The Quality of Government Dataset, Version 6Apr11

One aim of the QoG Institute is to make publicly available cross-national comparative data on QoG and its correlates. To accomplish this objective we have compiled both a cross-sectional data-set with global coverage pertaining to the year 2002 (or the closest year available), and a cross-sectional time-series data-set with global coverage spanning the time period 1946–2010. The data-sets draw on a number of freely available cross-sectional data sources, including aggregated individual-level data.In the cross-sectional data-set we include all countries in the world recognized by the United Nations as of the year 2002, plus Serbia, Montenegro (as separate states) and Taiwan for a total of 194 nations. We have thus included Serbia and Montenegro both as a unit and as two separate states. Although they were a unit in 2002 (they split in 2006) several sources have data for them as separate units. We have decided to leave these data sources as is, from which follows that we have included Serbia and Montenegro as separate states in the cross-sectional data-set.Regarding the year from which we have picked the data in the cross-sectional data-set, our first choice has been 2002. The reason for this is that there is a lot less data available for later years. If data for 2002 was not available, data for 2003 is used. If 2003 was not available, we use data for 2001, and if 2001 was lacking, 2004 is used and so forth. In the cross-sectional time-series data-set we include the same 194 nations, plus an addition of 13 historical countries that have ceased to exist