Beyond Government

• Secondly, governance goes beyond government. Governance does not carry the same meaning as government. It encompasses more than the concept of government.
  
  • It includes the role played by non-government institutions, by civil society, the private sector and the mechanisms that sustain public voice, involvement and engagement

Process/outcome-oriented

• Thirdly, governance studies could be focused on the processes, or on the outcomes or a combination of both processes and outcomes.
• There are variations in this aspect amongst scholars, which are explained later on in this chapter.

Governance in relations to government

• One is that governance relates to government, whether it is an effective government, whether it is doing good, and whether it is responsive and accountable to its citizens.
• Therein lies the need to consider in governance studies the type and operation of public institutions and agencies through which the government exercises its functions and delivers public services.

Multi-level concept

• Fourthly, governance could refer to a concept applied at a national level, or at a district/local level or at sectoral level.
  
  • For instance, governance of the healthcare sector could refer to how well that sector was run and how effective the results were.
  • The term corporate governance has also been used for a long time to refer to the governance within the private companies and business sector, with a set of rules and guidelines that they need to adhere to.

influence of governance in service delivery

• Thirdly, government institutions and public bodies deliver public goods and services.
• Governance, especially with its principles of transparency and accountability, ensures that the outcomes are what the public wants and meet their needs.
• It is results that will be derived from the quality of government that is sought after. Without good governance, the policies and programmes may not lead to intended outcomes.
• On the contrary, it may lead to undesirable results such as social inequality, inequitable access to resources and widening income gap.

influence of governance in our economy

• Secondly, our commercial, business and economic activities are also regulated and circumscribed by laws, government rules and regulations.
• These laws and rules seek to provide a set of common understanding and foundation for the transactions and interactions to take place in the business world. There would thus be trust and certainty fostered, enabling commerce and business to flourish.
• Good governance is essential to ensure that this framework is efficient and serves its purpose.

influence of governance in our life

• Firstly, our private lives and social lives are regulated and bounded by laws, government rules and regulations. The phrase from “cradle to grave” aptly refers to the wide-ranging influence that laws and rules will have on our daily lives.
• These laws and rules must be efficiently executed if we want them to provide clarity and direction for us as we go about our lives.
• Good governance ensures the system is working according to its design

International Organisations’ definition of governance

The Worldwide Governance Indicators

Governance during a Crisis

Werlin studies

• According to Werlin, it was the quality of governance which would determine its economic success. Hence, a country which had rich natural resources but weak governance
• From the comparison of countries with poor governance (Jamaica) and courties with good governance (Singapore), the relevant lesson for governance studies are that:
  
  • governance is enhanced when public officials are prepared to listen and be responsive to the people
  • attention is paid by the government to ensure that the bureaucracy is capable of delivering the programmes and changes required of them, and
  • suppression of corruption was also another plus point for strengthening governance.

Rose-Ackerman’s view

• In Rose-Ackerman’s view, good governance refers to all types of institutional government and regulatory structures that promote both good substantive outcomes and public legitimacy.
  .
• Goals: The goals of governance reform are twofold:
  
  • more effective public policies, and
  • processes that are legitimate and accountable to the citizenry
    .
• Applicable to Democratic or authoritarian government
  
  • it does not matter if the jurisdiction in question has a democratic or authoritarian government.
  • regardless of their form of government, good governance is required as there is a need to roll out policies and programmes that will deliver the public good and that would address public concerns.
  • However, by its nature, democratic systems do better in the second goal of addressing public concerns and being accountable to the public. The political system will thus have an impact on the state of governance

Huberts's view

• According to Hubert governance referred to “authoritative policy making on collective problems and interests and implementation of these policies
  .
• Four Elements: There were four elements involved in governance
  
  • Authority - relationship between the governing entity, ie the government, to the collective interests. This authority must be grounded on integrity and ethics if it is to achieve legitimacy
  • Policy making
  • Implementation
  • Collective involvement
    .
• Hubert's system model: Huberts recognised that outcomes were influenced by what went on in policy making and policy implementation. The complete cycle of policy making to policy implementation goes through the input, throughput and output phases leading to the outcomes.
  
  • For this to lead to good quality of outcomes, good governance was necessary.