Government

Government/Governance
 Decision making
 Stakeholders – Input – Decision Making
 Stakeholders – Input – Decision Making – Output/Accountability
 Good governance is, among other things, participatory, transparent, and accountable.
 Governance has three legs: economic, political, and administrative.
 Governance & Sustainable Human Development: UNDP believes that developing the capacity of
good governance is the primordial way to eliminate poverty. Notions of good governance and
the link between governance and sustainable human development vary greatly, however, both in
academic literature and among development practitioners. (UNDP, 1997)
 There are five aspects to sustainable human development - all affecting the lives of the poor
and vulnerable:
 Empowerment - The expansion of men and women's capabilities and choices increases their
ability to exercise those choices free of hunger, want and deprivation. It also increases their
opportunity to participate in, or endorse, decision-making affecting their lives.
 Co-operation - With a sense of belonging important for personal fulfillment, well-being and a
sense of purpose and meaning, human development is concerned with the ways in which people
work together and interact.
 Equity - The expansion of capabilities and opportunities means more than income - it also
means equity, such as an educational system to which everybody should have access.
 Sustainability - The needs of this generation must be met without compromising the right of
future generations to be free of poverty and deprivation and to exercise their basic capabilities.
 Security - Particularly the security of livelihood. People need to be freed from threats, such as
disease or repression and from sudden harmful disruptions in their lives.
Theories of Governance
 Governance refers to the development of governing styles in which boundaries between and
within public and private sectors have become blurred.
 Governance is ultimately concerned with creating the conditions for ordered rule and collective
action.
1. Governance refers to institutions and actors from within and beyond government.
2. Governance identifies the blurring of boundaries and responsibilities for tackling social and
economic issues.
3. Governance identifies the power dependence involved in the relationships between institutions
involved in collective action.
4. Governance is about autonomous self-governing networks of actors.
5. Governance recognizes the capacity to get things done which does not rest on the power of
government to command or use its authority.
Key Actors on Governance
1. State/Public Sector - is the principal actor of government to facilitate participation and provide
an enabling environment to other elements of the society. 1. 1 The state as enabler provides for
the legal and regulatory framework and political order within which firms and organizations can
plan and act. 1.2. The state as resource provider facilitates by providing resources to assist
markets and communities.
I. Roles of the States and Key Milestones in Governance

1. Creating a conducive economic environment
2. Protecting the Vulnerable
3. Improving government efficiency and responsiveness
4. Empowering people and democratizing the political system
5. Decentralizing the administrative system
6. Reducing gaps between rich and poor
7. Encouraging cultural diversity and social integration
8. Protecting the environment
2. Civil Society - Civil Society consists of the complex of citizens and groups outside government
working in the public arena. It is often called CSOs- civil society organizations also sometimes
referred to as the Third Sector.
3. Business Sector - In governance parlance, the private/business sector serves as the engine of
society.
The Characteristics of Good Governance
The Eight Characteristics of Good Governance By UNDP
1) Participation by both men and women is a key cornerstone of good governance All men and
women should have a voice in decision-making, either directly or through legitimate
intermediate institutions that represent their interests.
2) Rule of law. Legal frameworks should be fair and enforced impartially, particularly the laws on
human rights.
3) Transparency is built on the free flow of information. Processes, institutions, and information are
directly accessible to those concerned with them, and enough information is provided to
understand and monitor them.
4) Responsive. Institutions and processes try to serve all stakeholders. Good governance requires
that institutions and processes try to serve all stakeholders within a reasonable timeframe.
5) Consensus oriented. Good governance mediates differing interests to reach a broad consensus
on what is in the best interests of the group and, where possible, on policies and procedures.
6) Equity and inclusiveness. All men and women have opportunities to improve or maintain their
well-being.
7) Effectiveness and efficiency. Processes and institutions produce results that meet needs while
making the best use of resources.
8) Accountability. Decision-makers in government, the private sector and civil society organizations
are accountable to the public, as well as to institutional stakeholders.
Four Basic Elements of Good Governance according to ADB
1) Accountability 3) Predictability
2) Participation 4) Transparency
Issues & Challenges on Governance
 Factors/Processes Pushing for Governance

1) The Quest for Growth & Development. This is the key factor pushing for governance.
Since the Industrial Revolution, the market has had the principal role in growth, with the
state needed only to nurture the climate that would allow it to grow.
2) The Environmental Movement. The concept of development has changed from the
exclusive focus on economic growth of the 1950s to the inclusion of distributional goals
like the reduction of poverty and inequality during the UN Development Decades, to the
current battle cry for “sustainable human development”.
3) The global context/Globalization. The transformation from command to market-
oriented economies, the emergence of democratic political regimes in the former Soviet
Union, the rapid development and global proliferation of new technologies, the
pervasive spread of telecommunications systems, the growing importance of
knowledge-based industries and skills and the continuing integration of the world
economy through trade and investment - all these have created the foundation for a
new age of sustainable human development. But all carry risks as well.
4) Consolidating Peace. Another force pressing for governance is the need to consolidate
peace in wartorn nations. This issue is rarely recognized as among the processes pushing
for governance.
 Key Issues and Challenges in Governance

1) Policy Issues, Concerns, and Challenges - Most people agree that the constitutional and
legal frameworks in the Philippines provide the foundations for good governance.
2) Problems in the Bureaucracy - Bureaucracy is a distinctive arrangement used by human
beings to organize their activities. The invention of Western bureaucracy several
centuries ago helped solve the problem for leaders of governing human systems that
grew larger and more complicated with each passing year.
2.1 Corruption - Corruption damages the development process in many ways. It
undermines social confidence in the willingness and capacity of public institutions to
fulfill their obligations to the people and it reinforces existing power relationships
that are themselves typically part of the development problem.
3) Issue on Public Fiscal Management - Another issue on good governance is on public
fiscal management. Prior to government reform programs, there were weaknesses and
constraints in fiscal management, especially in the budgeting process. Some of these
constraints are still lingering.
4) Deficiencies in the Political and Electoral System - Public confidence in election
outcomes is low because of widely alleged irregularities in the Philippine electoral
processes. The modernization of the electoral 67 system in the country today is an
attempt to enhance public confidence in election outcomes and address traditional
election anomalies such as cheating, intimidation and bribery.

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Government

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Government/Governance

I. Roles of the States and Key Milestones in Governance

The Eight Characteristics of Good Governance By UNDP

Four Basic Elements of Good Governance according to ADB

Issues & Challenges on Governance

 Factors/Processes Pushing for Governance

 Key Issues and Challenges in Governance

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