Introducing Governance

Much used term especially ‘good governance’ and ‘democratic governance’

From Greek word kubernân = to pilot or steer Originally used as ‘government’

◦ ‘the act or manner of governing; the office or function of governing’

During 1980s governance started to be differentiated from government

Concern with markets and networks as well as hierarchies in the pursuit of common goals

Hierarchies Markets Networks

Governance Authority Prices Trust

Basis of relations among members

Employment Contracts and property markets

Exchange of resources

Degree of dependence among members

Dependent Independent Interdependent

Means of conflict resolution and coordination

Rules and commands

Haggling Diplomacy

Culture Subordination Competition Reciprocity

A typology of organisational structures

Various fields in political science started to refer to governance◦ Politics and public policy: scholars abandoned

idea of apolitical hierarchies; looked at politics in bureaucracy; import of private sector principles into public sector management; decentralisation

◦ International relations: globalisation led to questioning of how far states in control of their territories; non-governmental movements and organisations; conflict resolution; trade regulation

◦ Comparative politics: systematic comparison of political systems; effects of different institutions on outputs

Kjaer believes institutions are at the centre of governance

Institutions are◦ ‘formal and informal rules, behavioural codes and

norms that constitute prescriptions ordering repeated, interdependent relations’

Institutions may be◦ Informal◦ Formal

Two leading questions about institutions◦ How do institutions affect political behaviour?

Eg, federal v unitary; two party v multi-party◦ How do institutions emerge and change?

A much less studied question But governance theory is mainly involved with

institutional change and it involves human agency Leads to a definition of governance: ‘the setting of

rules, the application of rules and the enforcement of rules’

Stoker and Chhetri note that governance often vaguely defined and used in a variety of ways. They say governance is about◦ ‘the rules of collective decision-making in settings

where there are a plurality of actors or organisations and where no formal control system can dictate the terms of the relationship between these actors and organisations’

Four issues in this definition◦ Rules: can be formal or informal; they may be

fairly stable over time (‘rules-in-use’); but rules do change and new forms of governance emerge

◦ Collective: collective decisions involve issues of mutual influence and control

◦ Decision-making: from strategic to being embedded in every-day practice; from global to organisational

◦ No one is in charge: can’t control all things in the decision-making process; can be more or less authoritarian but never completely in control

Governance is about◦ What is

Low levels of human development in some African countries in part due to failures in national and international governance

◦ What might be Need for better governance arrangements between

parties involved including national and local governments, international organisations, civil society, traditional institutions, private sector

This means that governance should be understood as a set of practices

Governance is undertaken by human agents who are defined by bounded rationality◦ Governance is a political activity; about co-

ordination and decision-making in the context of a plurality of views and interests

◦ Governance is an intensely human activity partly explained by the limits of our human capacities; governance helps us cope with our limitations of understanding

Two factors explain rise in interest in governance:◦ Globalisation◦ Democratisation

These two forces create intense pressure for change

Starting in the 1990s increasing interest in governance’s role in development

ADB saw governance as institutional environment for the interaction between citizens and with state

Capacity of institutional environment important

Policy important but governance needed for ‘effective’ or ‘sound’ development management

To make elements of ‘good governance’ operationally relevant ADB saw need to translate them into areas of action◦ Accountability◦ Predictability◦ Stability◦ Transparency

No one size fits all for governance system

UNDP has seen ‘good governance’ as essential for the achievement of the goals of human development◦ Empowerment◦ Cooperation◦ Equity◦ Sustainability◦ Security

Need to create governance conditions to enable such development

UNDP identified 4 types of governance◦ Economic◦ Political◦ Administrative◦ Systemic

And three inter-related domains◦ The state◦ The private sector◦ Civil society

Participatory Sustainable Legitimate Transparent Promotes equity and

equality Promote gender balance Accepts diversity Able to mobilise resources

for development Able to define and own

national solutions

Strengthen indigenous mechanisms

Operates by rule of law Efficient and effective

resource use Engenders trust and respect Accountable Enabling and facilitative Regulatory rather than

controlling Service-oriented Can deal with temporal

issues

Critics of good governance allege that it is◦ Creating an enabling environment for market

prescriptions of neoliberals◦ That it serves rich country interests◦ That it has been forced on countries by World

Bank, IMF and other multilaterals and bilaterals◦ That developing country governments pay lip-

service to it◦ That bad governance continues in many places