CGD survey results in: Zoellick ranked 7 out of 9

In May, Washington-based thinktank the Center for Global Development launched an online survey about the selection process, criteria for rating candidates, and ratings for nine candidates chosen by their staff from names put forward in the international media. Over 700 responses were received and now the results are in.
First, both US and non-US participants reject the traditional selection prerogative of the US by large margins, with equally strong support for an open, transparent, competitive selection process. Second, participants exhibit uniformity in the relative importance they ascribe to CGD’s five proposed criteria for selecting candidates. Most respondents assign the highest priorities to management effectiveness and international organisation experience, followed in order by knowledge of development, banking/finance experience and political/diplomatic experience.

But most interesting perhaps is the ranking of the actual candidates.  Bush shoe-in Robert Zoellick comes in at number 7.  He’s ranked below:  Kemal Dervis, Stan Fischer, Trevor Manuel, Montek Ahluwalia, Robert Rubin and Tony Blair.  He beat out Richard Levin and Robert Kimmitt. The most popular suggestions for other candidates which were not included were Bill Clinton, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Muhammad Yunus.    

5 thoughts on “CGD survey results in: Zoellick ranked 7 out of 9

  1. I’ve only heard good things about Zoellick – he was kicked out for a time by the Bush clique due to lack of a suitable job, so he can’t be fully Bushian. Also, he’s a Goldman guy and I don’t claim to know everything about that bank but all the ones I know are really good. Zoellick did one thing that pleased me immensely this afternoon, he came out and stated the truth about Venezuela. And he encouraged Central America to integrate – both of these are bigtime close issues to my heart so all I can do is applaud and say ‘that guy gets it.’ Imagine Wolfowitz doing that! He probably never heard of the place! He was so busy talking about Bono and Geldof and global warming and the border fence with Mexico that he probably never even heard of Hugo Chavez nor understood what kind of guy he was. My take.

  2. Is it at all surprising that any Bush nominee would finish in the bottom half of an online survey on this topic? For the record, Mr. Zoellick is a thoughtful, creative and committed public servant. He’s one of the good ones. He’s got an uphill battle to overcome bureaucratic skepticism within the Bank and strong skepticism of the Bank’s mission (particularly under the leadership of a Bush appointee) in many corners of the globe. Having witnessed him in action in a couple of different roles in government, though, he’s an impressive guy and could do some good. He’ll surprise a lot of people.

  3. The results of the survey are interesting, it was expected that academics and other development illuminati would prefer people who they know and who are closer to their political views. It was also expected they would try to make a case for change of the selection process in its many aspects.
    The reality is still another one, the ones who decide who gets to be the WB president are those in charge of the US administration. In the US, without a parliamentary system Mr. Bush with a minimum approval rating will be president until Jan 20, 2009 and he also gets to nominate the WB president.
    It is the system in place that matters, it is not democratic and reflects the power relations of 60 years ago. It may be time to begin a serious effort to put in place the proposed reforms the selection process. Meanwhile we all hope that Mr. Zoellick will exceed the expectations of the survey.

  4. It is not a rule that the US has to choose the candidate who, by default is an American citizen. It is a dated convention that needs to be re-examined.

  5. All these surveys are meaningless. World Bank is NOT UN. It is a professional development financel institution and it’s ownership and shareholding pattern decides the control. And the most important are about choice of President, IMF MD and the composition of the board of directors. Given the structure and voting power of the board, one should expect all memebers to play within the rules. Hence, every non-american candidate has no place in the race.

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