Governance
Though the idea of Governance is not new and is as old as human civilization, recently, the term Governance is widely used; yet, with various definitions to the term. In a basic send, Governance is defined as city, a company, etc. is controlled by the people who run it (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2015). Governance can also be identified to describe a process of policy formulation in which state actors share power with private actors (Rhodes, 1997). Renate Mayntz defined governance as the system of rules that shapes the actions of social actors (Mayntz, 2004), but in a general sense, Governance means the capacity of government, functioning with or without the private sector, to steer an economy or society towards a collective goal.
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According to the UN (1997), Governance is the process of decision-making and the process by which decisions are implemented or not. The World Bank defines governance as the means of exercising power to manage a country's social and economic resources (The World Bank Group, 2012). While the UNDP viewed governance as the implementation of economic, political and administrative authority to manage the country's affairs at all levels including mechanisms, institutions and processes by which citizens voice their interests (UNDP, 1997). While according to the Commission on Global Governance (1995), "governance" is the way individuals and institutions, public or private, manage their common affairs (Weiss, 200).
Good Governance and its Measurements UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan views good governance to be "ensuring respect for human rights and the rule of law, strengthening democracy, promoting transparency and capacity in public administration" (Weiss, 2000). Good governance determines what the best practices in governance are and how they can be implemented. There are various measurements and principles to measure good governance of which the United Nations Development Program principles for Good Governance are as follows (UNDP,
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The civil society was also interested to measure good governance where Mo Ibrahim Foundation measures governance in African countries by Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG). It is based on four main components: First of them is safety and rule of law such as national security and personal safety; secondly is participation and human rights like gender equality and freedom of expression; while thirdly is sustainable economic opportunity that measure public management and business environment and lastly human development such as health and education. (Mo Ibrahim Foundation, 2015) Other organizations, like the Freedom House, focuses on measuring one specific aspect of governance and that is: political rights and civil liberties (Freedom House, 2015). It is called "the three-tiered rating system" as it scores countries based on three layers and uses 10 indicators for political rights and 15 indicators for civil liberties (Freedom House, 2015). On the other hand, Global Integrity Index measures corruption in countries on the national level on six categories: Public Administration & Professionalism; Anti-Corruption Legal Framework, Judicial Impartiality and Law Enforcement; Government Oversight & Controls, NGOs, Public Information and Media; Elections; Government Conflicts of Interest Safeguards & Check and
For how often the term ‘government’ is used, it can be difficult to understand in its entirety. At times, the government can seem like nothing more than a bother in our lives and some may question its true practicality. To understand exactly who has power and under what circumstances, as well as why government is necessary in the first place, it can be fruitful to explore it through the lens of principal agent problems and collective action problems. I will explain the scope of these problems, how and why they arise among members of a society, and how government attempts to solve them.
African governments have given in to the whim’s of international organisations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) in social and health policies, and with this, has come a shift away from former emphasis on social justice and equitable market efficiency to public health services for all now being perceived as a major threat ...
Agents of the state influence how the government performs its work, from the politics of policy development to primary work tasks. The success of many of public policies and programs in societies—in terms of core principles such as justice and equity in access, quality, efficiency, responsiveness and representation—may be determined primarily by agents of the state, sometimes with little oversight or weak mechanisms of accountability and control. A utopian society would not have the negative effects of an agent of the state or state policies. To create a state that is resistant to these specific forces, one would have to remove the restrictive qualities of a dystopian society. These qualities include, but are not limited to: coercive powers, power disparity, economic dependency, violence and fear, bureaucracy, and
The current plight of poor democracy in various developing countries has however raised concerns in regards to just how effective the form of governance may be. Many developing worlds are in this day faced with numerous challenges as far as their democratic governance is concerned. True to this statement, other nations such as Chile has even been taken aback to forms of democracy that are greatly oppressive, begging the question as to whether there really is any democracy in such a state. Municipal and global entities alike, have taken initiative in an attempt to grasp a better understanding of what exactly are the key impediments to democratization in developing worlds, as discussed in this paper.
Sandstrom, Crona & Bodin (2014) discuss that the concept of co-management has received much attention in recent years, especially in the policy arena and has many arguments speak in favour of it. One of its promises is enhanced possibilities for learning, and efficient conflict resolution methods (Sandstrom, Crona, & Bodin, 2014). Co-management is also argued to increase legitimacy, which is known as the foundation for successful governance (Sandstrom, Crona, & Bodin, 2014). Legitimacy denotes the fairness, and rightfulness of power relations and is a key concept in the study of institutions and natural resources (Sandstrom, Crona, & Bodin, 2014). Maclean, Robinson & Natcher (2015) discuss that building a consensus for better participation in natural resource management brings about effective institutional change. Kooiman (2003) defines co-governance as utilizing organised forms of interactions within society for governance purposes. It is a term that enables the civil society becoming active within the public arena and forming networks with the local government (Tsujinaka, Ahmed, & Kobashi, 2013). Co-governance introduces a relationship between government and society, which Hinssen & Van Der Schans (1994) argue is an extremely effective form of
The state is a set of governmental institutions. Government is the process of making rules, controlling, guiding or regulating. In Western societies the government is elected ministers who are in charge of departments. A modern state is a type of government characterised by five characteristics. The state is a separate institution from the rest of society that creates public and private spheres. The state is the supreme power and is the definitive authority for all law. The states control applies to all individuals equally even those in government. The state’s workforce are employed and trained in a bureaucratic method. The state has the capability to extract taxation to finance projects from the population (Dunleavy & O'Leary, 1987).
Globalization has led to several substantial changes in global governance and the entities participating in governance activities. First, over the past 70 years, an increasing number of nations have signed onto international agreements. For example, when the Global Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was created in 1947, it had no institutional structure; by 2009, though, more than 150 nations – accounting for 97% of world trade – were members of GATT’s successor, the World Trade Organization (Fidler, 2009). The World Health Organization, started in 1946, now comprises 194 member states and has nearly 150 country offices (Council on Foreign Relations, 2012). In both of these entities – and in others, such as the Genera...
Conca, K., & Dabelko, G. D. (2010). Institutions of Global Environmental Governance. In K. Conca, & G. D. Dabelko, Green Planet Blues (pp. 117-124). Boulder: Westview Press
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Human Development Report (2000) Human Rights and Human Development (New York) p.19 [online] Available from: [Accessed 2 March 2011]
This critique paper is about the Policy on Good Governance and the Rule of Law, Chapter 7 of the Philippine Development Plan 2011-2016 of the Aquino Administration, published by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).
An Intergovernmental organization is one where the member states cooperate without giving up the ultimate right to make their own decisions. A Supra-national organization is one where the ultimate right to make decisions lie with the common institutions and national governments only have the right to maneuver within the framework of policy decided at the collective level (Gallagher 125).
They control the supply and prices of products. On the other hand, he state is tasked with the responsibility of providing security in the country. The capitalists control the financial sector and indirectly control the power. This is because the government’s policies have to be made in such a way that they conform to the capitalistic views.
On the 18th of May 2005, Moroccan King Mohammed VI gave start to the National Human Development Initiative. This project was touted as a central part to his plan to improve the situation of poor people in the country and earned him the title of “King of the Poor”. It aims at reducing social exclusion, improving transparency and accountability of the decision-making and execution process on a local level with the purpose of enhancing the exploitation of social and economic services by the disadvantaged portions of society. The Initiative covers the eradication of poverty in the countryside, reducing social inclusion in the cities and improving on governance mechanisms and institutional capacity. It is structured in a top-down approach whereby local government are meant to clarify their needs and priorities regarding basic infrastructure, economic opportunities and social services. This Initiative has garnered support and partial financing from the World Bank from its inception. This paper aims to examine some of the developmental projects that preceded the INDH, assess the progress achieved by the initiative and show that the initiative was an example of proactive decision making on behalf of the government which might have gone as far as to play a role in preventing the seeds of the Arab Spring from gaining momentum in Morocco despite the fact that development in the country is at a fairly similar and sometimes even worse status when compared with other Arab countries.
Musuva C ‘Promoting the Effectiveness of Democracy Institutions in Southern Africa EISA Research Report No 41 (2009)
Democracy refers to a system of governance in which the supreme powers are vested in the hands of people and is exercised by them indirectly or directly through a system of representation which involves periodic free and fair elections (http://www.zesn.org.zw/publications/publication_280.pdf). Most importantly, the rule of is needed to ensure that governors are held accountable through elections that are free and fair (Rose, R 2009)