Governance and Development: Course Introduction

Course Introduction

• This module is the first part of a course on Governance and Development, designed to be interactive and productive.
• Productive and constructive teaching methods will be used to build student competencies.
• Competencies to be improved include writing, presentation, analytical thinking, and political & administrative knowledge.
• The module prepares students to succeed as leaders and managers in public and non-profit sectors.

Concepts of Governance

• Discussions involve concepts of governance, key actors, and characteristics of good governance.
• An implementation model offers potential to synthesize models and bring networks into governance.
• Lesson 1 introduces the nature, concept, and theoretical framework of governance.
• Lesson 1 also helps students understand the difference between governance and government.
• Lesson 2 gives a critical understanding of different key players/actors in governance.
• Lesson 2 also encourages students to develop ideas for enhancing participation and improving accountability.
• Lesson 3 discusses the definition and elements of good governance from various institutions.
• Lesson 4 presents the issues and challenges related to governance; students share insights.

Collaborative Learning (CL)

• Reforms, initiatives, and solutions to challenges are presented and students can share comments.
• Collaborative Learning (CL) encourages active student participation.
• CL fosters an environment where students actively engage in learning and critical thinking.
• CL is a teaching strategy to make learning active and effective.

General Objectives for Governance students

• Describe the development in defining governance and current perspectives.
• Discuss sustainable human development and new public management.
• Discuss critical roles of key players in governance.
• Define "good governance" and internalize its importance in development.
• Apply governance concepts to real-world situations.
• Appreciate the roles of UNDP and other international institutions in development.
• Manifest higher-order thinking skills when addressing governance-related issues.

Specific Objectives

• Discuss the course's purpose and relevance in fostering democratic governance.
• Set expectations for the course and instructor.
• Participate in group exercises and activities.

Pedagogical Activities

• Activities introduce students to one another and set expectations.
• Students draw symbols representing themselves and interview each other.
• Students write expectations for the course, instructor, and peers.
• Each group presents expectations to the class.
• The teacher presents course objectives, outlines, school rules, policies, and grading.

Lesson 1: Governance - Getting to a Definition

• The module provides a practical introduction to governance and development.
• Students analyze definitions of governance and create their own notions for practical application.

Specific Objectives of Lesson 1

• Explain the significance of shifts in people's and nations' perceptions of governance vs. government.
• Critically define good governance.
• Discuss the relationship between governance and new public management (NPM).
• Comment on and criticize definitions of governance, and develop a own definition.
• Trace the evolution of new public management leading to the definition of governance.
• Synthesize related and theoretically related concepts.
• Critique the global perception of governance by institutions like the World Bank, ADB, and UN.
• Explain the relationship between governance and sustainable human development.
• Discuss the art of governance and identify activities involved.
• Discuss the significance/essence of governance in the development process.

"Government" and "Governance"

• In dictionaries, "government" and "governance" are often used interchangeably.
• Both denote the exercise of authority in an organization, institution, or state.
• Government is the name of the entity exercising authority.
• Authority is legitimate power; power is the ability to influence behaviour.
• Authority is based on duty to obey rather than coercion.

Weber's Three Kinds of Authority

• Traditional Authority: Rooted in history.
• Charismatic Authority: Stems from personality.
• Legal Authority: Grounded in impersonal rules.
• Studying government involves studying the exercise of authority.
• Government is related to politics or exercise of control in society.
• Politics involves making and enforcing collective decisions.

Public vs. Private

• Politics may be restricted to state actors motivated by ideological beliefs in an organization.
• Civil servants are "non-political", the state is "public," and civil society is "private."
• State institutions are responsible for the community's collective organization, funded by public.
• Civil society includes families, private businesses, trade unions, clubs, and community groups.
• Civil society is funded by individual citizens and contains institutions as “public” in wider access.

Governance Defined

• Governance broadens the concept of government, shifting the economy from private to public.
• Governance goes beyond the realm of government, including "public life" or "public affairs."
• Civil society and the private sectors play vital roles, making governance broader than government.
• Governance refers to coordinating social life and can exist without the government.

Varying Definitions of Governance

• Traditions and institutions by which authority is exercised are a type of governance (Kaufman et al).
• Governance is the way power is exercised through a country's economic, political, and social institutions (World Bank's PRSP Handbook).
• Sound political, economic, and administrative authority manages resources for development.
• Citizens, institutions, organizations articulate interests and mediate differences (Country Governance Assessment 2005).
• Exercise of economic, political administration manages affairs.
• Citizens and groups articulate interests, exercising rights, meeting obligations (UNDP).
• In governance, citizens are rightly concerned with government responsiveness, protecting rights.
• Governance issues pertain to the ability of government to develop efficiency.

Institute on Governance

• Governance is the process by which any organization runs (UNDP, 1997).
• Governance includes all processes, systems, and controls to safeguard & grow assets (UNDP, 1997).
• Systems, processes, and procedures are to steer the direction, management, and accountability of an organization.
• Applied to organizations that operate commercially, governance is "corporate governance."
• The World Bank describes governance as "promoting fairness, transparency, and accountability."
• OECD see governance as a system by which business organizations are directed and controlled.

Asian Development Bank (ADB)

• Governance is the manner in which power is exercised in managing a country's social and economic resources.
• Quality institutions make, implement, and enforce policies efficiently, effectively, equitably, inclusively (ADB).
• In broad terms, governance is about the institutional environment in which citizens interact (ADB, 2005).
• Governance is the decision-making and implementation process, used in contexts corporate, international, national governance.
• Interactions determine how power/responsibilities are exercised and how decisions are taken (IOG 2003).
• Governance is about authority to manage affairs, comprising of mechanisms, processes, and institutions (NEDA 2006).
• Governance is a process where societies/organizations make decisions, determining those with voice (IOG, 2006).

Governance Framework

• Framework establishes the concept of governance and ensures decision-making.
• Whenever a group comes together, governance exists with the central component being decision-making.
• Governance guides a group’s collective efforts through decisions.
• If a group is too large to efficiently make decisions, it creates a smaller entity to facilitate.
• Group delegates decision making to the entity (board of directors).
• Governance = the art of steering societies and making strategic decisions.
• Critics find this definition too simple; governance is neither simple nor neat.
• Governance is unpredictable and fluid, involving actors (stakeholders), and isn't a single helmsman.
• Stakeholders articulate interests, influencing decision-making processes.
• Decision-makers must absorb and be accountable to decisions.

Governance According to UNDP

• The challenge is to create a system that supports and sustains human development.
• Good governance is participatory, transparent, accountable, effective, equitable, and promotes the rule of law.
• It ensures that priorities are based on societal-consensus and the most vulnerable are heard.
• Economic governance: Includes decision-making processes affecting economic activities and relationships
• Political governance: the process of decision-making to formulate policy
• Administrative governance: the system of policy implementation

Three Encompassing Factors of Good Governance

• Good governance defines the processes and structures guiding political and socio-economic relationships.
• Governance includes the state and private sector and civil society organizations.
• The state includes political and public sector institutions.
• The UNDP is concerned the state serves the needs of people.
• The private sector covers private enterprises and the informal sector.

Civil Society

• Civil society includes individuals and groups interacting socially, politically, and economically.
• Interactions are regulated by formal and informal rules.
• UNDP believes developing good governance is the best way to eliminate poverty.
• Governance and sustainable human development vary greatly in academic literature.

What is Sustainable Human Development?

• Human development = expanding societal choices.
• Men and women are central to the development process
• Human Development also means "protection of the life opportunities of future generations.
• The central purpose is creating an environment where those can enjoy long healthy lives.
• Economic growth is not the end result in human sustainable development.
• There is broad consensus that good governance and sustainable human development are indivisible.

Five Aspects of Sustainable Human Development

• Empowerment: Expanding capabilities and choices increases ability to exercise options free of deprivation.
• Cooperation: Important for well-being, human development addresses working together.
• Equity: Expansion of opportunities means more than income, promoting equity like accessible education.
• Sustainability: Meeting needs of current generation without compromising needs of future generations.
• Security: People need to be freed from threats.
• UNDP focuses on sustainable development and developing capacities for good governance.
• The Art of Governing
• Governance is the exercise of power and authority over a territory, system, or other organization.
• This emphasis is because the power in governance is seen as "shared."

Traditional vs. Modern Governing

• Traditional governing rules and controls; but in governance, orchestrates.
• Traditional ruling authority exacts compliance, while governing orchestrates and moves society.
• Transparency and shared oversight are essential to governance.
• Managing acts on a hypothesis, requiring openness. Governance chooses management over control.
• Traditional governing is interested in keeping peace; governance leads to societal development.
• Governance encompasses power and influence, enacting policies in all development aspects.
• Governance is the product of the development of societies and states.

Need for Good Governance

• Good governance creates a strong future by steering an organization toward a vision.
• Vision should ensure day-today management is aligned with the organization’s goals.
• Effective boards improve organization results and appropriately manage owner assets.
• Poor governance risks commercial failure, legal problems, and losing sight of purpose.

Right-Based Approach to Governance

• The approach implies that rights holders decide how those rights are fulfilled.
• Emphasizes participation and empowerment.
• The Millennium Declaration identifies governance as an important requirement for achieving MDGs.
• Asia and the Pacific have different forms of governments.
• Necessary is efficient and effective administration.
• Priority in Asia is fighting against corruption which worsens governance and hurts the poorest quality.

Theories of Governance

• Normative theories would not be able to classify the recognition of the field of governance.
• Multi-organizational programs replaced hierarchical organizations.
• Programs are clusters of firms governments, and associations.
• Implementation structures operate within a notion of consensus in governance.
• There is global perception of governance broader than ‘government'.
• Scholarship has followed the ‘Reinventing Government' themes with new public management practices.
• Analysis is the network of private firms, organizations, and governments.
• "...joint production...combine to ensure that hierarchies and markets will not work and that networks are the only alternative"
• Boundaries between public/private sectors are blurred depending on different styles of governing.
• Essence is focusing on mechanisms that do not rest on authority and government.

Defining what Governance is

• Governance is ultimately concerned with creating conditions for order and collective action.
• Definition describes movements in the public sector as "New Public Management" (NPM).
• Outputs of governance are not different from those of government; it is a difference in processes.
• Includes institutions and actors from within and beyond the government.
• Refers to the blurring of boundaries and responsibilities for dealing with social and economic issues.

Lesson 2: Key Governance Actors

• The management of public affairs goes beyond a government realm and state.
• States should facilitate participation, encouraging citizen action liberates citizens.

State Function

• Provides a legal regulatory frameworks and political order
• Encourages citizen action and protects private firms
• Facilitates by providing financial resources to assist markets and communities.
• Local governments plays a primary role in governmental projects and programs.
• It formulated a legal regulatory framework to define power and authority.
• Maintained a political order, technical, expertise, and infrastructure.

Table 1: Roles of the States and Key Milestones in Governance

• States should respond to local conditions.
• States should reduce social equalities.
• States should enable accessible systems to promote diversity and social integration.
• States should empower decentralization.
• States should have honesty in governmental operations.
• States should also establish an environment for conduitive institutional.

Private Sector Role

• Serves as an engine to the society
• Collaboration in economic development
• Transfer technology with the government
• Builds partnership among the linkage among the state

Civil Society Role

• Provides a forum airing complaints
• Plays a part in politics community
• Mobilize groups and organizations to participate
• Comprises schools, NGO, and volunteer groups.
• This sector facilitates and mobilizes the parties to plan and make decisions.

"Third Sector" Governance

• Governance organizations are called upon to define problems and implement.
• Key is engaging in where the government is lacking that engage in delivering services.
• Can serve in providing feedback and raising citizens concern with government.
• Can create alternatives if government is unavailing.

Urban Elite and Poor

• Elite shape the city while the poor are exploited.
• Urban community is complex.
• Private sector create more efficient balance with the state.
• Accountability should be increased with the government.
• Global trends challenge the identity of the state.

How Each Domain of Governance Should Behave

• The state should have the electoral to have processing power and control mandate.
• Stability, and legal regulatory frameworks should create a sustainable environment.
• Equitable growth and balance can contribute to private sectors.
• The private sector should maintain balance to allow access to credit.
• Protect citizens and rights in communities with civil society.
• Channel citizens participation in groups to empower them in economic and economic and social activities.
• Civic networks should have norms and foster trust.

Media

• Media is a fourth component outside of the three aspects and can affect the other groups.
• Should provide balance to citizens in public communities.
• Is essential to create and distribute information effectively to create public participation.