1. OECD Government at a Glance 2023
30 June 2023
Elsa Pilichowski
Director for Public Governance, OECD

2. Governments are working in a context of multiple crises
Perceptions of global economic policy
uncertainty have increased since 2009
2
Source: Government at a Glance 2023, based on Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 2 December 2022, https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/GEPUCURRENT.
Global Economic Policy Uncertainty Index, 1997-2021
-20.0
-15.0
-10.0
-5.0
0.0
5.0
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
OECD OECD-EU JPN GBR USA
General government fiscal balance as a % of GDP; OECD area and
largest OECD economies, 2007-2022
Uncertainty about the economic outlook is high
and the upturn remains fragile

3. Governments in OECD countries are seen as generally reliable and resilient
Most people are broadly satisfied with public services and about half of the population (49%)
expects the government to be prepared for the next pandemic.
3
Satisfaction with public services, OECD average, 2021
Source: Government at a Glance 2023
49%
14%
33%
4%
Likely Neutral Unlikely Don't know
People’s expectation on government preparedness for the next
pandemic, OECD average, 2021
61.7%
11.3%
24.8%
2.1%
57.6%
12.6%
24.1%
5.8%
63.0%
13.6%
17.4%
6.0%
Healthcare Education Administrative services

4. Investments in democratic resilience are needed in the current polycrisis environment
4
An even split between those who report high or moderately high trust and those with no or low trust.
Disadvantaged groups have lower levels of trust in government
Share of respondents who indicate different levels of trust in their national government (on a 0-10 scale), 2021
Source: Government at a Glance 2023
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
OECD total
respondents
Low educated Young (age 18-29) Financially vulnerable
High or moderately high trust Neutral Low or no trust Don't know

5. 5
Three priorities for democratic resilience
Three priorities for governments to strengthen trust in government and reinforce
democratic resilience:
1. Build on democratic strengths such as citizen and stakeholder participation and
representation
2. Reinforce key governance competencies to support delivery in the context of
multiple crises
3. Protect against active threats to public trust arising from failings in public integrity
and mis- or disinformation
Source: Government at a Glance 2023

6. Build on democratic strengths: political voice
6
Share of respondents reporting different levels of confidence that the political system lets them have a say
in government decision making (0-10 scale), 2021
Half say the political system does not let them have a say in what the government does
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Confident they have a say Neutral Not confident they have a say Don't know
Source: Government at a Glance 2023

7. Build on democratic strengths: more effective citizen and stakeholder engagement
7
Number of deliberative processes in 24 OECD countries, 1979-2021
Stakeholder engagement on subordinate regulations, 2021
There has been limited improvement in
stakeholder engagement in regulations
Index (0-4 maximum), OECD average
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
1979-1990 1991-2001 2002-2011 2012-2021
Number of processes
New processes to give citizens a greater
voice are emerging
Source: Government at a Glance 2023
2.11 2.12
0
1
2
3
4
2018 2021
16 countries slightly
improved

8. Build on democratic strengths: improved diversity in policy making
8
Youth and women representation in parliament, OECD, 2022 OECD Gender Budgeting Index, (0-1 max), 2022
Women and young people remain
underrepresented in politics
22.8%
33.8%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
Youth Women
Governments are building up their tools to meet
gender equality policy goals
Source: Government at a Glance 2023
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1.0
Strategic framework Methods and tools Accountability and transparency
Enabling environment Demonstrates impact
0.49

9. Reinforce key competencies to handle crises: governing the green transition
9
OECD index on governance for greening infrastructure (0-1 max), 2022
Significant room for manoeuvre exists to strengthen the tools for governing green
0.52
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
Index
on
governance
for
greening
infrastructure
Enabling conditions for climate resilient infrastructure Planning of climate resilient infrastructure
Project prioritisation and appraisal based on climate Green capital budgeting and infrastructure financing
Monitoring environmental and climate impact throughout the life cycle
Source: Government at a Glance 2023

10. Reinforce key competencies to handle crises:
Enhanced capacity and resilience of the public workforce
10
Share of OECD countries with incentives for employees learning and development in central government, 2022
Stepping up on managing an agile public sector workforce in the changing world of work
97%
69% 69%
50%
42%
17%
11%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Self selection of training
programmes
Extra time for training Criteria of performance Individual learning plans Considered in promotion
decisions
Point scheme for attending
training
Requirement of minimum
time
Source: Government at a Glance 2023

11. Protect against threats: implement safeguards to reinforce integrity
11
Percent of integrity standards existing in regulations and in practice in OECD countries, 2022
Addressing citizens increasing expectations about public integrity
Source: Government at a Glance 2023
38%
66%
76%
33%
55%
33%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Lobbying Political finance Conflict of interest
Regulatory safeguards Safeguard in practice

12. 12
• Maintaining democratic resilience in a poly-crisis environment will involve to:
 Build on democratic strengths such as citizen and stakeholder participation and
representation
 Reinforce key governance competencies to support delivery in the context of
multiple crises
 Protect against active threats to public trust arising from failings in public integrity
and mis- or disinformation
• Data play a key role in doing what democracies do best: learning from reliable
evidence, citizens views, and open debate; and continuously improve, share experiences
across countries, and build a better society for all.
Conclusions

13. DRAFT / UNDER DEVELOPMENT 13
Thank you
Discover more about the OECD Directorate for Public Governance at www.oecd.org/gov/
Find out more about the Government at a Glance at: www.oecd.org/publication/government-at-a-glance/2023/