How to rank Africa's governance

The Mo Ibrahim Foundation and World Peace Foundation have just released their annual rankings of African governance. In the past, the two foundations joined forces and released a single ranking. Mo Ibrahim is a wealthy Sudanese-born philanthropist. The World Peace Foundation is located at the Kennedy School of Government and headed by Professor Robert Rotberg. This year, because of disagreement over editorial control, they released separate rankings. Although the listings of best- and worst-governed nations in Africa are similar, there are some important differences. Visit the two different web sites and make up your own mind. You can find the Mo Ibrahim listing here and the World Peace Foundation ranking here (PDF). For a good analysis of these competing rankings, see Celia W. Dugger's article titled "Contention over Rankings of African Nations" in the Oct. 6, 2009, issue of The New York Times.