A technical manual explaining how USAID builds its annual Country Roadmaps, the scorecards it publishes for every low- and middle-income country it works with.

Two dimensions organise the exercise. Commitment covers what a country's laws, policies and informal norms actually do — open and accountable governance, inclusive development across gender and social groups, and economic policy. Capacity covers what it can deliver: government effectiveness, tax collection, safety and security, the strength of civil society and free media, the condition of citizens, and the productivity of the economy. Eighteen primary metrics carry the weight, eight on commitment and ten on capacity, with further secondary measures behind them.

For each metric the guide names the definition, the outside data source, and the place it occupies in the framework. Closing sections document the arithmetic: normalisation, aggregation, the time periods covered, what is done about missing data, and which countries are included.