Is life getting better? Are our societies making progress? Indeed, what does "progress" mean to the world’s citizens? For a good portion of the 20th century there was an implicit assumption that economic growth was synonymous with progress: an assumption that a growing GDP meant life must be getting better. But we now recognise that it isn’t quite as simple as that. Access to accurate information is vital when we come to judge our politicians and hold them accountable. But access to a comprehensive and intelligible portrait of that most important of questions - whether or not life has got and is likely to get better - is lacking in many societies. The OECD’s 2nd World Forum on Statistics, Knowledge and Policy 'Measuring and Fostering the Progress of Societies' held in Istanbul in June 2007 brought together a diverse group of leaders from more than 130 countries to debate these issues. These proceedings contain 40 papers presented at the Forum.
"The OECD's Second OECD World forum on 'Statistics, Knowledge and Police' held in Istanbul in June 2007, was organized by the OECD in partnership with Turkey's State Planning Office and the Turkish Statistical Office, and in co-operation with several international organizations."--P. 13.
Bibliography (note)
Includes bibliographical references.
Processing Action (note)
committed to retain
Contents
Foreword -- Introduction -- Istanbul Declaration -- PART ONE. MEASURING PROGRESS: DOES IT MAKE A DIFFERENCE FOR POLICY MAKING AND DEMOCRACY? -- Chapter 1. Measuring Progress: Does it make a Difference for Policy Making and Democracy? by Angel Gurría -- Chapter 2. How Key National Indicators Can Improve Policy Making and Strengthen Democracy by David Walker -- Chapter 3. Promoting Progress: Making it Happen by Roy J. Romanow -- PART TWO. MEASURING PROGRESS AND POLITICAL PROCESSES TO FOSTER PROGRESS -- Chapter 4. Beyond Measuring: The Council of Europe’s Instruments Contributing to the Progress of Societies by Andreas Siegel -- Chapter 5. Global Public Goods for Local Decision Making: Empowerment through Evidence by Julio Frenk and Octavio Gómez-Dantes -- Chapter 6. Evidence-based Policy Making: Just a Myth or a Must? by Cynthia A. Glassman -- Chapter 7. Empowering and Challenging Voters through Governance Indicators: The Philippine Experience by Romulo Virola --^ PART THREE. ACCOUNTABILITY AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT -- Chapter 8. The Importance of Social Reality for Europe’s Economy: An Application to Civil Participation by Marcel Canoy, Frédéric Lerais, Massimiliano Mascherini, Andrea Saltelli and Daniele Vidoni -- Chapter 9. Power to the People: Indicators for Accountability by Shailaja Chandra -- Chapter 10. Connecting Communities with Community Indicators by Alex Michalos -- PART FOUR. MEASURING PROGRESS: PEOPLE'S PERCEPTIONS AND KNOWLEDGE -- Chapter 11. People’s Perception vs. Reality: Drawing Lessons from the Use of Statistics in the European Union by Joaquín Almunia -- Chapter 12. What U.S. Consumers Know About Economic Conditions by Richard T. Curtin -- Chapter 13. Special Eurobarometer Europeans Knoweledge on Economical Indicators by Antonis Papacostas --^ Chapter 14. What Do Citizens Know about Statistics?: The Results of an OECD/ ISAE survey on Italian Consumers by Flora Fullone, Michela Gamba, Enrico Giovannini and Marco Malgarini -- PART FIVE. SUBJECTIVE MEASURES OF WELL-BEING -- Chapter 15. A Short Introduction to Subjective Well-being: Its Measurement, Correlates and Policy Uses by André van Hoorn -- Chapter 16. Measures of Gross National Happiness by Ruut Veenhoven -- PART SIX. CHALLENGES FOR NATIONAL STATISTICAL OFFICES -- Chapter 17. Innovative Statistics to Improve Our Notion of Reality by Henk K. van Tuinen -- Chapter 18. Challenges of Data Collection: with Special Regard to Developing Countries by Asad Elahi -- PART SEVEN. MEASURING PROGRESS: ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES -- Chapter 19. An Effective Global Statistical System: A Prerequisite for Consistency in Global Measurements by Dennis Trewin --^ Chapter 20. Policy and Statistical Issues Underpinning Financial Stability: The IMF Perspective by Robert W. Edwards -- Chapter 21. International Integration and Societal Progress: A Critical Review of Globalisation Indicators by Philippe de Lombaerde and P. Lelio Iapadre -- Chapter 22. Understanding Retirement Savings and Pensions by Len Cook -- Chapter 23. Key Role of Cultural and Creative Industries in the Economy by Hendrik van der Pol -- Chapter 24. Measuring and Improving Government Performance by Joe Grice -- Chapter 25. Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage in Australia by Gary Banks -- Chapter 26. Trends in Worker Requirements and the Need for Better Information to Make More Informed Decisions in a Global Economy by Randall W. Eberts -- Chapter 27. Child Development, Human Development and the Progress of Societies by Fiona Stanley and Stephen R. Zubrick -- Chapter 28. Human Capital and the Older Worker: The Need for Solid Indicators by Peter Ester and Marcel Kerkhofs --^ Chapter 29. Societal Well-being after Experiencing Trauma at the Hand of "Others": The Intertwining of Political, Economic and Other Visible Factors with Hidden Psychological Processes Affecting Victimised Populations by Vamik Volkan -- Chapter 30. The Living Planet Index and Ecological Footprint: Tracking the State of Global Biodiversity and Human Pressures on the Biosphere by Jonathan Loh -- Chapter 31. The State of Ecosystems and Progress of Society by Odeh Rashed Al Jayyousi -- Chapter 32. How Reliable are Climate Change Projections: A Statistician’s Perspective by Dennis Trewin -- PART EIGHT. GENDER: A KEY DIMENSION OF SOCIETAL PROGRESS -- Chapter 33. Social Institutions and Gender Equality: Introducing the OECD Gender, Institutions and Development Data Base (GID-DB) by Denis Drescheler, Johannes Jütting and Louka T. Katseli -- PART NINE. MEASURING SOCIETAL PROGRESS FOR LOCAL COMMUNITIES --^ Chapter 34. The Newfoundland and Labrador System of Community Accounts by Alton Holett, Douglas May and Cory Giles -- Chapter 35, Developing Indicators for Local Communities: The New Zealand Experience by Abby Tho -- Chapter 36. Achieving Outcomes From Indicators: Community Assessment Projects in the United States, A Focus on Santa Cruz County by Susan Brutschy and Deanna Zachary -- PART TEN. USING INDICATORS TO MAKE GOVERNMENTS ACCOUNTABLE -- Chapter 37. Measuring and Improving the Performance of Governments BY Ömer Dinçer -- Chapter 38. AfriMAP: On Not Using Indicators to Score Progress in Governance by Bronwen Manby -- Chapter 39. National Progress and the Effectiveness of International Aid by Maarten Brouwer and Rob Swinkels -- Chapter 40. Case Study: Introducing Standard Indicators in European Commission Funded Projects for Aggregation of Aid Effects by Androulla Kaminara