Green House Effect
2. Good governance
– the concept
In the last twenty years, the concepts of
“governance” and “good governance” have become widely used in both the academic and donor communities. These two traditions have dissimilar conceptualisations. First, there is the academic approach, which focuses mainly on the study of the different ways in which power and authority relations are structured in a given society. Second, there is the donor community’s approach, which puts emphasis on the role state structures play in ensuring social, economic and policy equity and accountability through open policy processes.
11
G o o d G o v e r n a n c e i n M u lt i e t h n i c C o m m u n i t i e s
2.1
What is good governance?
According to the academic approach, the generic understanding of governance is the management of resources and policy-making by means of exercising authority (power). Thus, it entails all instruments through which different policy stakeholders exercise legal rights with the aim to achieve political, economic, cultural and social objectives. In this sense, the term “governance” appears to be more and more used in order to denote a complex set of structures and processes (at the public as well as at the private level), which are generally associated with national administration.
However, its definitions offer a rather broad horizon of interpretation: wherever we can find this term, its definition varies slightly. For instance, in
strengthen good governance in any society. The most often enlisted principles include: participation, rule of law, transparency of decisionmaking or openness, accountability, predictability or coherence, and effectiveness. The international donor community generally shares the view that these principles stand at the foundation of sustainable development.
The first characteristic refers to equal participation by all members of society as the key element of good governance, with everyone having a role
– the concept
In the last twenty years, the concepts of
“governance” and “good governance” have become widely used in both the academic and donor communities. These two traditions have dissimilar conceptualisations. First, there is the academic approach, which focuses mainly on the study of the different ways in which power and authority relations are structured in a given society. Second, there is the donor community’s approach, which puts emphasis on the role state structures play in ensuring social, economic and policy equity and accountability through open policy processes.
11
G o o d G o v e r n a n c e i n M u lt i e t h n i c C o m m u n i t i e s
2.1
What is good governance?
According to the academic approach, the generic understanding of governance is the management of resources and policy-making by means of exercising authority (power). Thus, it entails all instruments through which different policy stakeholders exercise legal rights with the aim to achieve political, economic, cultural and social objectives. In this sense, the term “governance” appears to be more and more used in order to denote a complex set of structures and processes (at the public as well as at the private level), which are generally associated with national administration.
However, its definitions offer a rather broad horizon of interpretation: wherever we can find this term, its definition varies slightly. For instance, in
strengthen good governance in any society. The most often enlisted principles include: participation, rule of law, transparency of decisionmaking or openness, accountability, predictability or coherence, and effectiveness. The international donor community generally shares the view that these principles stand at the foundation of sustainable development.
The first characteristic refers to equal participation by all members of society as the key element of good governance, with everyone having a role