Editorial Page
Good governance is an ideal difficult to achieve
By Zannatul Ferdous Moon
Mon, 28 May 2007, 13:18:00

The terms 'Governance' and 'Good Governance' are being increasingly used in development literature. GOVERNANCE nowadays turned into a central emerging discourse of development in Bangladesh like in other parts of the developing world. It has been around 35 years of independence of Bangladesh, but poverty sill remains a big challenge for us. After the independence, we received billions of dollars through both the government and non-government channels, but the result was not significant. Alternative development approaches and strategies have been frequently imposed and changed by the aid partners and still continuing in search of a better solution. Perhaps the core of the crisis lies in finding out a governance procedure that will be good enough for Bangladesh to fight against all types of arbitrary and fuzzy mass management. It also must be pro-people, responsive, accountable, transparent and efficient. Otherwise, the rule of law cannot be established and corruption will strongly exist and prolong in the society. Still now Bangladesh is reeling under the poverty . Lack of political commitment and governance failure are the major reasons for this situation. But it is really a hard job to have a new brand of governance paradigm, especially from the view point of poor people, and make a synopsis of their judgments.

Actually what is meant by governance? Let's go deep into the matter. There is no doubt that today governance has become the focal discourse of contemporary development and got serious attention from development practitioners, policymakers, policy analysts and international development agencies both in Bangladesh and across the globe. Though its importance has got universal acceptance, it is not defined in a uniform way by the theoreticians and practitioners. Even, there is no widely accepted single definition of governance itself.

In simple wording, governance refers to 'the process of decision making and the process by which decisions are implemented (or not implemented)'. In its broader perspective governance involves actions of publicly vested authorities. However, the concern of all and any governance analyses moves around three fundamental questions: What, How and How well.

The concept of governance is not new. It is as old as of social life human civilization. When humans started to live in the society or social life the concept started. There was no social system in the world when governance was not implemented, either good or bad. After much change in the course of time, we have got the present figure of governance. An analysis of governance focuses on the formal and informal factors involved in decision making and implementing the decisions made and the formal and informal structures that have been set in place.

Government is one of the factors in governance. Other factors involved in governance vary depending on the level of government that is under discussion. At the national level, can be added the media, lobbyists, international donors, multinationals corporations etc. These all may play a role in decision making or influencing the decision making process.

The relationship between good governance and democracy could be seen in a linear way. However, democracy not only makes a difference, but it would also be the basic ingredient and major prerequisite for all other items included in the core characteristics of good governance. All factors other than government and the military are grouped together as part of the civil society.

Good governance accomplishes public institutions, conducts public affairs, manages public resource, and guarantees the realization of human rights in a manner essentially free of abuse and corruption and with due regard for the rule of law. The true test of good governance is the degree to which it delivers on the promise of human rights: civil, cultural, economic, political and social. Now the question is that if the institutions of government are effectively guaranteeing the right's to healthcare, adequate housing, sufficient food, quality education, fair justice and personal and social security.

Good Governance consists of 8 major characteristics. These are:

Participation

Rule of Law

Transparency

Consensus

Equity and Inclusiveness

Effectiveness and Efficiency

Responsiveness

and Accountability

These criteria assure that:

Corruption is minimized

The views of minorities are taken into account

The voice of the most vulnerable in society is heard in decision making

It is also responsive to the present and future needs of society.

Participation

A key cornerstone of good governance is participation by both men and women.

Participation needs to be informed and organized.

Involving all groups of stakeholders and taking into due consideration their opinions.

It could be either direct or through legitimate intermediate institutions or representatives.

Rule of law

Good governance requires fair legal frameworks that are enforced impartially

Most important point is full protection of human rights particularly those of minorities

Impartial enforcement of laws requires an independent judiciary and an impartial and incorruptible police force.

Transparency

It means that decisions taken and their enforcement are done in a manner that follows rules and regulations

Information flow must be free and directly accessible to those whowill be affected by such decisions and their enforcement. Enough information are provided and that are provided in easily understandable forms and media.

Responsiveness

Good governance requires that institutions and process try to serve all stakeholders within a reasonable timeframe.

Consensus

It requires a broad and long-term perspective on what is needed for sustainable human development and how to achieve the goals of such development.

Good governance requires mediation of different interests to reach a broad consensus in society on what is in the best interest of the whole community and how this can be achieved.

Equity and Inclusiveness

It must ensure that society's all members feel that they all have a stake in it and do not feel excluded from the mainstream of society.

This requires all groups but especially the most vulnerable in society should have opportunity to improve or maintain their wellbeing.

Effectiveness and Efficiency

This meets the needs of society by efficient process and institutions produce result while making the best use of resources at their disposal.

Efficiency also covers the protection of environment and sustainable use of natural resources.

Accountability

Government institutions as well as private sectors must be accountable to the public about their respective acts.

Organizations and institutions have to be concerned about those who will be affected by their decisions or actions.

Accountability has to be imposed on every steps of society.

Before going to the discussion of needed reforms in governance field according to my thought' I would focus on the criteria-wise picture of good governance in Bangladesh.

Participation: yet to avail much

Though participation is a key cornerstone of good governance, in Bangladesh participation of both men and women is not yet equal. In the UN Millennium Report 2006, the Secretary General emphasized that "better governance means greater participation. For Bangladesh participation is important for three basic reasons:

Firstly: Active participation creates an opportunity to get a better picture of the reality on the ground, which greatly helps in project design.

Secondly: Through participation a development agency can gather and knowledge on important issues.

Thirdly: It helps give a sense of ownership of the project to the community, which significantly contributes to sustainability.

It should be necessary to involve all groups of stakeholders and take into due consideration their opinions and views in all stages of project cycle from design through monitoring and evolution. In our country many development projects have been notorious for their 'top-down' approach to designing and lack of genuine willingness to involve the poor in the management of such project.

Rule of law: far behind

In Bangladesh judiciary is not free from bureaucratic dominance and corruption. It is entangled with administration. Now the reform of the judiciary is the most important point of good governance. Nowadays it is like a longstanding demand of the civil society to separate the judiciary from the administration. Judicial system must have a positive impact because it is a way by which the rule of law and justice in the society has to be ensured. If the judicial system is not transparent, it is impossible to maintain human rights, particularly those of the minorities. For maintaining good governance, The rule of law also needs an impartial and incorruptible police force what we still do not have.

Transparency: that has ever remained paperwork

Transparency is a keyword of good governance. Both private and government sectors should be transparent, especially for those who are affected by such decision and their enforcement. Recently, an independent Anti-Corruption Commission has been introduced to prevent corruption. The commission's main target is to ensure transparency. But the commission has failed to fulfill the target because it is dependent on the government for its financial support that may put some pressure on them from the government side.

The President can appoint the head of the commission who is appropriate for it and ensure a good environment by which the commission will work independently without fear and favor. I think transparency should be in every sector of governance such as the rule of law, justice, election commission and work plan what is made by the actors of the governance.

Responsiveness: mere vague term for us

Responsiveness is one of the prime components of good governance. Nowadays it is also a prime concern of development critics, practitioners and of course the general people. Earlier it was discussed on what philosophy a state is formed and on which principle a government runs. The PSR as being representatives of the government and as being the servants of the people take oath to serve the people. This is expected not only because the people just elect or select them. The people also carry the expenses of the PSR and pay taxes beyond their salaries. So both legally and ethically they are bound to serve the people with their best effort.

Consensus Orientedness: rather a fantasy

It is a big question, how much it is possible to arrive at a general consensus for any matter in a country, where illiteracy is widespread; public opinion is easily influenced by the social and political elite. Another big problem is the lack of proper technique and methodology to find out a general agreement.

Equity and Inclusiveness: miles to go

The picture of governance in this criterion is more disappointing. With days passing by common people in Bangladesh are getting more and more unconcerned about state decisions and rather getting to feel themselves helpless only to accept whatever comes in their fate. So people are becoming more and more individualized having very little care for the society in large. When this is the deep-rooted situation of us, we have miles to go to claim a level of equity and inclusiveness.

Effectiveness and Efficiency: ever with a question mark

Though in line with modern time we are getting habituated with technology widely, still we are not overcoming the age-old raggedness and inefficiency. Efficiency is not only at the apparent level of the things; it should be rather in the very act of handling the crises and managing the systems systematically.

Accountability: is it a futile term?

If accountability is found in every sector, transparency also will work. It is very important for our country at this time. It is possible to fight against corruption by implementing a strong accountability system. It is fully helpful to reduce corruption from government bodies and it will definitely help increase economic growth and reduce poverty. The reality is very different from the above written words. In almost all organizations, accountability along the organizational hierarchy exists; although question remains about their effectiveness.

(To be continued)


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