Dimensions of Political Inequality: Global Measurement Challenges

The Political Economy of Development research area will host a 2-day workshop with a focus on how to conceptualize and measure across countries the multiple dimensions of political inequality between individuals and societal groups. One goal of the workshop is to contribute to the debate surrounding the measurement process for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular SDG #16.7 ("Ensuring responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels"). Another is to lay the groundwork for new empirical validation exercises into the extent of disparities in government responsiveness and representation between individuals/groups.

Towards these ends the workshop will gather together policy practitioners with experience in measuring good governance and bureaucratic performance and academics focusing on assessing disparities in political participation and political influence across Latin America, Africa, and Europe. Throughout the two days, sessions will be devoted to gauging the extent of inequality in political participation and citizen inputs, responsiveness of government authorities to citizen demands, or to showcasing novel ways of assessing inequality between groups. Each session will conclude with a small round-table discussion on the way in which insights from papers presented could be incorporated in the planned validation exercise.

For further information about the event, please contact the IPI office at ipi.office [at] wzb.eu.

Organizers: Constantin Manuel Bosancianu and Macartan Humphreys