By Dr. Gyan Pathak Prime Minister is entitled to criticise the Leader of the Opposition forcefully, but the dignity of the office calls for a distinction between robust political criticism and personal ridicule. Nevertheless, PM Narendra Modi ridiculed his rival LoP Rahul Gandhi on 22 October 2026 at a World Summit organised by NDTV, where […]
The article Prime Minister Ridiculing Leader Of Opposition At World Summit Is Ridiculous appeared first on Latest India news, analysis and reports on Newspack by India Press Agency).
By Dr. Gyan Pathak Denotification of Jantar Mantar as protest site on 12 October 2026 has given anti-CEC and anti-SIR protesters to decentralize and widen the scope and ambit of the movement. The call for the nationwide street protest on October 23 given by the umbrella organization People Against SIR is likely to create numerous […]
The article October 23 Nationwide Anti-CEC Anti-SIR Protests Deepen Centre’s Dilemma appeared first on Latest India news, analysis and reports on Newspack by India Press Agency).
By Dr. Gyan Pathak Though India has asserted at the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee, on the agenda item concerning the Working Group on Enforced Disappearance, that human rights should not be used as an instrument of political pressure or selective targeting of countries, India’s democratic institutions and International reputation is on stake on account […]
The article India’s Democratic Institutions And Global Reputation On Stake appeared first on Latest India news, analysis and reports on Newspack by India Press Agency).
The report, “The Governance Performance of the Fifty States: The U.S. Berggruen Governance Index”, applies the research team’s “governance triangle” from past global country rankings to the 50 US states. The report has now been presented to the public at Columbia University in New York.
“Unlike in the Berggruen Governance Index’s cross-national comparisons, where the three dimensions are broadly correlated, in the 50 U.S. states they often run counter to each other,” the authors conclude. “This may seem counterintuitive, as one might expect a well-governed state to finish high on all three and a poorly governed one to place low across all three.”
The report concluded that state capacity and public goods provision are “essentially uncorrelated.” Massachusetts, which has among the highest per capita incomes, was third in public goods but 49th in state capacity. Mining and agriculture-dependent Wyoming was 36th in public goods provision but No. 1 in state capacity.
The three components produce four state groupings identified by the authors:
The report was written by principal investigator Helmut K. Anheier with co-authors Joseph C. Saraceno and Edward L. Knudsen, all of the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, and produced as a collaboration of the Luskin School with the Berlin-based Hertie School, supported by the Berggruen Institute, a Los Angeles think tank.
During a panel discussion held with the release of the report at Columbia University, economic historian Adam Tooze focused on the states with poor scores for provision of public goods. He pointed out that for many public goods that in Europe are assumed to be state-led, such as health care, education and utilities, in the US the private sector has a greater role.
“If you look at all of the states which are underperforming, it’s the South, and the variable that’s operating here is race,” said Tooze, a Columbia professor. “The reason why these states don’t have large-scale public services is that white people who are richer don’t want to pay taxes to redistribute income to black people. And it’s not a secret; it’s the logic of American politics.”
Among the 11 low performing states, the very worst performers are in the South: Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Kentucky.
Joseph C. Saraceno said that the 14 states classified in the report as fiscally sound and delivering “provide a moderate level of public goods while also having state capacity, or this measure of fiscal room that they find to be comfortable, or have a rainy day fund as needed.”
The group of fiscally strong, poorly served states have strong balance sheets but little to show for it in quality of life. Arkansas, for example, ranks seventh in state capacity but 46th in public goods provision. Tooze said those states have better fiscal resilience and “rank high on their capacity score because basically they’ve never done anything. So unsurprisingly, when push comes to shove, they could do something if one supposed they had politics that would allow them to.”
Edward Knudsen, another researcher who worked on the previous global versions of the Berggruen Governance Index, pointed out that the strained but delivering states are heavily traditionally Democratic Party states that also score higher for democratic accountability. “In a lot of the Democratic leaning states, you have more ability for the population to demand public goods. They in turn are able to receive them. That places this fiscal stress,” Knudsen said.
The full report “The Governance Performance of the Fifty States: The U.S. Berggruen Governance Index” can be downloaded here: https://ucla.app.box.com/s/hcruhr43fyhfw0uondid2e6fviqopmww
Frank Fuhrig, DNA
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By Kalyani Shankar A novice in politics, Tamil Nadu’s nearly five-month-old Chief Minister Joseph Vijay and his party, the TVK, have joined the Congress-led INDIA opposition coalition, reshaping the state’s political landscape. His predecessor was a key member of INDIA, but M.K. Stalin stepped down after the 2026 Assembly elections. Vijay is learning politics as […]
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By Dr. Gyan Pathak Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has appointed four new governors on October 12, but serious controversies have instantly erupted on two of them – Governor for Odisha Braj Mohan Ram and Governor for Sikkim Dushyant Gautam. Governor of Odisha has betrayed the political motif of the Modi government, while mother and […]
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By K Raveendran India is confronting an extraordinary constitutional crisis in which the very institution entrusted with safeguarding democracy stands accused of compromising its independence. The controversy surrounding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar has moved beyond questions of administrative competence or electoral procedure. It now raises a fundamental issue about the meaning of constitutional protection: […]
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Canada has established a national artificial intelligence council to advise Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government on safe adoption, economic opportunities and domestic control of critical technology. The Prime Minister’s National Council on Artificial Intelligence, announced on 2 October, brings together researchers, entrepreneurs, investors and public-sector specialists to provide independent advice on the government’s AI for All strategy. Its remit includes managing technological risks, improving public services and […]
By T N Ashok NEW YORK: With three weeks to go before America’s November 3 midterm elections, President Donald Trump faces a political test that could reshape the final two years of his presidency. Falling approval ratings, persistent economic anxiety, an increasingly unpopular war with Iran and uncertainty over Republican candidates have created a difficult […]
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By Arun Srivastava Antonio Gramsci in his Prison Notebooks (written between 1929 and 1935) explains how a ruling class maintains power not through military or physical force (coercion), but through ideology, culture, and consent (hegemony). He argued that the capitalist state is divided into two spheres: political society (which uses force, like the police and […]
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