Suffering and Good Society Analysis Across African Countries

Abstract

The objectives of this investigation are (1) to explore the utility of applying the Good Society concept to Africa, (2) to find whether there are sufficient data to construct an overall indicator of Good Societies characteristics for African nations, (3) to evaluate to what extent a Good Society index for African societies helps to assess the degree and causes of suffering in Africa, and (4) to explore what can be learned about whether African societies are sufficiently strong to be resilient to disasters and calamities. A Good African Society Index (GASI) was constructed using secondary data from about 2010 on 46 African countries for these nine sub-indexes: Economic Performance; Democracy,..