Good Governance and its Implications

Governance, which can be described as the decision-making process and the process through which the decisions are being implemented is utilized frequently in the development literature. Good governance is observed to be the subject of pragmatic and theoretical discourses in the last few decades. It is being widely recognized that the concept of good governance is accountable, legitimate, and effective ways of using and obtaining public resources and power in the pursuit of various accepted social objectives and goals. Good governance is related to institutional and political processes, as well as, outcomes that are deemed crucial and necessary for achieving the objectives of sustainable development (Purohit, 2011). The concept of governance is not new and the perception of governance is observed to be prevalent since the human civilization when the people learned to live in one society or community through the process implementing and making decisions regarding various policies, laws, and rules for living in a harmonious manner in one environment. However, the good governance term has acquired prominence and importance in the context of democratic institutions’ revitalization for ensuring human development, participatory democracy, as well as, attaining the goals and objectives of globalization (Rotberg, 2014).

In recent years, good governance has been strengthened in the developing nations as a main objective and condition for assistance in overall development. It is the conscious and deliberate management of different regime structures to enhance the public realm and can be viewed from political, social, economic, and environmental perspectives. In other words, good governance is considered to be pivotal towards the process of development (Rotberg, 2014). 

Communities are the important part of good governance as they describe certain problems that are incapable of being handled by the individuals alone or by governments and markets. Community governance relies mainly on the dispersed private data/information that is often unavailable to the employers, states, banks, as well as, other formal organizations for applying rewards and punishments to different members as per their conformity or deviation from various social norms. Various aspects of communities are responsible for the unique capacities or capabilities as being governance structures. For instance, the probability that the members of a community who interact today will have interaction in the future times is high, hence, there is an effective incentive for acting in a socially beneficial manner now for avoiding any kind of retaliation in the future (Ishihara & Pascual, 2009). Moreover, communities tend to overcome free-rider issues through its members directly giving punishments to the “anti-social” actions of other individuals. Hence, good governing communities and structure should be part of various public policies that are focused on enhancing various desirable aspects of governance related to community and societal benefits. However, establishing an institutional structure in which markets, communities, and states are mutually enhancing is observed to be a challenging task. For instance, where ill-defined property rights and informal contractual enforcement is important for mutually beneficial exchange, the more defined property rights can result in a reduction of the repeated and multifaceted nature of various interpersonal contacts on which the governance of community is based (Bowles & Gintis, 2002).

Good Governance in Social Consideration

Good governance of culture is mainly composed of two areas, which includes, the new approaches towards formulation, as well as, implementation of various sectoral cultural policies which are inspired by interactive levels between the civil society, state, and the market. Secondly, it is composed of improvements in the supervision and steering of different cultural organizations that lead towards expertly-, efficiently-, transparently-, and independently- operating cultural organizations (Baltà Portolés, ?opi? & Srakar, 2014). Hence, for the development of these policies, the good governance needs a multidisciplinary approach towards the syntax that connects a number of distinct theoretical areas, which ranges from cultural studies to public regulation/administration, political science, organizational theory, sociology, and economics. The concept of good governance is not only limited to demonstration of the power shaping the culture but also demonstrates the way in which culture is shaping the nation’s power. Therefore, cultural governance can be regarded as a concept on cultural management and cultural policy border, and hence, on the border of micro- and macro-oriented views (Bailey, 2013). Culture is related to the good governance and less survival and traditional oriented a country’s culture is, there are more chances that the nation is considered to be well-governed. There should be an effective balance of diversity, independence, knowledge, skills, perspectives, and experience relevant to the society and nation. Further, as the well-being of the nation depends on ensuring that all the residents of the nation do not feel excluded from the societal mainstream on the basis of their different culture, backgrounds, and caste. Hence, good governance in cultural consideration requires inclusiveness and equity of all the cultural groups (Shipley & Kovacs, 2008).     

To encourage improved accountability and better service delivery through the establishment of the benchmark for good governance is of utmost importance. Good governance needs resources and in nations where economic resources are observed to be relatively scarce, provision of good governance might compete or strive hard in meeting the basic requirements, at least for the short term. However, with time, good governance tends to drive the economic development of the nation upward. The quality of the governance differs with country to country due to different levels of each nation’s economic development, the extent of various civil liberties, and range of different political rights (Du Gay, 2002). Economic development is observed to be fundamental parameter determining the success of the good governance. Income per capita is observed to be positively related to the different governance dimensions, however, income is strongly related to the presence of a degree of corruption in the society or nation, the rule or regulations of law, government effectiveness, and regulatory quality. Hence, higher income values are related to the higher corruption control values, i.e., lower perceived corruption levels (Rontos, Syrmali & Vavouras, 2015). Establishment of the appropriate institutional framework to fight corruption should be the main focus of the good governance that will also lead to the economic development of the country.

Good Governance in Cultural Consideration

Good governance is demonstrated as the main element in the development of the economy of the country especially the developing countries due to the fact that the developing nations inherit a limited infrastructure which needs reforming various governance initiatives for speeding up the free market initiatives for raising the production. As the good governance is focused on assuring that there is minimal corruption level, equal participation of both the genders, fair regulatory frameworks, consensus-oriented, and effective utilization of all the resources, it is directly associated with the economic development of the country (Gay, 2002).

The concept of efficiency related to the good governance context is focused on sustainable utilization of natural resources, as well as, the protection of the environment, it promotes environmental sustainability. Effective management of the environment and all of its natural resources are of fundamental importance for the sustainable development and poverty reduction. However, implementation of various environmental measures and legislations is observed to be quite weak in the transitional and developing nations, hence, governance aspects should be considered while aiming at the improvement of various environmental legislation and measures’ implementation (Leann Brown, 2012). Good governance can strongly impact the environmental outcomes and actions as it can effectively manage the large flows of various climatic change and environmental change finances. As large flows of various financial resources coupled with the requirement and imperative to spend can lead to various conditions that are prone to corruption. Hence, good governance can prevent the occurrence of such social evils like lack of trust, corruption, and exclusion in the authorities. Hence, accountability mechanisms like ensuring various rights to access the data or information, access to the impartial system of justice, and public participation will enable the constituencies for demanding environmental improvements (Wingqvist, Drakenberg, Slunge, Sjöstedt & Ekbom, 2012).

Conclusion

As discussed above, there are several factors and issues that necessitate the need for good governance in the nation, which is not only based on the theoretical conception but requires a more practical approach. To overcome the issues and successfully managing the societies, its culture, diversity, and economic growth, good governance is required to consider the practical facets of the society. To achieve good governance is not an easy task and requires consideration of various economic, social, cultural, and environmental factors. Without optimization of various standards of efficiency, attaining principles of good governance is not easy. Basically, good governance is the exercise of political, administrative, and economic authority to efficiently manage the affairs of the nation, both at macro and micro levels including the processes and mechanisms via which the civil society groups and citizens are capable of communicating their interests, making utilization of their legal and constitutional rights besides meeting the required obligations, as well as, mediating the differences.

References

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Baltà Portolés, J., ?opi?, V., & Srakar, A. (2014). Literature Review on Cultural Governance and Cities. Kult-Ur Revista Interdisciplinària Sobre La Cultura De La Ciutat, (1), 183-200.

Bowles, S., & Gintis, H. (2002). Social Capital And Community Governance*. The Economic Journal, 112(483), F419-F436.

Du Gay, P. (2002). How responsive is ‘responsive’ government?. Economy And Society, 31(3), 461-482.

Gay, P. (2002). A Common Power to Keep Them All In Awe: A Comment on Governance. Cultural Values, 6(1-2), 11-27.

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Purohit, P. (2011). Civil Society and Good Goverance. Indian Journal Of Applied Research, 3(2), 355-355.

Rontos, K., Syrmali, M., & Vavouras, I. (2015). Economic, political and social determinants of governance worldwide. Journal Of Social And Economic Development, 17(2), 105-119.

Rotberg, R. (2014). Good Governance Means Performance and Results. Governance, 27(3), 511-518.

Shipley, R., & Kovacs, J. (2008). Good governance principles for the cultural heritage sector: lessons from international experience. Corporate Governance: The International Journal Of Business In Society, 8(2), 214-228.

Wingqvist, G., Drakenberg, O., Slunge, D., Sjöstedt, M., & Ekbom, A. (2012). The role of governance for improved environmental outcomes. Swedishepa.se. Retrieved 8 June 2017, from https://www.swedishepa.se/Documents/publikationer6400/978-91-620-6514-0.pdf?pid=3823