GOVERNANCE,
IT’S THEORIES
AND
PRACTICES
COURSE
OBJECTIVES
The course is designed to provide the students of Governance
and Public Policy an understanding of principles, policies and practices of
Governance at state level. It covers the basic concepts and theories of
governance, governance in public administration and public policy, the State
and economic development, models of economic governance, the judiciary and its
impact on governance, and theories of democratization. It also covers the role
of ethics in governance and how it should be institutionalized to play an
effective role in the improvement of standards of governance in a State.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
•
Upon
the completion of the course, the students will be able to:-
– Comprehend the core issues and
concepts of governance
– Understand the importance of
practices of good governance in running the affairs of the state and apply the
knowledge gained through this course in their practical and professional life
– Raise the standard of governance
whenever and wherever they happen to serve Pakistan.
RECOMMENDED READINGS
•
Guidance
for Good Governance by Abdullah al-Ahsan and Stephen B. Young.
•
The
principles of State and Government in Islam by Muhammad Asad.
•
Governance
by Anne Mette Kjaer.
•
Encyclopedia
of Governance by Mark Bevir.
•
Civil
Service Establishment Code (ESTACODE).
BASIC CONCEPTS OF GOVERNANCE
1
BASIC CONCEPTS OF GOVERNANCE
Origin of the word Governance:
•
The
concept of governance is as old as human civilization.
•
The
word governance has been derived from the Greek verb κυβερνάω [kubernáo]
which means to steer.
•
Was
used for the first time in a metaphorical (implied) sense by Plato (427-347
B.C.). It then passed on to Latin and then on to many languages.
•
Plato
in his book “The Republic” has put forward the idea of philosopher king.
•
Plato
advocated, “political partnership must be regarded as being for the sake of
noble actions, not for the sake of living together”.
•
But
much before that the Chinese philosopher, Confucius (551-479 B.C) had
advocated the idea of good government and governance.
•
His
thought and ideas have influenced the Chinese administration and governance for
centuries.
•
Confucius philosophy of governance
is based on the principles of personal morality and on the concept of good
government.
•
In
ancient times Chinese scholars often loved to say, “Half of Analects of
Confucius is enough to govern the whole country”.
Confucius Thoughts on Governance:
•
Be Upright:
“To govern is to be
upright. Who dares not to be upright if you yourself are upright”.
“Why should a ruler
have any difficulty in administrating a country if he himself is upright? How
could a ruler correct others if he himself is not upright”.
•
Be Fair and Just:
“A man may be said
to be true gentleman only if he takes fairness as his basic life principle,
observes the rites in his behaviour, speaks with modesty, and acts with
earnestly”.
•
keep promises:
“He who is broad
wins the multitudes, he who keeps his words is trusted by the people, he who is
diligent succeeds in all he undertakes, he who is just is the joy (of the
people)”.
•
People follow the Ruler’s conduct:
“Goodness is
something that must have its source in the ruler himself; it cannot be got from
others”.
“The ruler is like
the wind, the common people are like the grass. Whichever way the wind blows,
the grass cannot help but bend”.
•
Retain the Trust of People:
Duke Ai once asked
the great Master, “What can I do in order to get the support of the common
people?”
The Master replied,
“If you raise up the straight and set them on top of the crooked, the commoners
will support you. But if you raise the crooked and set them on top of the
straight, the commoners will not support you”.
•
Promote Righteous People:
Duke Ai asked
Confucius, “How can I make my people obedient to me?” Confucius replied,
“People will obey you if you promote righteous men and suppress evil men. And
they will disobey you if you do the contrary”.
“ A gentleman does
not promote a man whose words are pleasant to his ear, neither does he disdain
his correct words for he is an unpleasant man”.
•
Do not impose upon others what you do not desire yourself.
•
Enrich the people.
•
Do not take the lives of people to Govern:
•
Set personal example:
•
Freedom of expression:
“You may rob the
Three Armies of their commander-in-chief, but you cannot deprive the humblest
peasant of his opinion”.
•
Knowing your men well is wisdom.
“Good ruler loves
men”.
“Wise ruler knows
men”.
•
Have honest living:
Confucius said, “ I
would pursue wealth so long as it could be obtained legitimately, even by being
a common cart driver”.
“There is happiness
in eating coarse food, drinking cold water and sleeping on the floor. Ill-
gotten wealth and rank are just fleeting clouds to me”.
Plato’s Idea of Political Partnership:
•
Plato
in his book “The Republic” has put forward the idea of philosopher king.
•
Plato
advocated, “political partnership must be regarded as being for the sake of
noble actions, not for the sake of living together”.
BASIC CONCEPTS OF GOVERNANCE
Government and Governance:
- Government:
The purpose for which the people live together cannot be realized unless they
are properly organized and subject themselves to certain rules of behavior. The
agency created for this purpose is called government.
- Governance:
•
Governance
is ‘the action of or manner of governing’. It is the process of
decision-making and the process by which decisions are implemented (or not
implemented).
•
Governance
is based on the manner in which a power is exercised by the government to
manage the state’s social and economic resources.
•
It
can also be said that it is the art of governing, art of ruling, or art of
using power and authority.
•
Governance is
the act of governing. It relates to
decisions
that define expectations, grant power, and verify performance.
Consists of either a separate process or part of management or
leadership processes. These processes and systems are typically administered by
a government.
To distinguish the term governance from
government:
•
“Governance"
is what a “Government" does. It might be a
geo-political government (nation-state), a corporate government (business
entity), a socio-political government (tribe, family etc.), or any number of
different kinds of government.
•
Governance is the physical exercise or management of power and policy, while government is
the instrument (usually collective) that does it.
Governance and Institutionalism:
•
From
an institutional perspective, governance is about affecting
“the frameworks
within which citizens and officials act and politics occurs, and which shape
the identities and institutions of civil society (March and Olsen,
1995).
•
A
broad institutional definition of governance thus refers to governance
as:
“the setting of
rules, the application of the rules, and the enforcement of rules”.
•
Government one of the players in governance:
Others involved in
governance include:
•
National level,
may include:
media,
lobbyists,
international
donors,
multi-national
corporations and others.
•
Urban areas,
may include:
urban elite,
decision-makers at
different levels,
small scale
entrepreneurs,
trade unions and so
on.
•
Rural areas:
local powerful
families may influence decision-making.
•
Such informal decision-making agencies are often the result of corrupt
practices or lead to corrupt practices.
Political Governance Requires Restraint of Power
•
Restraints established by law and imposed on power-holder to ensure that
citizens’ rights are
not being transgressed.
•
Restraint
imposed by Constitution providing check and balance to keep power from
being abused.
•
Division
and separation of power, provides a system of restraints upon coercive state
action.
BASIC CONCEPTS OF GOVERNANCE
•
Definitions of Governance:
•
“Governance
is the institutional capacity of public organizations to provide the public
and other goods demanded by a country’s citizens or their representatives in an
affective, transparent, impartial, and accountable manner, subject to resource
constraints” (World Bank, 2000).
•
United Nations Development Program has defined ‘Governance’ as:
“the rules of the
political system to solve conflicts between actors and adopt decisions (legality),
proper functioning
of institutions and their acceptance by the public" (legitimacy),
and
invoking the
efficacy (effectiveness) of government and the achievement of consensus by
democratic means (participation)”.
•
“Governance
refers to self-organizing, inter-organizational network characterized by
interdependence, resource exchange, rules of the game, and significant autonomy
from the State”. (Rhodes, 1997).
•
“Governance
is the stewardship of formal and informal political rules of the game.
Governance refers to those measures that involve setting the rules for the
exercise of power and settling conflicts over such rules”. (Hyden 1999)
•
Global
governance is conceived to include systems of rule at all levels of human
activity – from the family to international organizations – in which the
pursuit of goals through the exercise of control has transnational
repercussions. (Rosenau, 1995).
•
Definitions of Good Governance:
•
Jeffries Richard:
“ good governance is
equivalent to purposive and development oriented administration, which is
committed to improvement of quality of life of people without being necessarily democratic in
style”.
•
Kenneth Stowe
set out six characteristics of good governance:-
1. Political
freedom including free speech and freely
elected
parliament.
2. Constitutional
and judicial protection of the rights
of individuals.
3. Sustenance of
rule of law by an independent
judiciary.
4. Sustenance of
economic and social development.
5. Development of
society as a whole through
education.
6. Executive
accountability to a freely elected
legislature.
PARAMETERS OF GOOD GOVERNANCE
United Nations:
United Nations
emphasizes reform through human development and political institutions.
According to the UN, good governance has eight characteristics:
•
Consensus
Oriented.
•
Participatory.
•
Following
the Rule law.
•
Effective
and Efficient.
•
Accountable.
•
Transparent.
•
Responsive.
•
Equitable
and Inclusive.
United Nations Development Programme:
•
Participation:
Involvement of entire society in
governance.
•
Rule of Law:
Based on equity and non-discrimination.
•
Transparency:
- Built on the free
flow of information.
- Transactions made
transparently and under-hand methods are not used.
- Public can
monitor and check the accounts of the
government.
•
Responsiveness:
Institutions and processes serve all stakeholders.
•
Consensus Oriented:
- broad consensus on
what is in the best interest of the whole society,
- how this can be
achieved, and
- where possible, on
policies and procedures.
•
Equity:
- Fairness,
impartiality, even handed dealings with the governed. M
- Men and women have
opportunities to improve or maintain their well being.
•
Effectiveness and efficiency:
- Processes and
institutions produce results that meet needs while making best use of
resources.
- Minimum input;
best possible output.
•
Accountability:
politicians and
officials are answerable for their actions to the public, as well as
institutional stakeholders.
•
Strategic Vision:
- Leaders and the
public have a broad and long-term perspective on good governance and human
development,
- along with a
sense of what is needed for such development.
World Bank:
•
World Bank Report 1989:
Good governance was
conceived as “a public service that is efficient, a judicial system that is
reliable and an administration that is accountable to the people.
•
World Bank Report 1992: Added new dimensions:
a. Public sector
management.
b. Accountability.
c. Legal frame
work for development and,
d. Executive
accountability to a freely elected
government.
•
World Bank Report 1994:
Stresses role of
bureaucracy and says good governance is “…
- epitomized by predictable,
open and enlightened policy making;
- a bureaucracy
imbued with a professional ethos (attitudes, beliefs); an executive arm
of government accountable for its actions; and
- a strong civil
society participating in public affairs; and
- all behaving
under the rule of law.”
(World Bank
1994: Governance: The World Bank’s Experience).
•
World Bank Report 1997:
Mechanisms for
assuring good governance have three key elements:
Internal rules
and restraints (for
example, internal accounting and auditing systems, independence of the
judiciary and the central bank, civil service and budgeting rules);
“Voice” and
partnership (for
example, public-private deliberation councils, and service delivery surveys to
solicit client feedback); and
Competition (for example, competitive
social service delivery, private participation in infrastructure, alternative
dispute resolution mechanisms, and outright privatization of certain
market-driven activities).
International Monetary Fund (IMF):
•
Ensuring
the rule of law,
•
Improving the efficiency and accountability of the public sector, and
•
Tackling corruption, as essential elements of a framework within which economies can
prosper.
•
Corruption within economies is caused by ineffective governance of the
economy, either too
much regulation or too little regulation.
•
To
receive loans from the IMF, countries must have, in place, good governance
policies, as determined by the IMF.
Asian Development Bank (ADB):
The Governance
dimensions laid by ADB are no different. These are:
•
Accountability
•
Participation
•
Predictability
•
Transparency
INDICATORS OF POOR GOVENANCE
•
Arbitrary
policy making.
•
Unaccountable
rulers.
•
Unjust
legal system.
•
Abuse
of executive power.
•
Wide
spread bribery and jobbery. Corruption, now, is perceived as including not only
fraud that is, using dishonest means and
committing illegal acts for
the purpose of
financial gain but also abuse of authority and waste as well.
•
No
rule of law.
•
Irresponsible
government.
•
Incompetent
civil service.
•
Closed
administrative system.
•
Poor
economic conditions.
•
Restrained
relations between the rulers and ruled.
- Poor governance
undermines efforts to improve decision making and socio-economic development.
- Poor governance
stalls growth and development.
Devolution of Power and Good Governance
Devolution of power
means to devolve the power from centre or region and distribute it into small
administrative units. The system of local government has following objectives:-
•
To
devolve administrative authority at gross root level so that the decisions are
made at those levels.
•
Make
decisions and perform assigned tasks in transparent manner.
•
To
improve the administration by decentralizing the authority at local level and
provide service without delay.
•
Participation
of the people in decision making.
•
To
eliminate the urban and rural divide.
•
To
allow representation without gender discrimination.
Remedial Steps
for Good Governance
•
Abolition
of feudal system.
•
Change
in the attitudes of politicians.
•
Change
in the attitude of all forms of bureaucracy.
•
Good
accountability system.
•
Pays
and allowance commensurate with decent living.
•
Post
retirement security of housing and pension.
•
Rule
of Law.
MEASURING GOVERNANCE
It is to assess and
measure the quality of governance of countries all around the world.
•
External assessments: Examples of
external assessments may be donor assessments or comparative indices
produced by international non-governmental organizations.
•
Peer Assessments: An example of a peer assessment may be the African Peer Review
Mechanism. African Peer Review Mechanism is a mutually agreed program,
voluntarily adopted by the member states of the African Union, to promote and
re-enforce high standards of governance.
•
Self-Assessments. Examples of self-assessments may be Country-led Assessment
that can be led by Government, civil society, researchers and/or other
stakeholders at the national level.
•
Measuring Governance - WGS:
The World Governance
Survey (WGS), based at the UN University, is split into six sub-components.
•
Rules
that shape the way citizens raise and become aware of public issues (civil society).
•
Rules
that shape the way issues are combined into policy by political institutions
(political society).
•
Rules
that shape the way policies are made by government institutions (government).
•
Rules
that shape the way policies are administered and implemented by public servants
(bureaucracy).
•
Rules
that shape the way state and market interact to promote development (economic
society).
•
Rules
that shape the setting for resolution of disputes and conflicts (judiciary).
- Each sub-components
is measured by five questions in a comprehensive questionnaire. For example, an
indicator of civil society would be the question ‘To what extent do citizens
have freedom of expression?’.
•
The
range of answer goes from very low to very high.
•
The
questionnaire is answered by 35 well informed persons who are asked to evaluate
their country’s performance on each dimension,
•
both
five years ago and at the present time.
•
The
governance survey aims to give a picture of the quality of governance in a
country over five year period.
•
can
also be used to compare countries.
•
Measuring
Governance – World Bank:
- World Governance
Indicators project, has been sponsored by members of the World Bank and
the World Bank Institute. The project reports aggregate individual
indicators for more than 200 countries for six dimensions of governance:
•
voice
and accountability,
•
political
stability and lack of violence,
•
government
effectiveness,
•
regulatory
quality,
•
rule
of law, and
•
control
of corruption.
- Based on information gathered from:
•
country’s
own citizens,
•
business
people and
•
public
sector workers
- Diagnoses governance
vulnerabilities and
- Suggests concrete
approaches for fighting corruption.
•
Transparency International (TI):
- TI is a
international non-governmental organization. A global civil society
organization leading the fight against corruption
- founded in May 1993
through the initiative of Peter Eigen, a former regional director
for the World Bank.
- Its headquarters is
located in Berlin, Germany but operates through
more than 100 national chapters.
- monitors and
publicizes corporate and political corruption in
international development.
- It brings people
together in a powerful worldwide coalition to end the devastating impact of
corruption on men, women and children around the world.
- Its mission is to
create change towards a world free of corruption.
- Biggest success has been to put the topic of corruption on
the world's agenda. International Institutions such as the World
Bank and the International Monetary Fund now view corruption as
one of the main obstacles for development, whereas prior to the 1990s this
topic was not broadly discussed.
- It has played a
vital role in the introduction of the United Nations Convention against
Corruption and the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention.
- publishes an annual Corruption Perceptions Index, a
comparative listing of corruption worldwide.
- In 1995, Transparency International developed
the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI).
•
Ranks
nations on the prevalence of corruption within each country,
•
based
upon surveys of business people.
•
It
is criticized for poor methodology and unfair treatment of developing nations,
•
while
it is also being praised for highlighting corruption and embarrassing
governments.
•
Corruption
Perception Index (CPI) defines corruption as “misuse of power for private
benefit”.
•
-
In 1999, Transparency International began publishing the Bribe Payers Index (BPI)
which ranks nations according to the prevalence that a country's multinational
corporations would offer bribes.
•
- It also publishes an annual Global
Corruption Report which is a Global Corruption Barometer.
•
•
Global and Sectoral perspective on Corruption: (source Global Corruption Barometer
2010)
- Political
parties 79
- Public official /
Civil servants 62
- Parliament /
Legislature 60
- Police 58
- Business and Private
Sector 51
- Religious
Bodies 50
- Judiciary 43
- Media 40
- Education
system 38
- NGO’s 30
- Military 30
•
Corruption
Perceptions Index:
•
provides
several surveys and indices:
- The corruption
perception index (CPI),
- The global
corruption barometer,
- The bribe payers index, and
- The revenue
watch index,
•
draws
on 13 different surveys and assessments from 10 independent institutions. The
institutions are:
- African Development Fund,
- Asian Development Fund,
- The Bertelsmann Foundation,
- The Economist Intelligence Unit,
- Freedom House,
- Global Insight,
- International Institute of Management Development,
- Political and Economic Risk Consultancy.
•
13
survey assessments are either business people opinion surveys or performance assessment
from a group of analysts, both in and outside the countries they are analyzing,
their perceptions of how corrupt a country is.
•
Countries
are assessed by at least three sources to appear in the CPI.
•
Reliance
is not placed on the number of actual corruption cases as laws and enforcement
of laws differ significantly from country to country.
•
As
of 2010, the CPI ranks 182 countries "on a scale from 10 (very clean) to 0
(highly corrupt)."
•
The
Index, is based on expert assessments covering issues such as:
(i) access to information,
(ii) bribery of public officials,
(iii) kickbacks in public procurement, and
(iv) the enforcement of anti-corruption laws.
•
Worldwide
Corruption Perceptions ranking of countries published by Transparency
International in 2011 ranks New Zealand as no 1 i.e. the most corruption free
country and Somalia as the most corrupt
out of 182 countries surveyed.
|
Rank
2011
|
Country
|
2011
|
2010
|
2009
|
2008
|
2007
|
|
1
|
New Zealand
|
9.5
|
9.3
|
9.4
|
9.3
|
9.4
|
|
5
|
Singapore
|
9.2
|
9.3
|
9.2
|
9.2
|
9.3
|
|
6
|
Norway
|
9.0
|
8.6
|
8.6
|
7.9
|
8.7
|
|
12
|
Hong
Kong
|
8.4
|
8.4
|
8.2
|
8.1
|
8.3
|
|
14
|
Japan
|
8.0
|
7.8
|
7.7
|
7.3
|
7.5
|
|
16
|
U.K.
|
7.8
|
7.6
|
7.7
|
7.7
|
8.4
|
|
22
|
Qatar
|
7.2
|
7.7
|
7.0
|
6.5
|
6.0
|
|
24
|
U.S.A.
|
7.1
|
7.1
|
7.5
|
7.3
|
7.2
|
|
Rank
2011
|
Country
|
2011
|
2010
|
2009
|
2008
|
2007
|
|
28
|
U.A.E
|
6.8
|
6.3
|
6.5
|
5.9
|
5.7
|
|
32
|
Taiwan
|
6.1
|
5.8
|
5.6
|
5.7
|
5.7
|
|
43
|
S.
Korea
|
5.4
|
5.4
|
5.5
|
5.6
|
5.1
|
|
60
|
Malaysia
|
4.3
|
4.4
|
4.5
|
5.1
|
5.1
|
|
61
|
Turkey
|
4.2
|
4.4
|
4.4
|
4.6
|
4.1
|
|
75
|
China
|
3.6
|
3.5
|
3.6
|
3.6
|
3.5
|
|
80
|
Thailand
|
3.4
|
3.5
|
3.4
|
3.5
|
3.3
|
|
95
|
India
|
3.1
|
3.3
|
3.4
|
3.4
|
3.5
|
|
Rank
2011
|
Country
|
2011
|
2010
|
2009
|
2008
|
2007
|
|
100
|
Indonesia
|
3.0
|
2.8
|
2.8
|
2.6
|
2.3
|
|
120
|
Bangladesh
|
2.7
|
2.4
|
2.1
|
2.0
|
2.0
|
|
120
|
Iran
|
2.7
|
2.2
|
2.3
|
2.5
|
2.7
|
|
134
|
Pakistan
|
2.5
|
2.3
|
2.5
|
2.4
|
2.2
|
|
143
|
Russia
|
2.4
|
2.1
|
2.1
|
2.1
|
2.5
|
|
175
|
Iraq
|
1.8
|
1.5
|
1.3
|
1.5
|
1.9
|
|
180
|
Afghanistan
|
1.5
|
1.4
|
1.5
|
1.8
|
-
|
|
182
|
Somalia
|
1.0
|
1.1
|
1.0
|
1.4
|
-
|
