This discussion paper aims to outline some of the major factors to consider should it be decided that global goal(s) covering democratic governanance are included in a new post-MDG framework. In contrast to the existing MDGs, which are focused on socio-economic development indicators, democratic governance is not easy to measure because it means different things to different people, because it is packed with a number of different variables and dimensions and because the quality of democratic governance is a politically, culturally and ideologically charged determination.

That being said, the paper makes a case for a global goal on democratic governance and explores four possible approaches for targets and indicators to support a goal. These are (1) global targets with global indicators (2) global targets with national indicators (3) regional targets with national indicators and (4) national targets with national indicators. The paper describes some of the main methodological issues for selecting democratic governance targets and indicators in the post-MDG framework.