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Introduction

Good governance is an indeterminate term used in the international development literature to


describe how public institutions conduct public affairs and manage public
resources. Governance is "the process of decision-making and the process by which decisions are
implemented (or not implemented)". The term governance can apply to corporate, international,
national, local governance or to the interactions between other sectors of society.

The concept of "good governance" often emerges as a model to compare ineffective economies
or political bodies with viable economies and political bodies. The concept centers on the
responsibility of governments and governing bodies to meet the needs of the masses as opposed
to select groups in society. Because countries often described as "most successful" are
Western liberal democratic states, concentrated in Europe and the Americas, good governance
standards often measure other state institutions against these states. Aid organizations and the
authorities of developed countries often will focus the meaning of "good governance" to a set of
requirements that conform to the organization's agenda, making "good governance" imply many
different things in many different contexts.

Characteristics of Good Governance

Good governance consists of 8 major characteristics. These are:

1. PARTICIPATION: A key cornerstone of good governance is participation by both men


and women. Participation needs to be informed and organized.
It could be either direct or through legitimate intermediate institutions or representatives.

2. RULE OF LAW: Good governance requires fair legal frameworks that are enforced
impartially Most important point is full protection of human rights particularly those of
minorities Impartial enforcement of laws requires an independent judiciary and an
impartial and incorruptible police force.
3. TRANSPARENCY: It means that decisions taken and their enforcement are done in a
manner that follows rules and regulations Information flow must be free and directly
accessible to those who will be affected by such decisions and their enforcement. Enough
information is provided and that are provided in easily understandable forms and media.

4. RESPONSIVENESS:Good governance requires that institutions and process try to serve


all stakeholders within a reasonable timeframe.

5. CONSENSUS: It requires a broad and long-term perspective on what is needed


for sustainable human development and how to achieve the goals of such development.
Good governance requires mediation of different interest's toreach a broad consensus in s
ociety on what is in the best interest of the whole community and how this can achieved.
.
6. EQUITY AND INCLUSIVENESS: It must ensure that society's all members feel that
they all havea stake in it and do not feel excluded from the mainstream of society. This
requires all groups but especially the most vulnerable insociety should have opportunity to
improve or maintain their well being.

7.EFFECTIVENESS AND EFFICIENCY: This meet the need of society by efficient


process and institutions produce result while making the best use of resources at their
desposal.

8. ACCOUNTABILITY: Government institution as well as private sectors must be


accountable to the public about their respective acts.

Forms

Good governance in international affairs


In international affairs, analysis of good governance can look at any of the following
relationships:

 between governments and markets


 between governments and citizens
 between governments and the private or voluntary sector
 between elected officials and appointed officials
 between government and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs)

The varying types of comparisons comprising the analysis of governance in scholastic and
practical discussion can cause the meaning of "good governance" to vary greatly from
practitioner to practitioner.

Good governance in corporate sectors

In corporate affairs, good governance can be observed in any of the following relationships:

 between governance and corporate management


 between governance and employee standards
 between governance and corruption in the workplace

The meaning of good governance in regards to corporate sectors varies between actors.
Legislation has been enacted in an attempt to influence good governance in corporate affairs. In
the United States, the Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 set up requirements for businesses to
follow. Whistleblowing has also been widely used by corporations to expose corruption and
fraudulent activity.

Good governance in national governments

Good governance in the context of countries is a broad term, and in that regards, it is difficult to
find a unique definition. According to Fukuyama (2013), there are two dimensions to qualify
governance as good or bad: the capacity of the state and the bureaucracy´s autonomy. They both
complement, in the sense that when the state is more capable, for instance through the collection
of taxes, there should be more autonomy because the bureaucrats are able to conduct things well
without being instructed with a lot of details. In less capable states, however, less discretion and
more rules setting are desirable.

Another way to think about good governance is through outcomes. Since governments carry out
with goals like the provision of public goods to its citizens, there is no better way to think about
good governance other than through deliverables, which are precisely the one demanded by
citizens, like security, health, education, water, the enforcement of contracts, protection to
property, protection to the environment and their ability to vote and get paid fair wages.

Similarly, good governance might be approximated with provision of public services in an


efficient manner, higher participation given to certain groups in the population like the poor and
the minorities, the guarantee that citizens have the opportunity of checks and balances on the
government, the establishment and enforcement of norms for the protection of the citizens and
their property and the existence of independent judiciary systems.

Lawson (2011) in his review of Rothstein´s book “The quality of government: corruption, social
trust, and inequality in international perspective” mentions that the author relates good
governance to the concept of impartiality, which is basically when the bureaucrats perform their
tasks following the public interest rather than their self-interest. Lawson differs with him in that
this impartial application of law ignores important factors like the economic liberalism, which
matters due to its relation with economic growth.

Making distinctions between good governance and other related concepts

It is important to distinguish good governance from other concepts that look similar, such as
development and economic growth. Instead of considering them as equal, many scholars refer to
them as features that are likely to be related in different ways. In fact, the importance that authors
give to good governance, is due to the impact it may have on development and economic growth.

According to Grindle (2004), the relevance of getting good governance comes precisely from its
relationship with the development of a country and the reduction of poverty. Setting an agenda
for reaching good governance is of the huge interest but also a complex task, which makes this
author to propose rather a “good enough governance” agenda as a starting point. In the
construction of this "simpler" agenda, the idea is to revisit policies that have worked in the past,
set priorities in a strategically way, consider policies with greater impact in alleviating poverty
and reaching development, and look for innovative ways of implementing such policies.

In terms of economic growth, there are several authors relating that variable with good
governance, but in the sense of “being related to” instead of “being part of”. In other words,
scholars have been intrigued by the relationship between good governance and economic or
political development. Grindle (2007) mentions there are many relations to be found between
indicators of good governance and economic growth, however those associations are difficult to
measure and even harder to be attributed as causal. Nevertheless, she mentions the work of
Kauffman (2002), who found a causal and positive relationship between different dimensions of
good governance and the GDP per capita in the long run, i.e. good governance makes
development possible.

These dimensions are how the government is elected and oversighted, the accountability power
of citizens, the credibility in the government, the respect for institutions, both from government
and citizens, and the effective delivery of public goods. He found that the relation between these
two variables does not hold in the reverse direction, meaning that higher levels of economic
growth do not lead to better governance. For example, Quain (2003) points out that China and
Vietnam are frequent examples of countries that have made remarkable leaps in economic
development and poverty reduction, but nevertheless retain many characteristics of poor
governance.

Good Governance is argued to be the most important in local governments. It tries to promote
more relationships between government and

 Empowered citizens
 Neighborhood councils
 Community councils

Good Governance with local government aims to increase civil engagement with more members
of the community in order to get the best options that serves the people.

Good governance in scientific exploration


Before there can be scientific experimentation, organizations must be compliant with good
governance, meaning that testing must be moral and practical. Many research organizations such
as SPICE (Stratospheric Particle Injection for Climate Engineering) a reengineering research
project that was formed in the U.K. was required to go through stages of evaluation before
testing could be conducted if they were to be funded by stakeholders. In 2011 SPICE made plans
to experiment with solar radiation. The method for this experiment included
injecting stratospheric sulfur aerosols into the Earth's atmosphere.

The criteria or "stage-gate" that they must pass before performing their experiment included the
following; identify safe and principle risks, test must be compliant with relevant regulations,
future applications and impacts, and mechanisms put in place to review these in the light of new
information, and that the stakeholders must be regarded and taken into account. Before research
can be conducted in the field of reengineering it must be scrutinized using good governance to
ensure testing isn't harmful to the environment and to detail all the possible risks that may occur.

Reform and standards

Three institutions can be reformed to promote good governance: the state, the private sector and
civil society. However, among different cultures, the need and demand for reform can vary
depending on the priorities of that country's society. A variety of country level initiatives and
international movements put emphasis on various types of governance reform. Each movement
for reform establishes criteria for what they consider good governance based on their own needs
and agendas. The following are examples of good governance standards for prominent
organizations in the international community.

United Nations (UN)

The United Nations is playing an increasing role in good governance. According to former UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan, "Good governance is ensuring respect for human rights and the
rule of law; strengthening democracy; promoting transparency and capacity in public
administration." To implement this, the UN goes follows eight principles:

 Participation - People should be able to voice their own opinions through legitimate
immediate organizations or representatives.
 Rule of Law - Legal framework should be enforced impartially, especially on human right
laws.
 Consensus Oriented - Mediates differing interests to meet the broad consensus on the best
interests of a community.
 Equity and Inclusiveness - People should have opportunities to improve or maintain their
well-being.
 Effectiveness and Efficiency - Processes and institutions should be able to produce results
that meet the needs of their community while making the best of their resources.
 Accountability - Governmental institutions, private sectors, and civil society organizations
should be held accountable to the public and institutional stakeholders.
 Transparency - Information should be accessible to the public and should be understandable
and monitored.
 Responsiveness - Institutions and processes should serve all stakeholders.

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) was created at a United Nations (UN) conference in
Bretton Woods, New Hampshire. In 1996, the IMF declared "promoting good governance in all
its aspects, including by ensuring the rule of law, improving the efficiency and accountability of
the public sector, and tackling corruption, as essential elements of a framework within which
economies can prosper". The IMF feels that corruption within economies is caused by the
ineffective governance of the economy, either too much regulation or too little regulation. To
receive loans from the IMF, countries must have certain good governance policies, as determined
by the IMF, in place.

World Bank
The World Bank is concerned with the reform of economic and social resource control. In 1992,
it underlined three aspects of society that they feel affect the nature of a country's governance:

1. type of political regime;


2. process by which authority is exercised in the management of the economic and social
resources, with a view to development; and
3. capacity of governments to formulate policies and have them effectively implemented.

Effects

International humanitarian funding

Good governance defines an ideal that is difficult to achieve in full, though it is something
development supporters consider donating to causes. Major donors and international financial
institutions, like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or World Bank, are basing their aid and
loans on the condition that the recipient undertake reforms ensuring good governance. This is
mostly due to the close link between poor governance and corruption.

Democratization
Because concepts such as civil society, decentralisation, peaceful conflict management and
accountability are often used when defining the concept of good governance, the definition of
good governance promotes many ideas that closely align with effective democratic
governance. Not surprisingly, emphasis on good governance can sometimes be equated with
promoting democratic government. However, a 2011 literature review analyzing the link
between democracy and development by Alina Rocha Menocal of the Overseas Development
Institute stresses the inconclusiveness of evidence on this relationship.

Role of political parties

Researchers at the Overseas Development Institute have criticised past studies of good
governance to place too little importance on developing political parties, their capacity and their
ties to their grassroots supporters. While political parties play a key role in well-functioning
democracies, elsewhere political parties are disconnected from voters and dominated by elites,
with few incentives or capabilities to increase the representation of other voters. Political parties
can play a key role in pivotal moments of a state's development, either negatively (e.g.
organising and instigating violence) or positively (e.g. by leading dialogue in a fractured
society).[24]While differences in the electoral system play their role in defining the number of
parties and their influence once in power (proportional, first past the post, etc.), the funding and
expertise available to parties also plays an important role not only in their existence, but their
ability to connect to a broad base of support. While the United Nations Development
Program and the European Commission have been providing funds to political parties since the
1990s, there are still calls to increase the support for capacity development activities including
the development of party manifestos, party constitutions and campaigning skills.

Limitations

There are number of limitations:


(1) People intending to participate for the realisation of democratic rights and ensuring good
governance must have the ability that is, must be well aware of the administrative and
developmental niceties. The participation in banking or financial administration —special
knowledge in these fields is essential. Even a highly qualified person not acquainted with these
fields cannot successfully participate. There are also numerous complexities in general public
administration—only the experienced and expert bureaucrats can have the ability to run
administration. Ordinary people cannot even reach the boundary of administration.

(2) The mentality or ability to participate must be preceded by interest in all these fields. A
majority of the people are found to be disinterested in state affairs or politics. They can criticise
the policies or performance of administration but their criticisms are not constructive. This type
of disinterestedness is a powerful limitation of participatory administration.

(3) Party politics stands in the way of participative administration. The leaders of the political
parties are simply interested in capturing political power through the majority system. They are
not interested in educating people in political affairs which, in political sociology, is called
political socialisation. The absence of political socialisation is not only the characteristic feature
of transitional states but also of developed states.
In the presidential election of America more than 40% voters do not cast their votes. If this is the
situation how can we expect a successful participative administration and good governance?
Mere participation can never achieve these two. Judicious and spontaneous participation can
bring about good governance and participation in administrative processes. This is the biggest
handicap.

(4) Even today in many countries women do not enjoy equal rights with men. This form of
inequality between men and women cannot assure the success of good governance and
participatory administration. In USA for pretty long time the Negroes were deprived of certain
basic rights. The British women got their right to vote in the late 1920s. The people of many
countries of Asia and Africa have not yet certain fundamental rights. The Universal Declaration
of Human Rights by the UN in 1948 has not been able to make arrangements so that every
citizen can get basic rights. This frustrating picture does not offering any augur for a hopeful
participatory administration.

(5) There is another problem and this can be looked from the Marxist point of view. If there are
gross economic inequalities among various sections of society the declaration of basic rights
cannot help the have-not’s of the society and participation in public administration will remain
beyond their reach. The participatory public administration will appear to them as myth. If
participation remains beyond their reach can good governance be a reality? So we conclude that
participatory administration, good governance, political and social as well as economic structure
of society are closely interlinked. I strongly believe that both good governance and participative
administration are overarching in nature. Even in developed capitalist societies the public
administrators have failed to achieve these two.
Criticism

According to Sam Agere, "The discretionary space left by the lack of a clear well-defined scope
for what governance encompasses allows users to choose and set their own parameters."

In the book Contesting 'good' governance, Eva Poluha and Mona Rosendahl contest standards
that are common to western democracy as measures of "goodness" in government. By
applying political anthropological methods, they conclude that while governments believe they
apply concepts of good governance while making decisions, cultural differences can cause
conflict with the heterogeneous standards of the international community.

An additional source of good governance criticism is The Intelligent Person's Guide to Good
Governance, written by Surendra Munshi. Munshi's work was created in order to "revive" good
governance. Many individuals tend to either wave away and be bored with the idea of
governance, or not have a clue to what it has at all. This book is a generalized discussion on what
the purpose of good governance is and how it serves that purpose throughout our society. Munshi
targets the book toward anyone doing research or just simply "those concerned with the issue of
governance".
Conclusion:
Participatory administration and good governance as ideas are quite attractive. But in practical
field these two still remain as lofty ideals. Modern public administration is highly complex and
naturally people have very little or even no scope to participate and ensure good governance. In
the age of globalisation the public administration of a particular state is not detached from the
rest of the world. If we look at the world situation we shall find very few multinational
corporations, non-governmental organisations and the Bretton Woods Institutions are practically
controlling the world economy and they are doing it in favour of the highly developed countries
of the First World. Even the role of the nation-state has considerably shrunk. Both the printing
and electronic media are engaged in propagating the ideas and objectives of MNCs and NGOs.
The highly exaggerated propaganda has enough power to befool the common people. In many
developing nations the administration or governance is dwindling or in a “moribund” (to use the
phrase of V.I. Lenin) situation, people’s participation and good governance are simply wishful
thinking. Notwithstanding, we hope that we should strive continuously to achieve both good
governance and participatory public administration, because these are our goals —these are our
ideals. During the last one hundred years and more the federal administration of USA is
continuously making efforts to make public administration pro-people, pro- development, pro-
good governance and pro-democratic. But the grim picture that has come out of these efforts is
that success is yet to come and nobody knows if it will come at all or not !

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