Release of 2026 Berggruen Governance Index: The Four Worlds of Governance

The 2026 Berggruen Governance Index measures the relationship between quality of democracy, quality of government, and quality of life across 140+ countries from 2000 to 2023.

Its central finding: governance performance is strikingly persistent. The world divides into four distinct governance clusters — Consolidated Democratic States, Capacity-Constrained States, Authoritarian and Hybrid States, and Low-Capacity Developing States —and nearly six in seven countries sit in the same cluster today as they did in 2000. Of the rare movers, only one country joined the consolidated democracies; several fell out, while the authoritarian cluster gained members.

Meanwhile, the three dimensions of governance have diverged. Democratic accountability has stagnated globally. State capacity has barely budged. Yet public goods provision has improved nearly everywhere—especially where state capacity is weakest.

This raises a critical question: if quality-of-life gains are outpacing the institutional foundations that sustain them, how long can they last? And can these different governance worlds manage what’s coming—from AI and climate change to demographic shifts and political fragility?

Program

• Welcome — Anastasia Loukaito-Sideris
• Democracy and the Berggruen Governance Index — Dawn Nakagawa
• Presenting the 2026 Index — Helmut Anheier & Joseph Saraceno
• Panel Discussion — Stella Ghervas, Michael Storper, Vinay Lal
• Response — Helmut Anheier & Joseph Saraceno
• Audience Q&A
• Closing — Alexandra Lieben
• Lunch on the patio

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Host or Publisher UCLA Luskin School & UCLA Burkle Center