0.266
128	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	-0.299
129	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	-0.316
130	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	-0.343
131	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	-0.345
132	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	-0.399
133	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	-0.406
134	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	-0.435
135	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	-0.485
136	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	-0.486
137	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	-0.506
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	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	-0.630
145	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	-0.664
146	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	-0.674
147	Honduras`HND`Central America	-0.686
148	Niger`NER`Western Africa	-0.724
149	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	-0.769
150	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	-0.817
151	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	-0.825
152	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	-0.834
153	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	-0.850
154	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	-0.903
155	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	-0.947
156	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	-0.996
157	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	-1.096
158	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	-1.130
159	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	-1.146
160	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	-1.167
161	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	-1.218
162	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	-1.278
163	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	-1.310
164	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	-1.337
165	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	-1.512
166	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	-1.568
167	Venezuela`VEN`South America	-1.604
168	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	-1.676
169	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	-1.719
170	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	-1.738
171	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	-1.841
172	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	-1.867
173	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	-1.898
174	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	-1.907
175	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	-1.909
176	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	-2.150

02In 2014

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

176Eritrea-2.150
175South Sudan-1.909
174Tajikistan-1.907
173Equatorial Guinea-1.898
172Libya-1.867

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.323. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032013 → 2014

Since 2013

+0 / −0countries joined / left
17values changed, of 176 in both
4 · 13rose · fell
159unchanged

Rose most

Madagascar-1.307 → -0.054+1.253
Qatar-1.226 → -1.096+0.130
Burkina Faso0.170 → 0.283+0.113
South Africa0.664 → 0.694+0.030

Fell most

South Sudan-1.550 → -1.909−0.359
Venezuela-1.303 → -1.604−0.301
Bulgaria0.496 → 0.246−0.250
India1.468 → 1.228−0.240
Ukraine-0.589 → -0.817−0.228

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 2014.
173 distinct values among 176
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 176 countries has every column.

05The files

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.csv
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176 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-2014-nations-inquiry.csv
↗
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 (2014). Meritocratic Appointment in the State Administration, 2014 [data set], describing 2014. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/meritocratic-appointment/2014

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Meritocratic Appointment in the State Administration, 2013
176 countries
The year after ›
Meritocratic Appointment in the State Administration, 2015
176 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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