Good Governance

GOOD GOVERNANCE
MEANING OF GOOD AND GOVERNANCE:-
‘Governance’ means how decision are take and implemented or not implemented. It
includes how policies are made, implemented and re-valuated for serving the people of
nation or managing any organisation. Governance can be used in several context such as
corporate governance, internantional governance, national governance and local
governance. Governance involves multiple actors like government, state, private sector,
NGOs, MNC’s, civil society, farmers association etc. Governance Signifies the ways the
Government gets its job done- ways and processes by which govt. manages the affairs of
the state/nation.
In the context of governance, ‘good’ means right or moral deeds performed by those who
exercise authority in public interest. The word appeared for the first time in 1989 World
Bank Document on’’ Sub Saharan Africa- from crisis to sustainable growth’’, even thought
the concept of good governance finds mention in Kautilya’s Arthashashtra. Governance, in
Good Governance, is a broader concept than government.Good governance is concerned
with process of making and implementing decisions. It is concerned with ensuring raise in
the level of govt.It aims at eradicating evils in the governance like corruption., Good
Governance denotes participative and collaborative decision making( policy decisions)
and their implementation in an open & transparent way so as to provide better and quality
life to citizen, respect diversity, voice/say to minorities and marginalized community,
ensuring social equity, social justice, and human rights. Good Governance model is an
ideal, not real. Governance in any nation may try to be closer to the standards of Good
Governance. Thus, it is like gold standards of the governance in the contemporary
globalized world.
OBJECTIVES OF GOOD GOVERNANCE:
1. Improving the quality of life.

2. Enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of administration.
3. Establishing legitimacy and credibility of institution.
4. Securing freedom of expression and information.
5. Providing citizen friendly and citizen caring administration.
6. Using information technology based service to improve citizen government
interface.
7. Eradication of corruption.
8. Improving employees productivity.
TIMELINE AND EXAPLES:
TIMELINE=PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION ---NPA---NPM---GOOD GOVERNANCE
NPM focused on achieving 3Es , while governance emphasized on process of decision

making, even though both aimed at improving quality aspects.. However, governance
includes a broader scope then NPM which includes, establishing accountability between
state and people,treating people not as customer or cosumer, protecting citizens right,
their voices ,value and preferance,ensuring responsiveness of public as well as private
institutions to the people.
Example or way to achieve good governance-
RTI, cititzen charter,independent evaluation of services, E governance, grievances

redressal mechanism, ease of doing business among others.
FEATURES OF GOOD GOVERNANCE:-

1. PARTITICIPATION:- Participation by both men and women is a key cornerstone of
good governance.Participation could be either direct or through legitimate
intermediate institutions or representatives. It is important to point out that
representative democracy does not necessarily mean that the concerns of the most
vulnerable in society would be taken into consideration in decision-making. People
should be to voice their opinions and there should be freedom of association and
expression.
2. RULE OF LAW:- Good governance requires fair legal frameworks that are enforced
impartially. It also requires 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. TRANSPARENCEY:- Transparency means that decisions taken and their
enforcement are done in a manner that follows rules and regulations. It also means
that information is freely available and directly accessible to those who will be
affected by such decisions and their enforcement. It also means free media and
access of information to them.
4. CONSENSUS ORIENTED:- There are several actors and as many view points 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.
5. RESPONSIVENESS:- Good governance requires that institutions and processes try
to serve all stakeholders within a reasonable timeframe. By being responsive,
governmental institutions gain ‘legitimacy’ in the public realm which will
automatically ensure their wider acceptance and thus effectiveness in governance.
6. EQUITY AND INCLUSIVENESS:- A society’s member should feel part of the society
and do not feel excluded from from it. So there should be involvement of all groups
including minorties. People should have opportunity to improve or maintain their
well being.
7. EFFECTIVENESS AND EFFICIENCY:- 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.
8. ACCOUNTABILITY:- Good governance aims towards betterment of people and this
can not take place without the government being accountable to the people.
Government institutions, private sector and civil society organisation should be
held accountable to the public and institutional stakeholders.
• The concept suffers from both ethnocentrism and eurocentrism. Governance and
institutional mechanisms of 3rd world developing countries are assessed and
judged from the perspective of western governance model. ‘Good’ in Good
Governance is what is considered Good in USA and western Europe. In essence,
Good Governance is governance model of the neo-liberal paradigm, which is
dominating the discourse in Public Administration since 1990s
CRITICISM:-
Has become merely a benchmarking tool for International Aid Agencies- World
Bank, IMF.
• Governance is realized differently in different socio-political and cultural settings.
Hence, it neither recommended nor possible to have universal criteria of good
governance for all cultures.
• The concept of Good Governance suffers from Ethnocentrism and Euro- Centrism
• By broadening (expanding) the meaning of Governance, its meaning is lost- it may
mean anything to anyone.
• Role of state is undermined vis a vis private sector and civil society, but,
governance, in practice, is nothing but what government does. Hence, there is
contradiction between the theory and practice.
• Not even followed completely by USA and other developed countries who gave the
concept. 3rd world country finds it very difficult to adopt because of vagueness and
ethnocentrism of the concept.
• Because of all these minuses, the Good Governance has remained merely a
catchy slogan far removed from the real governance in large part of the world.
CONCLUSION:-
The term Good Governance started to emerge in 1990s mainly in the resolutions of
international donor and aid agencies such as World Bank, IMF, UNDP, as a
benchmarking tool to extend aids only to those countries where its Public
Administration and public institutions are committed to Good Governance.
Meaning of the term is still not settled and it suffers from cultural and ideological
biases of western developed nations. Thus, ethnocentrism and eurocentrism are
quite visible in the concept of Good Governance. Despite such minuses, the
concept has many pluses. Adoption of Good Governance model may bring
transparency, accountability, efficiency, discipline, and better socio-economic
outcomes in any nation

Good Governance

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Good Governance

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Good Governance

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

GOOD GOVERNANCE

MEANING OF GOOD AND GOVERNANCE:-

OBJECTIVES OF GOOD GOVERNANCE:

1. Improving the quality of life.

TIMELINE=PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION ---NPA---NPM---GOOD GOVERNANCE

NPM focused on achieving 3Es , while governance emphasized on process of decision

Example or way to achieve good governance-

RTI, cititzen charter,independent evaluation of services, E governance, grievances

FEATURES OF GOOD GOVERNANCE:-

You might also like