DSTAIR separates the essential elements of government and society into nine "spheres". The premise is that each sphere can be described in terms of a finite set of especially important institutional arrangements (rules of formation; rules and practices of operation; and exogenous conditions), and that when the "quality" of several of these arrangements suffers, the legitimacy of the sphere as a whole is adversely affected.

Click on one of the following for more information:

Constitution
Legislature
Executive
Public Administration
Courts
Political Parties
Civil Society
Economy
Media

Constitution: The basic laws and principles of the state, which determine the powers and duties of the government and its various branches and guarantee rights to people in it. In addition to the rules within the Constitution itself, this sphere addresses the institutions that create, maintain and modify it.

In a minimal sense of the term, a "constitution" consists of a set of rules or norms creating, structuring and defining the limits of government power or authority. Constitutions specify the limits on the three basic forms of government power: legislative power (making new laws), executive power (implementing laws) and judicial power (adjudicating disputes under laws). These rules not only create legislative, executive and judicial powers, but also impose limits on them. They are expressed in the form of individual or group rights against government, rights to free expression, association, equality and due process of law. They can also characterize the scope of authority (e.g., in a federal system, provincial or state governments may have authority over health care and education while the federal government's jurisdiction extends to national defense and transportation); the mechanisms used in exercising the relevant power (e.g., procedural requirements governing the form and manner of legislation); and civil rights (e.g., in a Charter or Bill of Rights).

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
University of Chicago guide to Constitutional Law Research
University of Richmond Constitution Finder
Comparative Constitutional Rights Chart
Minority Rights Group International
International Constitutional Law Center
Stefan Voigt, "Making Constitutions Work"
John Stuart Mill, "On Liberty"
Thomas Jefferson, Notes and Letters on Constitutions

Legislature: A branch of government whose persons have the authority to create laws for the state. Ideally, the Legislature is elected by some consensual method, appropriately reflects the citizenry that it represents and produces quality legislation that is subject to some level of review by the Courts and the Executive according to the guidelines of the Constitution.

The legislature is one of the lynchpins of governance for any country. The members of the legislature are expected to represent diverse interests within the country and express these points of view while making up laws for the country. Legislatures are typically formed via direct elections, but there may be other mechanisms as well: nominations from local councils; deliberative forums drawn by lot; and so on. What is important is that the rules for forming the legislature are impartial and credible, in that they are consistently applied and are monitored by independent regulatory agencies. Thus, in an electoral system, simply permitting opposition groups access to the ballot is not enough. They should also be provided access to radio, newspaper and television coverage, perhaps by public funding free air time to election advertisements from all parties. In order for democratic elections to be fair and competitive, opposition parties and candidates must enjoy the rights to freedom of speech, assembly, and movement as necessary to voice their criticisms of the government openly and to bring alternative policies and candidates to the voters. Similarly, opposition party politicians should not be harassed or have their events disrupted.

Electionguide.org Information on elections worldwide
Electionworld.org Searchable database on elections
Lijphart Elections Archive Information on elections and enabling legislation
Interparliamentary Union Parliamentarians in the Fight Against Corruption
PolitInfo.com Summary of Legislative election systems and recent results
Parliamentary Centre

Executive: A branch of government, led by the head of state, which is charged with carrying out and enforcing the laws of the state, as well as various other powers which may include diplomatic representation, commanding the armed forces, signing treaties and appointing and managing members of the public administration.

In a democracy, the Executive leader is usually the President or Prime Minister. The functions of the specific offices may vary, but in most cases, the Executive branch of the government is responsible for the day-to-day operation of governmental departments and services, the execution and enforcement of laws, the conduct of foreign policy, command of the armed forces and in some cases the issuing of executive orders or decrees. The leader of the Executive branch, while ideally supported by many capable public officials and advisors, ultimately commands more authority than any other single public servant in a country. For this reason, it is crucial that the office of the Executive changes hands in according to regular, predictable and consistent rules. Direct elections of the Executive leader should therefore be free and fair. Terms should not extend beyond several years before some consensual confirmation or rejection of the office-holder occurs. In the event that the citizens clearly desire a change in Executive leadership, there should be a process by which this can happen in a stable and transparent manner.

CIA Catalogue of Chiefs of State and Cabinet Members
Nationmaster.com survey of global Executive selection institutions
Nationmaster.com summary of recent Executive election results
US Constitution Article II: The Executive

Public Administration: For the purposes of DSTAIR, this sphere entails all non-political public employees who are charged with delivering public services and administering public programs. This includes police, fire, rescue, unemployment insurance administration, retirement insurance administration, national hospital systems, permit issuers, tax collectors, and so on.

Ideally, all members of the public administration are selected on the basis of merit, save for a few members of the staff of political appointees. Unfortunately, this is not the case in many countries. Where patronage, nepotism, favoritism and networking are the only avenues to public employment, more qualified individuals will be left behind. This leads to increased corruption in several ways. First of all, the fight against corruption will suffer with these less qualified individuals at the helm. Secondly, the direct link between patronage and advancement may lead public employees to seek advancement through illicit favors, rather than performance. In addition, a corrupt public agency which uses non-meritorious hiring procedures will invariably select employees based on their likelihood of contributing to or at least turning their back on the corrupt behavior of incumbent employees.

UN Development Programme on Public Administration Reform
R. La Porta et al., "The Quality of Government"
Abhijit V. Banerjee, "A Theory of Misgovernance"
Daniel Kaufman, "Rethinking Governance"

Courts: The rules and practices responsible for delivering justice according to the Constitution and legislation of the state. This sphere addresses the legitimacy and impartiality of judges, juries, public defenders, district attorney and overall fairness and efficiency of the application of justice according to the law.

Courts interpret and apply the law to resolve disputes but do not make or enforce laws. A court's legitimacy and jurisdiction may be constitutionally derived or based on legislative power or, as in the case in English Common Law, it may be inherent.

International Criminal Court
International Court of Justice
Jeremy Pope, TI Sourcebook, "Chapter 8: an Independent Judicial System"
Jeremy Pope, TI Sourcebook, "Chapter 27: Laws to Fight Corruption"
Susan Sullivan Lagon, "The Role of an Independent Judiciary"
E. Buscaglia & M. Dakolias "An Analysis of Cause of Corruption in the Judiciary"

Political Parties: A group of persons organised to promote and support certain principles and candidates for public office. This sphere addresses the financing of political campaigns, the influence of parties over the political system, and the commitment of the parties themselves to fair competition against their rivals.

Political parties help reduce transaction costs in the electoral, parliaments and government and also help overcome problems of collective action. The very existence of an opposition can act as a deterrent for incumbents from acting arbitrarily. And, in due course, a broad disparity of views among parties can help establish democratic norms and rules.

Links to national and international political parties
International IDEA's Political Parties resource page
Social Science Information Gateway to political parties
Epic Project research results on political parties

Civil Society: Various non-governmental organisations and associations operating within a country that manifest the interests of its citizens. This sphere measures the effectiveness of the citizenry in mobilizing and communicating its demands to the government between (or in the absence of) elections.

Civil Society organisations are often the most effective advocates for transparency and honesty in government, and are crucial in the fight against corruption. They mobilise public support behind anti-corruption efforts, disseminate information and research about the true cost of corruption to society, investigate cases of fraud and reveal them to the public and the media, and are able the collusion of government and business. If citizens are prevented from forming associations of their peers to address issues of their choosing, the loss of this basic human right will directly increase corruption in the society.

Civil Society International
UN / Civil Society Partnerships
World Bank and Civil Society page
Jeremy Pope, TI Sourcebook, "Chapter 15: Civil Society"
OECD, "Fighting Corruption: What Role for Civil Society?"
World Civil Society Forum

Economy: The rules and practices relating to the system of production and distribution of goods and services in the country. This is obviously a very broad sphere and concerns all types of transactions involving the flow of money and goods and services. The legitimacy of the economy is closely tied to the proper establishment and functioning of institutions like banking and credit, accounting practices, corporate governance, chambers of commerce, capital markets--where present--sound macroeconomic policy frameworks, and so on.

International Monetary Fund, "World Economic Outlook 2005"
World Bank Countries and Regions reports
J.P. Singh, "Transparency in Economy"
Susan Rose-Ackerman, "The Political Economy of Corruption"
B�rner and Hainz, "Corruption and the Role of Financial Institutions"
World Bank, "Anticorruption in Transition"

Media: Media refers to those outlets (newspapers, news magazines, radio and/or television), both publicly and privately owned, on which the citizenry depends for accurate, comprehensive and reliable information about their government and society. A free, but responsible, media is essential not only for exposing corruption when it happens but for building the legitimacy of other spheres in government and society. A broad public appreciation of the notion of freedom of the press is important, just as journalists and editors themselves need to insulate themselves as best as possible from the pressures of media owners and other vested interests.

Reporters Without Borders
International Press Institute
Rick Stapenhurst, "Media's Role in Curbing Corruption"
David Pezzulo, "Journalist Training to Curb Corruption"
Frank Vogl, "Curbing Corruption: The Media's work"