Meta Index: Evaluating the Evaluators
Academic-grade assessment of global indices measuring sovereignty, freedom, and governance. How reliable are the metrics that shape policy and investment decisions?
Index Categories
Democratic Sovereignty
Economic Sovereignty
Digital & AI Sovereignty
Defence Sovereignty
Information Sovereignty
Governance Quality
Human Rights
Gold Standard Indicators
Highest methodological rigorContested Indicators
Significant methodological debateSanjeev Sanyal Critique Framework
As noted by Sanjeev Sanyal (Economic Advisory Council to PM India), many global indices exhibit characteristics of "narrative engineering" where:
- Rankings often depend on opinions of 5-30 experts from North Atlantic think-tanks
- Methodology opacity makes independent verification difficult
- Results get "hard-wired" into ESG norms and sovereign ratings
- Producing organizations may disclaim responsibility for their own indicators
This meta-trust framework helps identify which indices have stronger methodological foundations vs. those requiring additional scrutiny.
About This Analysis
This framework evaluates global indices using academic measurement standards including methodology transparency, peer review status, data objectivity, expert diversity, institutional independence, and replicability. Meta-trust scores reflect the reliability of each indicator's methodology, not the substantive findings.
Informed by the critiques of Sanjeev Sanyal (Economic Advisory Council to PM India), V-Dem Institute methodology, OECD measurement quality frameworks, and academic literature on index construction.