1.1 Meaning of Governance
The simple definition of Governance is the process of decision making and implementation of those decisions. The concept of governance is as old as human civilization. It can take various forms as corporate governance, international governance, and local or national governance. The process of governance involves formal and informal actors and structures to arrive at and implement a decision. Government is one of the main actors in the process of governance. There are other actors involved such as in rural areas NGOs, leaders, financial institutions and political parties participate in governance process and in urban areas media, lobbyists, multinational corporations and international donors influence decision-making process (United Nations 2016).
Governance includes all the formal and informal processes used by the government. The actors are involved in the process of interaction and decision making. Governance can be related to different entities and in different manners. It can be associated with a particular ‘level’ of governance in a type of organization (public governance , corporate governance, non-profit governance, global governance and project governance), a particular ‘field’ of governance with specific outcome (environmental governance, IT governance and internet governance) and a particular model of governance related to a theory (regulatory governance, participatory governance, multilevel governance and collaborative governance).
OECD defines Public Governance as “the formal and informal arrangements that determine how public decisions are made and how public actions are carried out, from the perspective of maintaining a country’s constitutional values in the face of changing problems, actors and environments” (Bouckaert 2006). It is the economic, political and administrative authority to manage the governmental activities.
Public governance , in general, occurs in three broad ways.
- (a)Through public-private partnership (PPP) networks or with the collaboration of community organizations;
- (b)Through market mechanisms where market principles of competition are used to allocate resources while in service under government regulation; and
- (c)Using top-down methods that engage governments and bureaucracy of the State.
1.2 Good Governance
Good Governance refers to the concept of practicing various processes and the participation of Governance in a fair manner. There are various characteristics associated with Good Governance like transparency, efficiency, accountability, effectiveness, participation, responsiveness, consensus oriented, and equitability. The major advantages associated with good governance are reduction in corruption, equality in participation of various decision makers irrespective of caste, creed or sex, and treatment of everyone in equal manner. Good governance is responsive to the needs and requirements of the society (Gisselquist 2012).
Good governance encompasses following rule of the law, effective participation, political pluralism, transparent and accountable processes, efficient public sector, information and education, access to knowledge, sustainability, equity, empowerment of people, attitude, values and responsibility. Good governance relates to political and institutional processes to achieve developmental goals. Good governance involves handling public affairs, manage public resources, and follow rule of law. Good governance is the extent of civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights given to the citizens. The Commission on Human Rights has highlighted key characteristics of good governance (United Nations Human Rights 2016): Transparency, Responsibility, Responsiveness, Participation and Accountability.
Criteria of goodness have been explained by United Nations (2016) as follows.
- 1.Good governance lacks parsimony. Good governance has multiple definitions and there is a need to understand the different aspects.
- 2.Good governance also lacks differentiation. Many well-governed countries have similar governance structure and there is little difference in their governance methods.
- 3.Good governance lacks coherence. It has many possible characteristics that generally do not belong together such as respect for human rights and efficient banking regulations.
- 4.Good governance also lacks theoretical utility. The theory formulation and the related project of hypothesis testing are confusing, but analysts can easily define it in the best possible manner.
1.3 Principles of Good Governance
Good governance in the public sector aims to ensure the entities act in the public interest. It requires having a strong commitment to integrity, ethical values, rule of law and comprehensive stakeholder engagement. Good governance, apart from acting in the public interest, also requires defining outcomes in terms of sustainable economic, social, and environmental benefits. It aims to determine the interventions necessary for the achievement of intended outcomes and helps in developing the capacity of the entity, that is, leadership, capability of managing risks and performance through internal control. Good governance also requires implementation of good practices that allow transparency and promote accountability (CIFPA 2013).
UNDP Governance and Sustainable Human Development has defined certain principles of good governance in 1997. These principles have universal recognition and they are based on related UNDP text. The five good governance principles stated by UNDP are legitimacy and voice, direction, performance, accountability and fairness (Graham et al. 2003).
1.3.1 Legitimacy and Voice
The legitimacy and voice principle are based on the text that all men and women should get equal chance to participate in decision making whether it is direct or through legitimate intermediate institute representing their interests. This principle is based on the concept of freedom of speech and capacities to participate beneficially. The aim is to reach the best decision with the consensus of the group on the policies and procedures.
1.3.2 Direction
Good governance involves a broad perspective of leaders and public on governance. Further, human development and a sense of what is required for such development constitute it as well. It is the understanding of historical, cultural and social complexities to reach at the best decision.
1.3.3 Performance
Good governance requires responsiveness of the entities, an ability of the institutions and processes to try to serve the needs of all stakeholders. It involves achieving effectiveness and efficiency in meeting the needs while making the best of available resources.
1.3.4 Accountability
The principle of accountability and transparency go hand in hand. This principle holds that the decision makers in government, the private sector and civil society organizations are accountable to the public and to the institutional stakeholders. This accountability depends on the organizations and the type of decisions.
Transparency allows a free flow of information. The information must be directly accessible to those concerned with them to understand and monitor them based on which decisions are taken.
1.3.5 Fairness
The principle of fairness includes equity and rule of law for everyone. The principle of equity states that all men and women have equal opportunities to improve or maintain their well-being. The Rule of Law states that the legal frameworks should be fair and must be impartial especially in case of laws on human rights.
1.4 E-Governance
E-Governance has been introduced in India via usage of technology and implementing the usage of computers within the various departments of Government of India. This was done to enhance the concept of “Minimum Government , Maximum Governance”. It involve...