About the Dataset on the Organisation and Functions of the Centre of Government

Welcome to the OECD Dataset on the Organisaton and Functions of the Centre of Government.

This dataset contains the results of the 2017 OECD survey on the Organisation and Functions of the Centre of Government. The dataset provides information on the roles and organisation of the administrative structure at the centre of government [referred to for convenience as the “Centre of Government (CoG)] that supports the collective work of the executive and the Prime Minister or President in OECD member and partner countries. The information is used to support information exchange and policy dialogue among senior officials from the Centre of Government and supports OECD policy analysis of public governance.

The dataset provides information on two main issues.

• The leadership, structure, personnel, funding, and operational aspects of the centre of government. This includes, for example, information on human resources management, budget and internal processes.
• The functions, powers, responsibilities and priorities of the centre of government. This includes information on its role relative to strategic planning, policy development and decision making, and policy implementation, as well as the relative importance of these functions, the current top priorities of the CoG, and how these have changed over time, particularly in the context of issues that have emerged since the last survey.

The information held in the database is made available free of charge. However, the data are protected by copyright and we request that you be sure to cite the OECD as the source (OECD Dataset on the Organisation and Functions of the Centre of Government). Furthermore, to help us better track use of this database, we would appreciate receiving electronic copies of any papers that cite the database (Andrea Uhrhammer, Editor).

About this questionnaire

The content of the database was collected using an online questionnaire that included a glossary. The OECD Directorate for Public Governance conducted this survey in 2017.

Respondents were senior officials who provide direct support and advice to heads of government and the council of ministers or cabinet and provided information for the year 2016. The OECD country responses were collected in July 2017 and presented at the annual meeting of the OECD Network of Senior Officials from Centres of Government held in November 2018. Along with an OECD report that analyses the content of the database, the OECD has conducted extensive quality control of the responses in order to ensure consistency and reliability. Based on dialogue with countries, a number of responses have been changed and are now available on line.

The 2017 database comprises 34 OECD member countries one OECD accession country (Costa Rica) and one OECD key partner (Brazil).

In case of remarks or questions related to the answers in the database, please contact Andrea Uhrhammer.

Related documents

• 2017 OECD Questionnaire on the Organisation and Functions of the Centre of Government
• 2017 OECD Survey on Centre of Government - Glossary of terms used