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What it’s like to live in a well-governed country

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Chile, Valparaiso (Credit: Matthew Williams-Ellis/Getty Images)

What it’s like to live in a well-governed country

From Canada to Botswana, these six nations consistently rank highest for their progressive social policies, trust in government and effective justice system.

By Lindsey Galloway
8 January 2018

What makes a country well-run? Whether minimising corruption or spearheading educational and medical initiatives, governments around the world use different policies to facilitate a high-functioning society. To quantify the effectiveness of these policies, indexes like the World Justice Project’s Rule of Law Index, the World Bank’s Governance Index and the Social Progress Index survey residents, compile publicly available statistics and rank countries based on their performance across different categories.

While each index varies in their precise ranking, certain patterns emerge across all three, with the same countries consistently at the top for their progressive social policies, trust in government and effective justice system.

Still, policies are only as good as the people they affect, so we talked to residents living in some of these countries to find out which factors most influence their daily lives.

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Denmark received near-perfect scores on the ‘Basic Human Needs’ ranking in the 2017 Social Progress Index (Credit: Hendrik Holler/Look-foto/Getty Images)

Denmark

While all the Nordic countries rank consistently high across every index, Denmark inches out its neighbours (and blows away the rest of the world) with near-perfect scores on the ‘Basic Human Needs’ ranking in the 2017 Social Progress Index, which includes meeting the nutritional and medical needs of its citizens and giving access to basic knowledge and communication.

These benefits are offered to more than just native-born residents. “The general health and social system is well-developed and accessible to anyone living in Denmark, and as a student you can get financial assistance and free language classes,” explained German native Anne Steinbach, editor-in-chief of Travellers Archive who recently lived in Aarhus, Denmark’s second-largest city, for six months.

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Danes treat each other more like friends
in almost every situation."

The social system also relies on a sense of trust, rather than paperwork. “When Danes are ill and they cannot go to university or to work, it's fine to simply call and let the employer know. In Germany, however, employees and students need to get an official certificate from the doctor,” Steinbach said. “Both countries are structured when it comes to policy and governance, but Germans like everything to be on paper, in order and certified, whereas Danes treat each other more like friends in almost every situation.”

While life in Denmark can be expensive compared to other European countries, with the highest collective taxes in the EU to pay for these services, the benefits outweigh the costs, says Steinbach, and residents are friendly and welcoming to boot.

“Danes are all about hygge,” she said, describing a word that roughly translates to a cosiness shared among friends. “Having a movie night or a dinner night and inviting Danish friends over is a perfect way of blending into the Danish culture. Danes love to talk, to mingle and to simply sit together, enjoy the candlelight, good food and interesting talks.”

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New Zealand citizens 65 and older automatically receive generous government allowances (Credit: Walter Bibikow/Getty Images)

New Zealand

Australia and New Zealand are virtually neck-and-neck across the indexes, but New Zealand scores slightly better for overall political stability, fundamental rights and lack of violence/terrorism.

“New Zealand was the first nation in the world to give women the vote [in 1893],” said Zoe Helene, founder of Cosmic Sister, who lived in New Zealand for 10 years and frequently visits her parents who are permanent residents. “A group of people brought a physical petition from one end of the island to the other, gathering signatures until it was a giant scroll. That scroll can be viewed in the museum now, and I think it should be something that tourists go to see, like the Statue of Liberty.”

The country also has generous policies that support single parents, children, students and seniors. “You know the saying ‘you can judge a civilization by how they care for their elders’? When a New Zealand citizen becomes a senior at 65 they automatically start receiving a generous government allowance, no matter who they are, no matter how much money they earned or inherited, and no matter when they arrived in the country,” Helene said.

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Alia Bickson: “Canada is more progressive in its values than our neighbour to the south” (Credit: Bettmann/Getty Images)

Canada

Both the United States and Canada rank highly across all indexes, but Canada scores higher in political stability and lack of violence/terrorism. In fact, Canada comes close to many of the Scandinavian countries in its near-perfect scores, including access to nutrition and medical care, as well as to basic knowledge and personal rights.

“Canada is more progressive in its values than our neighbour to the south. For instance it would be quite rare for attitudes against a woman’s right to choose, or removing rights from LBGTQ persons, to become serious topics of debate,” said Alia Bickson, an Intrepid Travel guide who lives in Toronto and has dual US and Canadian citizenship. “Of course, individuals have varying views, but the country as a whole supports policies in line with compassion and acceptance of varying life choices.”

One mistake newcomers sometimes make, however, is thinking Canadians’ courtesy and thoughtfulness makes them pushovers. “They have a sharp sense of fairness and will assess visitors’ behaviour with a clear eye,” Bickson said. “[Canadians] don’t suffer fools gladly, so do your basic homework before arriving.”

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