The Idea of Good Governance and the Politics of the Global South

An Analysis of its Effects

Haroon A. Khan

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN:
  9780367256197
• eBook ISBN:
  9781317567196
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: American Government
• Index: Politics & International Relations

One of the major objectives of good governance is human development. Many worry that without good governance, many developing countries may become failed states.

Using one of the worst industrial disasters in Bangladesh to date, Haroon A. Khan helps further our understanding of the importance of bureaucratic capacity for achieving good governance and offers a new paradigm for a merit system to improve governance. In doing so, he introduces the reader to the concept of good governance and its importance by investigating its relationship with failed states, globalization, bureaucratic effectiveness, and human development.

The Idea of Good Governance and the Politics of the Global South will be useful for the students interested in political science, public administration and international relations.

1   Introduction

The countries of the global south continually face problems of economic and human development. Although some of the countries in the global south have made significant progress in recent times, many of them suffer from poverty, hunger, political violence, and instability. Many of the fragile states are located in the global south. Many of the countries of the global south suffer from low human development, but they are the largest recipients of foreign aid from the developed countries. Despite the existence of massive aid, many countries of the global south still suffer from poverty, hunger, and overall low development. Most often mismanagement and a high level of corruption stand in the way of the intended purposes of the foreign aid. On many occasions, the aid does not reach the people for whom it is intended. It causes frustration about the utility of the foreign aid. Ranis (2011) suggested that the foreign aid cannot solve economic problems. I think that the proper utilization of the foreign aid is the main issue rather than abandoning it altogether.

So, the donor countries are demanding more accountability from the governments of the global south on foreign aid. As a result of the growing pressures on the developing countries to improve their governance, there is an added emphasis on good governance, which has led to an abundance of literature on the subject. Despite the different definitions of good governance, this book will use Worldwide Governance Indicators developed by the World Bank. The book is an attempt to understand the effects of the lack of good governance in the global south. The terminology of North and South was used during the first report of the Brandt Commission published in 1980. It is based on the idea that the world is divided between the rich north and the poor exploited south. Since then,

the term South (or, more confusingly still, the Global South, which is after all a contradiction in terms) has always been used to lump together for ease of reference a whole bunch of countries and peoples who are said to fit into the world order in a disadvantaged fashion and suffer the consequences of doing so.

(Payne, 2013)

Payne considers this to be out-of-date categorization. I will include the countries of Africa, Latin America, and most of Asia in the global south. Of course, there are wide variations in the countries in the global south. The emergence of China, India, and Brazil may reshape the world in terms of the north–south characterization. The oil-rich Arab countries do not have poverty like the other countries of the global south. Still, the majority of the global south suffers from low human development, political violence, lower civil liberties, a higher level of corruption, and ineffective bureaucracy.

Moreover, almost all the failed or fragile states are in the global south. The researchers and the policy makers worry that without good governance, many developing countries may become failed states. The phenomenon of fragile (failed) states has attracted many researchers in recent times because of the far-reaching consequences of the problems. A failed state may directly cause enormous sufferings to its people. A failed state can become a haven for the terrorists bent on attacking other countries especially the western world. Policy makers and academics consider good governance as important because, without it, developing countries, especially fragile countries, may become failed states. The failed states will then become breeding grounds for terrorism. This book seeks to analyze the different indicators of good governance and the characteristics of the failed states. The failed states suffer from serious political violence and terrorism. Therefore, it is important to understand the linkage between political violence and the indicators of good governance.

Academics and policy makers are interested to know the reasons for the failure of the states. This research argues that that by providing good governance, many of the reasons for the failure of the states can be eliminated. This research uses correlation and regression analysis to establish empirically the relationship between fragile states and good governance.

Globalization, especially economic globalization, has led the countries of the west to outsource the products and services to poor developing countries. The issue of globalization has raised concern about the problems and prospects associated with it. Foreign direct investment and capital flow from the developed world to the developing countries have led to economic development and poverty reduction. However, without good governance, the fruits of globalization cannot be fully achieved. This book, with a case study on Bangladesh, will be interesting to those seeking to understand the complexities of globalization in general and foreign investment in particular.

The businesses in the west, in their drive to save the costs of manufacturing, and to avoid stiff environmental laws, outsource their jobs to poor developing countries. Analyzing the tragedy in a garment factory in Bangladesh, this book seeks to investigate the complex problems of globalization from the lack of good governance.

Researchers also emphasize bureaucratic capacity to achieve good governance. The attempts by some countries in recent years to politicize the bureaucracy brings back the spoils system in government, damaging the efficiency in administration, which is a fundamental prerequisite of good governance. Researchers emphasize inclusiveness, efficiency, and accountability in bureaucracy to achieve good governance. The attempt to have an efficient bureaucracy goes back to the writings of Max Weber, who advocated an ideal type of bureaucracy for modern society, where authority is based on rational-legal principles. He also mentions that the ideal type of bureaucracy is required because of the complexities of modern government. A high level of specialization is necessary for the ideal type of bureaucracy. Weber’s ideal type of bureaucracy includes a high degree of qualification and expertise in administration. With a focus on Weber, this book proposes a paradigm for a comprehensive and effective bureaucracy for good governance. The research also develops a measure of the merit system for good governance. Once data can be collected on these measures, there will be more opportunities for cross-national comparison, which will help in making broad-based generalization on the linkage between the merit system and good governance. The linkage between bureaucratic capacity and good governance is important because the bureaucrats are still responsible for implementing policies despite the rise of non-governmental organizations. Therefore, it is important to understand how to enhance bureaucratic capacity to improve governance. This book will investigate the impediments to bureaucratic capacity, which may create problems for good governance.

One of the major measures of development is human development. The ultimate goal of good governance and foreign aid is to improve human development. An analysis of human development in the countries of the world and its linkage with good governance needs special attention. Human development is measured by the HDI (Human Development Index) prepared by the United Nations Development Programme. The book will assess the impact of the lack of good governance on human development. This study will assess the relationships between human development and good governance by analyzing the correlation between them. Ultimately, one of the major purposes of good governance is human development.

References

Payne, T. (2013). “The rise of the South”—or the disappearance of the South? UNDP blog, June 14, 2013. Retrieved from http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/%E2%80%98-rise-south%E2%80%99-%E2%80%93-or-disappearance-south, May 5, 2015.

Ranis, G. (2011). Giving up on foreign aid? Cato Journal, 31(1), 75–81.

2 Good Governance

Definitions and Clarifications of Worldwide Governance Indicators

This chapter will analyze various elements of good governance so that students are familiar with the various aspects of good governance and its importance. It will clarify the various meanings of good governance. It will elaborate on the six WGI (Worldwide Governance Indicators)—voice and accountability; political stability and absence of violence; government effectiveness; regulatory quality; rule of law; and control of corruption.

The countries of the global south continuously face challenges of economic growth, and political and human development. The countries of Africa, central and Latin America, and most of Asia are known as the global south. These countries are also known as the developing countries. Although some countries in the global south like China, India, Brazil, South Africa, and the Southeast Asian countries of Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand, have made significant progress, the rest of the countries of the global south still have serious problems. Despite economic development, the global south faces serious problems of poverty, lack of human development, environmental degradation, political violence, and massive refugee problems. On the other hand, the global north includes the developed countries of North America, Europe, and Japan. The problem of the global south is a matter of concern for the rest of the world.

The UN Millennium Development Goals (UN MDG, 2014) have sought to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; achieve universal primary education; promote gender equality and empower women; reduce child mortality; improve maternal health; combat HIV, malaria, and other diseases; ensure environmental sustainability; and develop a global partnership for development. But these goals are too complex to find an easy solution as each problem is dependent on various factors. One of the ways to gain progress on these goals is by “good governance.”

The World Bank in its Millennium Development Goals has put good governance as one of the major goals. The United States in 2002 had created Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) requiring the criteria of good governance set out by the World Bank (Hout, 2007). The concept of good governance has political, economic, and social perspectives. The political and administrative dimensions reflect a multiparty and competitive party system with civil and religious liberties; administratively, it means the quality in management and institutional capacity; economic perspectives imply economic development, fairness in development; and social perspectives focus on social equity and diversity.

The demand for good governance has become a dominant theme of current researchers, donor countries, and international organizations. The effectiveness of government is essential for both political and economic development. According to Kaufmann, Kraay, and Zoido-Lobatón (2002) good governance makes development possible. The emphasis on good governance has been the focus since the World Bank introduced the concept in 1989. The World Bank and other major donor institutions like the European Union (EU), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the United Nations (UN) considered good governance as a criterion for development aids. The issue of good governance has attracted academics and practitioners in different areas and fields. Researchers on good governance emphasize inclusiveness, efficiency, and accountability in bureaucracy (World Bank, 1997; UNDP, 1997; IMF, 2005; DFID, 2001; USAID, 2005; Hyden, Court, & Mease, 2004; Kauffman, 2003). Unless a country improves its governance, it cannot attain the progress and development that each country seeks to achieve.

The global development community takes good governance (GG) seriously even if there are conflicting views over the ideal content of various governance reforms (Mander & Asif, 2004). Good governance has been the demand of the aid agencies because despite the flow of a huge amount of aid, many countries of the global south fail to achieve much success in economic and political development. The phrase “good governance” has received a lot of attention since the mid-1980s. Most international development agencies now believe it is an important if not essential prerequisite for global development. Whether good governance is necessary or sufficient to achieve the MDGs depends on how we define it. Its “ambiguity may be a strength but also a weakness if the label good governance becomes a political tool to justify and rationalize choices that are made on other, possibly arbitrary grounds” (Doornbos, 2001, p. 100).

What Is Good Governance?

Before deciding whether governance is good or bad, we need to clarify what is governance. Daniel Kaufman, Aart Kraay and Massimo Mastruzzi (2010, p. 2) defined governance

as the traditions and institutions by which authority is exercised. Governance includes (a) the process by which governments are selected, monitored and replaced; (b) the capacity of the government to effectively formulate and implement sound policies; and (c) the respect of citizens and the state for the institutions that govern economic and social interactions among them.

Fukuyama (2013) mentions that governance includes procedural measures, such as Weberian criteria of the bureaucratic modernity; capacity measures, which includes both resources and degree of professionalization; output measures; and measures of bureaucratic autonomy. The term “good” is relative to the contexts in which a government is located. What is good in a developing country may not be good for a developed country. Governance means the process and the activities involved in delivering the services. The World Bank, for instance, defines governance as the “manner in which public officials and institutions acquire and exercise the authority to shape public policy and provide public goods and services” (Gisselquist, 2012, p. 3) whereas the European Commission defines governance as “the state’s ability to serve its citizens” (European Commission, 2003, p. 3). Governance involves power relationships, and accountability, how citizens and different stakeholders make decisions (Schacter, 2000). The concept of governance includes ideas about political authority and the management of economic and social resources, as well as the capacity of governments to formulate sound policies and perform their functions in an effective, efficient manner.

Brinkerhoff (2007) takes a functional view, defining governance as the rules, institutions and processes that enable to fulfill three functions: assure safety and security, deliver public goods and services effectively, and achieve legitimacy through managing political participation and accountability.

Governance is the

process through which political authority is exercised and political decisions are made and implemented. The concept includes many facets that combine the public with the private sector—from public institutions, which set the legal framework of all actions, to public servants, who determine the allocation of resources, to bureaucracies that ensure the provision of public goods and services.

(Sto...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• List of Illustrations
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Good Governance: Definitions and Clarifications of WGI Indicators
• 3 The Fragile States and the Lack of Good Governance: A Causal Explanation
• 4 Globalization and Its Effects: A Case Study on the Garment Factory Tragedy in Bangladesh and the Lack of Good Governance
• 5 Bureaucratic Capacity and Good Governance
• 6 Human Development and Good Governance
• 7 Conclusion
• Appendix
• Glossary
• Index