The Global Observatory on Multilevel Governance (Global-MLG) is a practical and accessible global entry point for data, diagnostics, and comparative information on federalism, decentralization, local governance, and multilevel governance systems.
Global-MLG seeks to bring together, curate, and make more accessible existing data and knowledge resources produced by different organizations and initiatives. At the same time, the Observatory aims to promote greater harmonization, standardization, and interoperability across multilevel governance datasets—helping different sources of evidence speak to each other and, over time, enabling them to be more readily combined and compared.
Why multilevel governance?
Effective multilevel governance is fundamental to global security and stability, shared prosperity, and sustainable development. While national governments set many of the policies and institutions that shape development, outcomes ultimately depend on how effectively public institutions work together across levels of government. It is in cities, towns, and rural communities that people experience government most directly—and where public services are delivered, infrastructure is built, economic opportunities are created, and many of the pressures associated with inequality, exclusion, climate change, migration, and conflict must ultimately be addressed.
Centralized top-down interventions are often inefficient because uniform approaches rarely reflect the diverse needs, conditions, and priorities of different places and communities. When different levels of government have appropriate authority, capacity, resources, and incentives—and mechanisms exist for effective coordination among them—multilevel governance can strengthen public trust, promote more inclusive and resilient development, and help translate global and national ambitions into tangible improvements in people’s lives.