The Measurement of Progress and the Role of Education
The Measurement of Progress and the Role of Education
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进步的衡量和教育的作用
DOI：
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发表时间：
2008
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
E. Matthews
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Jon Hall;E. Matthews
社会越来越关注他们的生活质量。越来越多的共识是，需要制定一个更全面的进步观--一个考虑到社会、环境和经济问题的观点--而不是主要关注国内生产总值等经济指标，国内生产总值虽然是衡量经济活动的重要指标，但并不是衡量一个国家进步的唯一标准。事实上，了解GDP计算方法的人很少会反对这一观点。人们逐渐认识到，编制关于社会现状的跨领域、高质量、共享和可获取的信息，有助于确保各级（决策者、企业、公民等）的决策同时具有反应性和责任感。至少一些制定指标的人认为这是民主的一个重要问题。至少从理论上讲，选民越能通过表现证据向决策者问责，决策者制定更好政策的动力就越大。人们不禁要问，如果有关各方对现实有共同的理解，民主辩论会有多大的成果：想象一下，如果参与者讨论问题，而不是对“事实”提出异议，关于一些关键问题的辩论会有多大的成果。这一想法越来越流行，其支持者包括高级政策制定者。例如，2007年，经合组织秘书长安赫尔·古里亚（Angel Gurria）认为，“用可靠的信息衡量进展是民主进程的关键组成部分。一方面，它使政府更加负责和值得信赖，另一方面，它鼓励人们更积极地参与（Gurria，2007年）。尽管美国总审计长大卫步行者（David Walker）经常表示支持制定关键的国家进展指标。他认为，这些措施可以“帮助各国优先分配资源，改善政府绩效，促进问责制，提高公民参与度”（步行者，2007年）。
Societies are increasingly concerned with their quality of life. A consensus is growing around the need to develop a more comprehensive view of progress — one that takes into account social, environmental and economic concerns — rather than focusing mainly on economic indicators like GDP, which, while an important measure of economic activity, was not developed to be the sole measure of a nation’s progress. Indeed, few people who understand how GDP is calculated would argue against this point of view. There is an emerging recognition that the development of cross-cutting, high quality, shared, accessible information about how a society is doing can help to ensure that decision-making is simultaneously responsive and responsible at all levels (policy makers, businesses, citizens, etc.). At least some of those who develop indicators see this as an important issue for democracy. In theory at least, the better an electorate is able to hold its policy makers accountable through evidence of performance, the greater incentive for policy makers to make better policy. And one can only wonder how much more fruitful democratic debate would be if the parties concerned held a shared understanding of reality: imagine how much more productive debates about some of the key issues might be if the participants discussed the issues, rather than disputed the ‘facts’. This idea is increasingly gaining currency, and its supporters include senior policy-makers. For instance, in 2007, OECD’s Secretary-General, Angel Gurria, argued that ‘Measuring progress with reliable information is a key ingredient of the democratic process. On the one hand, it makes governments more accountable and trustworthy, and on the other, it encourages people to participate more actively (Gurria, 2007). While David Walker, the US’s Comptroller General, has spoken often in favour of developing key national indicators of progress. Such measures can, he argues, ‘help countries prioritise resource allocations, improve government performance, promote accountability and enhance citizens’ engagement’ (Walker, 2007).