Reuben Abraham, Kadambari Shah, Vibhav Mariwala and Vaidehi Tandal argue that indices can provide metrics to gauge a country’s progress over time, but there are downsides to judging a country’s performance based on one number in Chandler Institute's Good Governance Report. 

Excerpts below:

"Indices can provide a simple way to measure and assess a country’s progress on important governance goals. But there are potential downsides to judging a country’s performance based on just one number, especially if that country is large and diverse. In India, for example, the performance of individual states across governance metrics will often deviate from the national average. Moreover, there are also likely to be significant subnational variations that could drive India’s performance in one direction or another. Given these concerns, governments from larger nations should consider effective ways to track governance at both the national and subnational level.”

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