Governance and Good Governance

Concept of Governance

Governance has been defined to refer to structures and processes that are designed to ensure accountability, transparency, responsiveness, rule of law, stability, equity and inclusiveness, empowerment, and broad-based participation. Governance also represents the norms, values and rules of the game through which public affairs are managed in a manner that is transparent, participatory, inclusive and responsive. Governance therefore can be subtle and may not be easily observable. In a broad sense, governance is about the culture and institutional environment in which citizens and stakeholders interact among themselves and participate in public affairs. It is more than the organs of the government.

International agencies such as UNDP, the World Bank, the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) and others define governance as the exercise of authority or power in order to manage a country’s economic, political and administrative affairs. The 2009 Global Monitoring Report sees governance as ‘power relationships,’ ‘formal and informal processes of formulating policies and allocating resources,’ ‘processes of decision-making’ and ‘mechanisms for holding governments accountable.’

Government is one of the actors in governance. Other actors involved in governance vary depending on the level of government that is under discussion. In rural areas, for example, other actors may include influential landlords, associations of peasant farmers, cooperatives, NGOs, research institutes, religious leaders, finance institutions, political parties, the military etc.

To study government is to study the exercise of authority. Government is closely related to politics. To study politics is in essence to study government or more broadly, to study the exercise of authority. Government can therefore be seen as one of the institutions of governance; it is impossible to have governance without government.

Governance and Government

Government and governance are two distinct concepts that are sometimes referred to interchangeably. The term "government" refers to the way a group of people, like a nation, conducts business. Many groups form governments to set policy. Politics is not the same thing as governance. Governance is carrying out what politics determined needed to be done; whereas politics involves people and diverse ideas working together to reach an agreement about what should be done. Governance is also how people in the country were affected by government decisions.

Concept of Good Governance

A good and faithful exercise of power is a necessary component of good governance, in addition to the proper and transparent use of the government's powers. In essence, it relates to the accomplishment of the three fundamental responsibilities of government: ensuring individual and societal safety; overseeing an efficient and accountable public sector; and advancing the economic and social goals of the nation in accordance with the wishes of the populace. In order to achieve effective governance, a contrast is made between an institutional and a functional approach. The institutional model of good governance relates to, for instance, a minister or civil servant, administrative authorities, or the public prosecutor, each of whom is qualified to carry out a certain function. The accomplishment of a certain function is the main focus of the functional approach. Additionally, it should be mentioned that the application of good governance concepts in both public and private settings has an impact on one another and helps to shape their content

Good Governance: Importance for state system

The foundational ideas of the contemporary state are democracy, the rule of law, and good governance. These pillars provide the framework of the state and its institutions, the interaction between the citizens and governmental institutions, and the standards for that relationship. Although these notions partially overlap, the distinguishing features may be seen.

The concept of the legal basis for governmental action and the requirement for the protection of people' fundamental rights are the cornerstones of the rule of law. Democracy deepens the rule of law and, in particular, is concerned with openness and citizen engagement.

The advancement of democracy and the rule of law are just two aspects of good governance; it also considers the effectiveness and accountability of the executive branch. Because it is both a requirement for the government and a constitutional right, good governance is significant. This supports the third cornerstone of sound government. A citizen's right and a standard for the government is good governance. The idea of good governance has been expanded to include more precise requirements. These standards frequently have their own content, while they are occasionally connected to the norms of democracy and the rule of law. Properness, transparency, involvement, efficacy, accountability, and respect for economic, social, and cultural rights are all components of good governance. Although alternative standards or language may be used in practice, they have evolved into universal components of good governance and are acknowledged across all cultures or are generally relevant.

Why is good governance important?

The fundamental reasons why organizations should adopt good governance practices include:

To preserve and strengthen stakeholder confidence – nothing distracts an organization more than having to deal with a disgruntled stakeholder group caused by a lack of confidence in the governing body. And on the positive side, a supportive stakeholder base can generate benefits for the organization though social and emotional support, intangible but very valuable attributes that all organizations should strive to achieve and sustain;

To provide the foundation for a high-performing organization – the achievement of goals and sustainable success requires input and support from all levels of an organization. The Board, though good governance practices, provides the framework for planning, implementation and monitoring of performance and without a foundation to build high performance upon, the achievement of this goal becomes problematic. Achievement of the best performance and results possible, within existing capacity and capability, should be an organization’s ongoing goal

To ensure the organization is well placed to respond to a changing external environment –business today operates in an environment of constant change. Technology has created an information age that has transformed our world, and for business to both survive and remain profitable to enable it to fulfil its mission and achieve its vision, a system has to be in place to assist an organization to identify changes in both the external environment and emerging trends. This process of understanding our changing world does not happen by chance, it requires leadership, commitment and resources from the governing body to establish and maintain such a system within the organisation. Change generally does not happen “over-night”, it is there for all to see if they have in place a system for looking. Governing bodies, as the ultimate leaders of an organisation, should take prime responsibility for this activity.

Principles of good governance

Good governance is tightly linked to the fight against corruption. Accordingly, some of the core principles of good governance are also principles of anti-corruption. The literature identifies good governance with political systems that are:

Participatory

Follows the rule of law

Transparent

Responsive

Consensus-oriented

Equitable and inclusive

Effective and efficient

Accountable

Principles of good governance

Participatory:

The Participatory role means the participation of citizens in the process of governance is the key characteristic of good governance. Participation is an important step for mobilizing people to participate in the decision-making process. It can be direct or indirect, but Participation needs to be informed and organized. The aims and objectives of the political rights would be fulfilled by the greater participation of the people in society. The legal framework represents the rule of law which ensures impartiality in terms of participation in the decision-making process of governance.

Good governance is a situation where there is mutual trust between the state and the citizen. It has been said in this context that the only tenable normative aspiration, to modern politics can be to make states more trustworthy to all who must live under them: to make them more graceful and civilized in their dealings with their citizens and with one another. 18 Relatively, it is essential to give emphasis on the democratic form of governance.

The government must have participation from the citizenry; both men and women in the society should take part in various activities and organizations in the government sectors. The principle of equality is one of the most important constitutional principles upon which the contemporary system rests. This means that the principle of equality contained in the individual communities are equal in rights, responsibilities and public duties that will be enjoyed by all without discrimination of race or origin.

In the present times, the globalized market process induced by globalization and liberalization has laid a greater demand for civil society and human rights. It means empowerment of people, which is possible only through good governance.

Follows the rule of law:

Essentially, rule of law means that law is the supreme principle in public political administration that should be observed by all government officials and citizens, who should be all equal before the law. The immediate goal of rule of law is to regulate citizens’ behavior, manage social affairs and maintain a normal order in social life, while its ultimate goal is to protect citizens’ basic political rights, including freedom and equality. In this sense, rule of law is opposite to rule of man as it both regulates citizens’ behavior and restricts the conduct of the State. It is the arch-enemy of political autocracy. Rule of law is a basic requirement of good governance, which would be impossible without a sound legal system, due respect for the law or a social order based on the law.

Transparent:

Transparent it refers to the publicity of political information. All citizens are entitled to the information on State policies that are related to their own interests, including legislative activities, policy-making, legal provisions, policy enforcement, administrative budget, public expenditure and other relevant political information. Transparency requires that the aforementioned political information be duly communicated to citizens through various media vehicles so that they can participate in public policy-making and supervise the process of public administration in an effective manner. The higher the degree of transparency is, the higher the level of good governance.

Responsiveness:

Responsiveness is closely associated with the aforementioned concept of accountability. In a sense, it is an extension of accountability. Essentially, it means that public administrators and administrative bodies must respond to the demands of citizens in a timely and responsible manner, and that it is forbidden to make delays without cause or leave any issue unresolved without response. When necessary, they should proactively solicit advice from citizens, explain their policies to them and answer their questions on a regular basis. The greater the level of responsiveness is, the higher the level of good governance will be.

Consensus-oriented:

Governance depends on the consensus of people in society to make it good. It could fulfill the interest of the people as well as the community. It helped to achieve the long-term perspective of human development. And it originated from the social culture and institutional behaviors of the particular society. There are several actors and as many viewpoints in a given society. Good governance requires mediation of the different interests in society to reach a broad consensus in society on what is in the best interest of the whole community and how this can be achieved. It also requires a broad and long-term perspective on what is needed for sustainable human development and how to achieve the goals of such development. This can only result from an understanding of the historical, cultural and social contexts of a given society or community.

Equitable and inclusive:

An equitable just society must be established for ensuring good governance. Society’s well being depends on how its members feel about it. It requires all its members to feel that they have a stake in it and they are not excluded from the mainstream in the governance. A society’s well being depends on ensuring that all its members feel that they have a stake in it and do not feel excluded from the mainstream of society. This requires all groups, but particularly the most vulnerable, to have opportunities to improve or maintain their well being.

Effective and efficient:

Effectiveness and efficiency ensure the outcomes of the institutions to meet the needs of society. Proper utilization of society’s resources for the establishment of sustainable development is the key to good governance. It also ensures the sustainable use of natural resources for the protection of the environment. Good governance means that processes and institutions produce results that meet the needs of society while making the best use of resources at their disposal. The concept of efficiency in the context of good governance also covers the sustainable use of natural resources and the protection of the environment.

Accountability:

Accountability means holding every person accountable for his or her own behavior. In public administration, it refers in particular to the duties related to a certain position or institution and its corresponding obligations. Accountability means that administrators and administrative bodies must fulfill the functions and obligations of the positions they hold. If they fail to fulfill their bounden functions or duties, or if they do so in an inappropriate manner, their conduct constitutes dereliction of duty or lack of accountability. The more accountability the public, especially public officers and administrative bodies have, the higher the level of good governance will be. In this regard, good governance requires the employment of both law and ethics to enhance the accountability of individuals and institutions.

Conclusion

The idea of good governance has gained widespread acceptance in political science, public administration, and, more specifically, development management. Alongside it are words like participation, democracy, civil society, human rights, and sustainable development. The idea of good governance has become increasingly prevalent in political and development discourse. It now permeates every sphere of society and is ingrained in the shared ideals and virtues of all nations. It has been widely recognized as a sign of loyalty to democracy and the rule of law. However, there is a risk that good governance has become a buzzword and that few people bother to think about its implications. A wide range of challenges affecting a nation's socio political and economic system are included in the broad concept of "good governance."

Good governance and participatory administration are appealing concepts. However, these two still stand as lofty ideals in the real world. Modern government is incredibly complex, and individuals have little to no opportunity to engage and assure effective governance. The public administration of a given state is not isolated from the rest of the globe in the age of globalization. If we examine the global scenario, we will see that a small number of multinational firms, non-governmental organizations, and the Bretton Woods Institutions effectively dominate the global economy in the interests of the First World's highly developed nations.

From the above discussion it should be clear that good governance is an ideal which is difficult to achieve in its totality. Very few countries and societies have come close to achieving good governance in totality. However, to ensure sustainable human development, actions must be taken to work towards this ideal with the aim of making it a reality.