The Regional Authority Index (RAI) measures the authority in self rule and shared rule exercised by regional governments with 96 countries on an annual basis over the period 1950-2018. The dataset encompasses subnational government levels with an average population of 150,000 or more. Where appropriate, we code more than one regional tier, and code separately regions with a special autonomous statute or asymmetrical arrangements. Regional authority is measured along ten dimensions, five tap self-rule --institutional depth, policy scope, fiscal autonomy, borrowing autonomy, and representation-- and five capture shared rule --law making, executive control, fiscal control, borrowing control, and constitutional reform. The latest version includes metropolitan and indigenous regions alongside conventional regions.
![]() |
Annual scores for each region or regional tier in a country (including all tiers) |
[data] [codebook] | |||
![]() |
Annual scores of regional authority aggregated to the country | [data] [codebook] | |||
![]() |
Annual scores for the most authoritative regional tier in a country | [data] [codebook] | |||
![]() |
Annual scores for metropolitan governance (individual region or regional tier) |
[data] [codebook] | |||
![]() |
Annual scores for indigenous governance in 17 countries (individual region or indigenous arrangement) |
[data] [codebook] |
Citation
Shair-Rosenfield, Sarah, Schakel, Arjan H., Niedzwiecki, Sara, Marks, Gary, Hooghe, Liesbet and Chapman-Osterkatz Sandra (2021) 'Language difference and regional authority,' Regional & Federal Studies 31 (1): 73-97. [doi] [pdf] [appendix]
Hooghe, Liesbet, Marks, Gary, Schakel, Arjan H., Chapman-Osterkatz, Sandra, Niedzwiecki, Sara and Shair-Rosenfield, Sarah (2016) Measuring regional authority. Volume I. A postfunctionalist theory of governance. Oxford: Oxford University Press. [link] [BOOK] (unofficial version)
Country profiles
A brief history of regional governance in each country, explanation of coding decisions, and sources. Please contact Arjan H. Schakel or Liesbet Hooghe with data queries.
Americas
[Argentina] [Bahamas] [Barbados] [Belize] [Bolivia] [Brazil] [Canada] [Chile] [Colombia] [Costa Rica] [Cuba] [Dominican Republic] [Ecuador] [El Salvador] [Guatemala] [Guyana] [Haiti] [Honduras] [Jamaica] [Mexico] [Nicaragua] [Panama] [Paraguay] [Peru] [Suriname] [Trinidad and Tobago] [United States] [Uruguay] [Venezuela]
Asia
[Bangladesh] [Bhutan] [Brunei] [Cambodia] [China] [India] [Indonesia] [Israel] [Japan] [Laos] [Malaysia] [Mongolia] [Myanmar] [Nepal] [Pakistan] [Philippines] [Russian Federation] [Singapore] [South Korea] [Sri Lanka] [Taiwan] [Thailand] [Timor Leste] [Turkey] [Vietnam]
Oceania
[Australia] [New Zealand] [Papua New Guinea]
Europe (European Union)
[Austria] [Belgium] [Bulgaria] [Croatia] [Cyprus] [Czech Republic] [Denmark] [Estonia] [Finland] [France] [Germany] [Greece] [Hungary] [Ireland] [Italy] [Latvia] [Lithuania] [Luxembourg] [Malta] [Netherlands] [Poland] [Portugal] [Romania] [Slovakia] [Slovenia] [Spain] [Sweden] [United Kingdom]
Europe (other)
[Albania] [Bosnia and Herzegovina] [Iceland] [Israel] [Kosovo] [Montenegro] [North Macedonia] [Norway] [Russian Federation] [Serbia] [Serbia and Montenegro] [Switzerland] [Turkey] [Ukraine] [United Kingdom]
Prior Work
Schakel, Arjan H. (2018) Final report on updating the regional authority index (RAI) for 45 countries (2010-2016). European Commission, Brussels. [pdf]
Hooghe, Liesbet, Marks, Gary and Schakel, Arjan H. (2010) The rise of regional authority: A comparative study of 42 countries. London: Routledge. [link] [BOOK] (unofficial version)
Hooghe, Liesbet, Marks, Gary and Schakel, Arjan H. (2008) 'Regional authority in 42 democracies, 1950-2006: A measure and five hypotheses,' Regional & Federal Studies 18 (2-3): 111-302. [link]