Good governance and change management: Toolkits for public managers
2005
Centre for Good Governance
Governance refers broadly to how power is exercised through a country’s economic, social, and political institutions to use the country's resources for socio-economic development. The process of governance encompasses the political, social and economic aspects of life which have an impact on each individual, household, village, region or the nation. Governance involves (1) the State, which is responsible for creating a political, legal and economic environment conducive for building individual capabilities and encouraging private initiative; (2) the civil society, which facilitates the mobilisation of public opinion and people’s participation in economic, social and political activities, and (3) the market, which is expected to create opportunities for people. Governance involves all the three actors. Good governance is about promoting healthy interaction between the three for human, social and economic development of a nation with people at the centre.
A useful approach to examine the issues of governance is to view governance as the process of intermediation involving a continuous interplay of three elements, each representing a specific set of deliberate arrangements – Institutions, the Delivery Mechanism and the Supportive and Subordinate Framework of Legislations, Rules, and Procedures.
Institutions - adopted or created arrangements - both formal and informal, to bring about predictability, stability and efficiency in managing the social, economic or political transactions in any society.
The Delivery Mechanism - including the executive apparatus adopted or evolved by the institutions for implementing the agenda and the objectives for which the said institutions have been created.
The Supportive and Subordinate Framework of Legislations, Rules, and Procedures – formulated for delivering and meeting the stated responsibilities of the concerned institutions.
The above broad conceptualization of governance can be applied to study a multitude of development concerns. Problems of poverty and governance are inextricably linked. Weak governance of public institutions, unresponsive systems of public service delivery and inappropriate legal regimes impose particular costs on the poor. In particular, institutional dysfunction deters governments from undertaking actions that benefit the poor.
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