Good enough governance revisited (original) (raw)
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Yönetim ve ekonomi araştırmaları dergisi, 2022
The role of the state in development has undergone substantial changes under the influence of the New Institutional Economics. The new school, which grounds the emergence of the state as an institution on rational individual behaviors, assumes that the developmental state is not intervening and restricting but coordinating and developing. Influencing neo-liberal development economists, this view also holds that the complementarities are key between the state, market, and civil society, which shines out the goal of good governance more and more. However, the goal that includes comprehensive institutional reforms is far from being realistic and feasible for developing countries. These countries with limited resources need to rely on the improvement of institutional capacity while implementing economic development policies, considering diverse development stages and unique institution compositions. The present paper addresses the "good enough governance" and "just enough governance" approaches that emerge with the understanding of an effective state in economic development and are shaped around good governance but develop a critical perspective. In this respect, the study explores the significance of organizing the institutional reforms according to the states' existing institutional capacities and development levels, as well as determining the priorities transparently in the development process.
Good Governance as a Concept, and Why This Matters for Development Policy
2012
Almost all major development institutions today say that promoting good governance is an important part of their agendas. Despite this consensus, 'good governance' is an extremely elusive objective: it means different things to different organizations and to different actors within these organizations. This study provides a review of donor approaches and discusses good governance as a concept. While methodological discussions are often esoteric, the study argues that this one has real world relevance to development policy because donor agencies regularly measure and assess the quality of governance, condition assistance on these measurements, seek to design evidence-based policies, and justify their focus on good governance partly on the basis of claims that better governance promotes economic development. The weakness of the good governance concept calls into question each of these projects. Future work would do well to disaggregate the concept of good governance and refocus attention and analysis on its various disaggregated components, as defined here (e.g., democracy, the rule of law, efficient public management).
Research and Analysis Journal , 2018
This paper revisits the main arguments on the role of ̳good governance‘ in facilitating economic development. It observes that there are some examples in which neoliberal ̳good governance‘ played a role in facilitating economic development but there are many other examples in which countries attained some level of economic development with governance institutions that were bereft of much 'good governance‘ elements. Thus, it concludes that 'good governance‘ is not an essential pre-requisite for development but it might play some role in facilitating development. The paper argues against the dominant 'one-size-fits-all‘ approach to good governance and support 'good enough governance‘, that encourage reforms to be questioned, prioritised, and made relevant to the conditions of individual countries.
Good enough governance: poverty reduction and reform in developing countries
Governance-an International Journal of Policy Administration and Institutions, 2004
The good governance agenda is unrealistically long and growing longer over time. Among the multitude of governance reforms that "must be done" to encourage development and reduce poverty, there is little guidance about what's essential and what's not, what should come first and what should follow, what can be achieved in the short term and what can only be achieved over the longer term, what is feasible and what is not. If more attention is given to sorting out these questions, "good enough governance" may become a more realistic goal for many countries faced with the goal of reducing poverty. Working toward good enough governance means accepting a more nuanced understanding of the evolution of institutions and government capabilities; being explicit about trade-offs and priorities in a world in which all good things cannot be pursued at once; learning about what's working rather than focusing solely on governance gaps; taking the role of government in poverty alleviation seriously; and grounding action in the contextual realities of each country.
Good Governance: A Pillar to National Development
International Journal of Research Publication and Reviews, 2024
Overview: Good governance is essential for national development, serving as a fundamental pillar that supports economic growth, social progress, and sustainable development. It involves the implementation of policies that promote inclusiveness, the rule of law, and participatory decision-making processes. Body of Knowledge: Inclusive governance ensures that all segments of society, including marginalized groups, have a voice in decision-making processes, promoting social equity and reducing disparities. Moreover, good governance creates the foundation for robust economic development, social harmony, and enhanced quality of life, driving a nation towards comprehensive progress. Methods: The study adopted a mixed methods approach combining quantitative and qualitative data. The study was conducted in Lusaka district, the capital city of Zambia at 6 institutions; 3 belonging to government and 3 under private sector. The target population was 1000, with a sample size of 100; involving government officials and administrators, members from Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), and the general citizens. Interviews and questionnaires were used to collect data. The study used descriptive analysis to analyze the data. Results: Effective governance promotes efficient public service delivery, reduces corruption, and enhances the equitable distribution of resources, enabling a conducive environment for businesses and investments. Additionally, good governance supports the creation of robust legal and institutional frameworks that uphold human rights and justice, contributing to a secure and predictable socio-political landscape.
Governance matters have been an integral part of societies since the dawn of civilisation, and especially so with respect to what values, ethics and rules of conduct and justice should be upheld, how societies should be organised, and who should hold power and authority. Ancient scriptures, which typically cast a wide net, were the first to address such matters. over the centuries, a very long list of philosophers -including, Confucius, Kautilya, Aristotle, rousseau, Adam Smith and Karl marx -have also left their mark on the subject. However, this paper focuses on governance and development since 1991 -when the Soviet Union collapsed and communism with it -as it marked an important opportunity for departure from the status quo.
The increasing realisation that governance quality is a fundamental element of longrun development has led to its consideration as a desirable development goal in its own right. To contribute to such a process, this paper provides a framework to set, measure and monitor governance goals in the Post-2015 Development Agenda. First, we assess whether existing cross-national measures on governance quality can be exploited to routinely capture aspects of legal, bureaucratic and administrative quality. Such a "quick fix" approach to measuring governance quality is fraught with challenges. The current practice of measurement is still subject to the short country coverage of most available measures, issues of comparability and legitimacy, as well as methodological shortcomings. Then, we argue that, in the long run, measuring and monitoring governance quality may require reconceptualising "good governance" and designing internationally shared measures that are routinely provided by national statistical offices. Finally, we consider the different approaches to setting governance goals, arguing in favour of a combination of national target setting and minimum standard with continuous improvement.