Introduction:
How do we, in general look at governance? What do we mean by it? Do we only stick ourselves with mere governing when we talk about governance or do we include other important perspectives to understand that? When we talk about Good Governance, how do we different it from ordinary governance? Does there only one model of Good Governance or it differs from school to school?
Images of Good Governance:
In simple, governance indicates the process of decision making and the process by which decisions are implemented or not implemented. As governance is a process of decision making and decision implementation, a study of governance focuses on the formal and informal actors involved in decision making and its implementation and the structures- formal and informal, that have been set in place to arrive at and implement the decision. Government is an actor of Governance. The other actors engaged in governance vary depending on the level of government.
“At its broadest, governance, that is, the act of governing, refers to the relationship between the governors and the governed, such as that between the government and the people, and has as its basis the decision-making powers ceded by individuals to those in authority so that the common interests of society can be served.”[i] Governance deals with exercise of economic, political and administrative authority in managing the affairs of a nation, and needs to be transparent and accountable. “Governance refers to the exercise of authority in the management of a country's affairs, includes the state, private sector and civil society.”[ii]
So, Governance means the way an organisation or institution is administer. It is about an organisation's relationships with the stakeholders and the aims and objectives of that organisation.
Good Governance; the orthodox view:
Recent developments in politics has widely popularised one concept, that is related to governance, is the notion of Good Governance. The term Good Governance is widely used in development literature to describe the way public institutions executes public affairs and manage public resources in order to ensure the realisation of human rights.
The notion of Good Governance emerges as a model to compare ineffective political or economic structures with viable political and economic structures. It is the western bloc with liberal democratic structure, due to its “successful” governments, often set the standard by which the execution of Good Governance is compared.
Good Governance is participatory, consensus oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive in nature. It is based on rule of law. It, taking the views of the minorities into account in decision making, assures in minimizing corruption. It is assumed that Good Governance can be achieved through reforms in reforms in state, private sector and social security. “Good Governance requires a good balance of power among different factors such as politicians, bureaucrats and civil society. A proper governance mechanism is supposed to ensure that political, economic and social priorities are based on social consensus and that of the participation of the poor in decision making over allocation of development resources.”[iii] So, good Governance is a process and structure that guides political and socio-economic relationships.
Relationship in Good Governance:
In international affairs the study of Good Governance occupies 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 local institutions and urban and rural dwellers,
- Between legislature and executive branches, and
- Between nation states and institutions.
Portraits of Good Governance by International Organisations:
IMF:
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 1996 declared that economy of a nation can prosper by 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. The institution believes that either too much regulation and or too less regulation resulting ineffective governance of economy can caused corruption. The IMF, to promote Good Governance, provides loans to only those countries that practice certain Good Governance policies.
UNO:
Reform through Human Development and reform in political institution, according to UN, can bring Good Governance. To UN, Good Governances featured 8 characteristics-
1. Consensus Oriented
2. Participatory
3. Following the Rule of Law
4. Effective and Efficient
5. Accountable
6. Transparent
7. Responsive
8. Equitable and Inclusive
World Bank:
The World Bank is of the view that positive reform in economic and social resource control leads to Good Governance. In 1992, WB pointed out three aspects of society which they feel affects the nature of governance:
a) Type of political regime;
b) Process by which authority is exercised in the management of the economic and social resources, with a view to development; and
c) Capacity of governments to formulate policies and have them effectively implemented.
“By the late 1990s, the World Bank Institute, from several hundreds of variables measuring perception of governance, had developed six dimensions of good governance- control of corruption, rule of law, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, voice and accountability, and political stability, with absence of violence.”[iv]
Principles of Good Governance:
Good Governance occupies six core principles where each supports the other. “The standard comprises six core principles of good governance, each with its supporting principles.[1][v] This core principles are-
1. Good governance means focusing on the organisation’s purpose and on outcomes for citizens and service users:
1. Being clear about the organisation’s purpose and its intended outcomes for citizens and service users
2. Making sure that users receive a high quality service
3. Making sure that taxpayers receive value for money
2. Good governance means performing effectively in clearly defined functions and roles:
1. Being clear about the functions of the governing body
2. Being clear about the responsibilities of non-executives and the executive, and making sure that those responsibilities are carried out
3. Being clear about relationships between governors and the public
3. Good governance means promoting values for the whole organisation and demonstrating the values of good governance through behaviour:
1. Putting organisational values into practice
2. Individual governors behaving in ways that uphold and exemplify effective governance
4. Good governance means taking informed, transparent decisions and managing risk:
1. Being rigorous and transparent about how decisions are taken
2. Having and using good quality information, advice and support
3. Making sure that an effective risk management system is in operation
5. Good governance means developing the capacity and capability of the governing body to be effective:
1. Making sure that appointed and elected governors have the skills, knowledge and experience they need to perform well
2. Developing the capability of people with governance responsibilities and evaluating their performance, as individuals and as a group
3. Striking a balance, in the membership of the governing body, between continuity and renewal
6. Good governance means engaging stakeholders and making accountability real
1. Understanding formal and informal accountability relationships
2. Taking an active and planned approach to dialogue with and accountability to the public
3. Taking an active and planned approach to responsibility to staff
4. Engaging effectively with institutional stakeholders
Good Governance is associated with efficient and effective administration in a democratic framework. It refers to adoption of new values of governance to establish greater efficiency, legitimacy and credibility of the system.
The Second Administrative Reforms Commission in its Report submitted in October, 2007 mentioned about Good Governance. Sixth Report of 2nd ARC on “Local Governance: An inspiring journey into the future” identifies that Good Governance has the following features: Participation, Rule of Law, Transparency, Responsiveness, Consensus Orientation, Equity, Effectiveness and Efficiency, and Strategic Vision.
The good governance not only includes governance in national government but also of local and global governance. Therefore Good Governance is hierarchical, and encompasses state- society interactions and partnerships. Good Governance can be considered as the citizen friendly, citizen caring and responsive administration. Good Governance depends on the co-operation and an involvement of a large number of citizens and organisations.
To sum up, the orthodox perception of Good Governance is about institutional practices. It draws the picture of Good Governance as the ordnance in transparent and accountable way. Good Governance, in this view, is designed in a way that it suits the International neo-liberal market economy policies. This view only stresses in economic and institutional reforms and not the other aspects of Good Governance. Therefore, an alternative model of Good Governance, with aiming people's development is what the need of time.
The Alternative view of Good Governance:
Opposing the above view, Commonwealth Local Government Forum campaigned for an alternative view on Good Governance. The General Meeting of the Commonwealth Local Government Forum, convened on 18th March 2005 in Scotland, following the Third Commonwealth Local Government Conference on deepening Local Democracy of 15-17 March 2005, attended by over 500 delegates from 46 countries, including over 20 ministers with responsibility for local government reconfirms that effective, elected local government is an important foundation for democracy. Commonwealth Principles on Good Practice for Local Democracy and Good Governance has highlighted the few indicators as important for Good Governance. This are-
1. Constitutional and legal recognition for local democracy:
2. The ability to elect local representatives:
3. Partnerships between spheres of government:
4. Defined legislative framework:
5. Opportunity to participate in local decision-making:
6. Open local government– accountability:
7. Open local government– transparency:
8. Openness to scrutiny:
9. Inclusiveness:
10. Adequate and equitable resource allocation:
11. Equitable service delivery:
12. Building strong local democracy and good governance:
The alternative paradigm of Good Governance focuses on greater meaning of Good Governance. This greater notion of Good Governance includes the following principles:
l Policies
l Instruments
l Institutions
l Infrastructure
l Practices
l Participation:
References:
[i] Dash, A & Kipgen, P, “Good Governance: The Force behind Human development” in Nayak, P. (ed) Growth and Human Development in North East, OUP, New Delhi, 2010, p-117.
[ii] Dash, A & Kipgen, P, “Good Governance: The Force behind Human development” in Nayak, P. (ed) Growth and Human Development in North East, OUP, New Delhi, 2010, p-118.
[iii] Dash, A & Kipgen, P, “Good Governance: The Force behind Human development” in Nayak, P. (ed) Growth and Human Development in North East, OUP, New Delhi, 2010, p-118
[iv] Dash, A & Kipgen, P, “Good Governance: The Force behind Human development” in Nayak, P. (ed) Growth and Human Development in North East, OUP, New Delhi, 2010, p-118
[v] The Independent Commission on Good Governance in Public Services, “The Good Governance Standard for Public Services” OPM and CIPFA, London, 2004, p-4
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