The CGC also analyzes how well a government performs its roles in different realms of engagement. The challenge is determining which realms should be considered crucial. The CGC has selected seven core areas of variables common across all countries, utilizing cluster analysis about topics in international development administration studies. These areas are: Economy Education Health and Welfare Agriculture and Food Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) Energy and Environment Governance

The CGC recognizes that universal performance standards are not appropriate for all contexts. Existing competitiveness indices are developed from experiences in developed countries. However, it is doubtful that these indices are appropriate for discussing GC in developing or under-developed countries, as previously discussed. As such, strategies to enhance competitiveness for developed nations are likely to be different from those used to stimulate competitiveness for developing nations. Thus, extant competitiveness indicators do not provide concrete and practical policy remedies for the leaders of developing and less-developed nations. Therefore, it is necessary to develop indicators that account for contextual idiosyncrasies of government competitiveness. By considering different experiences and policy practices across developed countries (OECD countries) and developing countries (non-OECD countries), the index measures the level of government competitiveness in non-OECD countries by focusing on particular realms of government activity. Therefore, the index goes beyond the seven core areas by exploring competitiveness dimensions specific to OECD and non-OECD countries. South Korea is included in both the OECD and non-OECD country groups, as a reference point. For OECD countries, the index measures three additional areas (totaling 10): research & development, culture and tourism, and disaster management. For non-OECD countries, the index measures two additional areas (totaling 9): infrastructure and safety.