Overview

Good governance is a concept that has come into regular use in political science, public administration and, more particularly, development management. It appears alongside such terms such as democracy, civil society, participation, human rights and sustainable development. In the last decade, it has been closely associated with the public sector reform.

Good governance has 8 major characteristics. It is participatory, consensus oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive and follows the rule of law. It assures that corruption is minimized, the views of minorities are taken into account and that the voices of the most vulnerable in society are heard in decision-making. (OECD, 2001). This definition of good governance is taken from an OECD e-book entitled Citizens as Partners - Information, Consultation and Public Participation in Policy-Making.

The World Bank defines governance ‘as the exercise of political authority and the use of institutional resources to manage society’s problems and affairs’.

According to Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary-General, "good governance is perhaps the single most important factor in eradicating poverty and promoting development."

‘…..of all the ills that kill the poor, none is as lethal as bad government.’ The Economist, 1999

According to the IMF the term governance, as generally used, encompasses all aspects of the way a country is governed, including its economic policies and regulatory framework.

Corruption is a narrower concept, which is often defined as the abuse of public authority or trust for private benefit. The two concepts are closely linked: an environment characterized by poor governance offers greater incentives and more scope for corruption.

Many of the causes of corruption are economic in nature, and so are its consequences—poor governance clearly is detrimental to economic activity and welfare. Because of their economic nature, issues related to governance and corruption often fall directly within the mandate and expertise of the IMF.

Millennium Development Goal 8 : Develop a global partnership for development - includes a commitment to good governance, development and poverty reduction— nationally and internationally

Sources of Information

Irish Aid and Governance While poverty is the core focus of the Irish Aid programme, the concern with issues of governance  has, in recent years, developed to the point where it is increasingly the main cross-cutting issue.

Governance & Anti-Corruption - The World Bank Institutes governance programme supports countries in improving governance and controlling corruption.

The DAC Working Party on Aid Effectiveness was set up in May 2003 in the context of the international consensus reached at Monterrey on the actions needed to promote a global partnership for development and accelerate progress towards the Millennium Development Goals.

A UN discussion paper on Governance and Development discusses the concept of governance in the international development debate over the past ten years. 

World Governance Assessment The WGA in the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) is a global, collaborative effort to improve the assessment and analysis of governance.

A number of studies have examined the extent to which political freedom, economic freedom and economic growth are positively correlated with each other. Nobel prize-winning development economist Amartya Sen has been a strong advocate of greater personal freedom in the developing world.

Sen has remarked that life expectancy has increased three times faster in democratic India than in China despite the latter’s faster economic growth. In 1979, China and the Indian state on Kerala both had exactly the same infant mortality rates - 37 per 1,000. By 2004, the Chinese had cut that down from 37 to 30, in Kerala the infant mortality rate came down from 37 to 10. Sen said Kerala’s multi-party democratic system was an important factor explaining the difference.

Other studies have suggested that democracies experience fewer conflicts. A recent OECD policy document, Politics in Africa in 2006: Fewer Bullets, More Ballots? [pdf], points to progress towards participative democracy in Africa and states that armed conflicts are diminishing.

A selection of papers available on the GRC website:

1. Striving for Good Governance in Africa: Synopsis of the 2005 African Governance Report
   Author: United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (2005)  This report is a synopsis of the Economic Commission for Africa’s (ECA) African Governance Report that aims to ascertain public perceptions of the state of governance in the region. It highlights the pressing need for the implementation of a bold and innovative programme to develop Africa’s governance capacity.
   
2. Good Governance, Institutional Reform, and Poverty Reduction in Africa
   Author: B Campbell (2004) This essay, from the University of Quebec in Montreal, focuses on the World Bank's (WB) commitment to poverty reduction over the last five years and charts the increasingly tied nature of access to multilateral funds.
3. Governance Matters
   Author: D Kaufmann, A Kraay and P Zoido-Lobaton (1999) This World Bank study takes a cross-section of over 150 countries. The research has created a database containing more than 300 governance indicators measuring various aspects of the political process, civil liberties and political rights. The analysis clearly indicates that there is a large pay off in terms of per capita income to improvements in governance. In other words, governance does matter.
4. Getting Systems Right: Governance and Capacity-Building
   Author: The Commission for Africa (2005) This report from the Commission for Africa proposes policies to improve the capacity and accountability of governments in Africa.
5. Making Sense of Governance: Empirical Evidence from 16 Developing Countries
   Author: G Hyden (2004) This book uses a comprehensive framework and new data set collected in sixteen developing and transitional countries to analyse the relationship between democracy and development. It takes a holistic view of governance incorporating each area of the political process and finds that good governance is not necessarily confined to countries with a liberal democratic regime.
6. Progressive Realism: Improving Governance in the Global South
   Author: M Moore (2002) The Institute of Development Studies (IDS) paper warns against ignoring good governance in the South. The consequences of doing this could be that large areas of the South will be taxed by gangs, warlords, smugglers and guerrillas rather than legitimate governments; civil conflicts will be rife; and public servants will be recruited and promoted according to personal and political connections rather than merit.

A briefing paper by the ODI on Governance, Development and Aid Effectiveness: A Quick Guide to Complex Relationships provides a synthesis of the thinking on governance, development and aid effectiveness. It addresses questions such as what exactly is ’good governance? When, why and how do governance issues make a difference to the way countries develop? What are the priorities for poor countries? Why does governance matter for aid effectiveness and what can donors do?

The Centre for the Future State was established at IDS in August 2000, to provide critical and practical understanding of issues relating to governance and public authority in developing countries.

Governance and Development Review - Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex