4. RESOURCE MATERIALS
Good governance in South Asia: Constraints and
possibilities by Dr. Nasira Jabeen & Dr. Zafar Iqbal
Jadoon
Recent transition in governance in South Asia:
contexts, dimensions and implications by Shams-ul-
Haq
Human development in South Asia 1999 by Dr.
Mahbub-ul-Haq
7. FROM GOVERNMENT TO GOVERNANCE
Synonymous to Government
Continuous evolution new meaning
Process of governing the society
Outcome of Paradigmatic shift
Emerging neo-liberal state
Practical manifestations
Tools of NPM
8. GOOD GOVERNANCE AS A CONCEPT
Originally born out of donors’ frustration
Ineffective management of aid
Coincided with the shift
Catch all phrase
International development agencies
Guided reform agenda
9. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE AND
EVOLUTION OF GOVERNANCE
Shift started taking place in late 1980s
Firstly in advanced countries
Gradually took over South Asia
10. THE FIRST PHASE OF DEVELOPMENT
Began in 1950
Till later part of 1960s
Keynesian economics
Focused on transfer of capital and
technical expertise
Economic growth
Development plans and projects
Government and public sector major role
Trickle down to poor
11. SECOND PHASE
In late 1960s
Failure of first phase
Adoption of poverty reduction approach
Investment in human capital
Sectoral strengthening approach
12. THIRD PHASE
End of 1970s
Neo-liberal dominance
Private and non-government organizations’
involvement
Government was no more the sole player
Structural adjustment programs
Potential partner in the process of governance
13. FOURTH PHASE
Took place in 1990s
Dr. Mahbub-ul-Haq defined development
Politics and development are not dichotomous
activities
Integral force
Social change in behavior and focus of development
Involvement of people in process of development
14. Good Governance
Sources:
Good Enough Governance Revisited
By:Merilee S. Grindle
Asian Profile: Vol. 37 June 2009
Pakistan Management Review:2008
15. “Good governance is perhaps the single most important
factor in eradicating poverty and promoting
development.”
(UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan)
Good Governance
16. The World Bank
“Inclusiveness and accountability established in three key
areas:
‘selection, accountability and replacement of authorities
(voice and accountability; stability and lack of violence);
efficiency of institutions, regulations, resource
management (regulatory framework; government
effectiveness);
respect for institutions, laws and interactions among
players in civil society, business, and politics (control of
corruption; rule of law)”
17. Department for International Development
(DFID):
Defines good governance by focusing on four major
components namely:
legitimacy (government should have the consent of the
governed);
accountability (ensuring transparency, being answerable
for actions and media freedom);
competence (effective policymaking, implementation and
service delivery); and
respect for law and protection of human rights.
18. IMF
“Ensuring the rule of law, improving the efficiency and
accountability of the public sector, and tackling corruption”.
19. The Human Development Center (HDC):
“Good governance from the standpoint of humane
development and reformulated the concept of governance
as humane governance encompassing three governance
arenas, political, economic, civic.”
20. Core Values of
Good Governance
Participation
Rule of law
Transparency
Responsiveness
Consensus orientation
Equity
Effectiveness and efficiency
Accountability
Strategic vision
21. Constraints to
Good Governance
1)Rule of Law
The term refers to the extent rules are abide by
and implemented to all citizens of a state on an
equal basis.
The rule of law is a major impediment to good
governance in South Asia.
22. Poverty:
Poverty profile of South Asia shows that both in terms
of income and opportunities poverty has increased in
the entire region.
Growing poverty creates distrust of poor people in the
governance process and they dissociate themselves from
political and social activities which further restrict their
participation in governance.
23. Corruption and Nepotism:
Corruption defined as unfair use of public resources for
personal gains is viewed as a major hindrance in South
Asia.
It is pervasive at individual, organizational, and state level.
Nepotism is also a common occurrence in South Asia.
Family, sectarian, ethnic, regional connections are often
the basis for appointments while ignoring the principle of
merit and equality of opportunity.
24. Divided Society:
Society in South Asian countries is deeply divided on the
basis of ethnicity, religion, caste, class and gender
These divisions ultimately promote a culture of conflicts,
violence, hatred, and mistrust among public and the
governing bodies.
25. Militarism:
South Asia is a highly militarized, volatile and
vulnerable region of the world.
India and Pakistan, two large countries of the region
are the world nuclear powers and continually spend on
building nuclear weapons to maintain deterrence for
each other.
People of Pakistan and India are finally the victims of
militarism in the region
26. Managerial Capacity:
The quality of governance in a country depends on the
governing capacity of state, private and civil society
organizations.
Good governance requires leadership and managerial
capacity beyond good management.
It is imperative that public administrators have the
required skills to efficiently manage modern tools employed
in governance at the same time, private sector and civil
society organizations also needs to understand the dynamics
of public services and learn to be responsive to the society.
27. Research and Local Knowledge:
Good governance requires a good understanding of
the institutional and cultural context of governance
and policy dialogue.
Creation of local knowledge is not possible without
original research in universities and research
institutions outside universities.
Lack of research and local knowledge are major
constraints on good governance in South Asia.
30. Each country or region has a historical or cultural context of
governance.
It has been argued that a general and universal application
of the concept of good governance across countries may
have unintended and serious consequences for people
especially poor.
Failure due to misgovernance in South Asia:
Social Action Program (SAP) in Pakistan
Privatization policy of Pakistan during the 1990s
31. Limitations of the generic notion of good governance
recognized by Merilee Grindle (2004) and argued for Good
Enough Governance for poverty reduction and reform in
developing countries.
The concept of Good Enough Governance, though still in its
infancy, represents a strong case for contextualizing or
indigenizing the notion of good governance in the
developing world, to set realistic and achievable reform
objectives for each country.
33. The question such as what is Good Enough Governance for
a specific country with similar institutional context?
Where it begins from and where does it ends?
How it should be measured?
In order to answer these questions, it is important that
state of human development, governance and cultural
context of South Asia as a region and each country be
properly understand and described for the application of
the concept to the region.
34. Human Development, Governance and Culture in South Asia:
Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Srilanka, Nepal, Maldives and Bhutan.
Similarities
Objectives,
Structures,
Functions,
Attitudes and
Standards of governing bodies
despite variations in the form of
government
Differences
Size,
Living standards,
Population
Levels of income
Lowest group of countries in terms of human
development and quality of governance
35. State of Human Development
The HDI comprise of 3 components
Life expectancy at birth
Educational attainment
Income
36. Human Development Index for South Asia
Country HDI value
2010
Rank in
South Asia
Rank in the
world 2004
Rank in the
world 2010
Sri Lanka 0.658 1 93 91
Maldives 0.602 2 98 107
India 0.519 3 126 119
Pakistan 0.490 4 134 125
Bhutan - 5 135 126
Bangladesh 0.469 6 137 129
Nepal 0.428 7 138 138
37. State of Governance
Three Governance assessment exercises, HGI, WGA, WGI
Humane
Governance Index
(HGI)
World Governance
Assessment (WGA)
World Governance
Indicators (WGI)
By Dr. Mahbub ul Haq
Out of 58 countries
Pakistan was ranked at
52.
In 2002 under WGI
project, 16 countries
were surveyed,
and on 7 point scale,
Pakistan’s average
score was 2.17.
WGI launched by
World Bank.
The Governance
percentile of South Asia
on 6 Governance
indicators is low
ranging from 26 to 39.
38. Governance and Culture
Cultural values of a society, region or country are reflected
in its institutional, organizational and individual behavior.
The universally accepted Governance values such as
participation, accountability, transparency, efficiency,
decency and fairness are not compatible with the cultural
context of many developing countries including South
Asian countries, which may best be characterized by
authoritarianism, elitism, nepotism, paternalism,
sectarianism, extremism and feudalism.
39. Therefore the concept Good Governance needs to be
indigenized in view of the cultural and contextual
requirements of each country.
The basic premise is that, states vary considerably in terms
of their capacities ad strengths; therefore a generic notion
of Good Governance may not suggest a viable solution to
their problems. So contrary to a generic notion of Good
Governance, the concept of Good Enough Governance
allows for researchers, policy makers and international
agencies to determine a minimum acceptable level of Good
Governance within historical, institutional and cultural
context of each country.
40. Framework for Good Enough Governance: by
Grindle
5.Types of states
1. collapsed,
2. personal rule,
3. minimally institutionalized,
4. institutionalized non competitive
5. and institutionalized competitive states.
Setting priority areas for governance reforms such as
Personal safety, conflict resolution, provision of basic and
administrative services, access to justice, open decision
making ad accountability etc
characteristics
1. institutional stability,
2. organizational capacity,
3. degree of state legitimacy
4. and type of policies in place
42. TIME PERIOD DEVELOPMENT
PARADIGM
NATURE OF STATE
PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATION
PARADIGM
1947-1960 TRADITIONAL
(KEYNESIAN
CONSENSUS)
DEVELOPMENT STATE DEVELOPMENT
ADMINISTRATION
1970-1980 ISLAMIC SOCIALISM
LOCAL BRAND
SOCIALIST STATE DEVELOPMENT
ENTERPRISE (SOE’S)
1980-1990 NEO-LIBERAL NEO-LIBERAL STATE DEVELOPMENT
MANAGEMENT (NPM)
1990-2000 HUMAN
DEVELOPMENT
RESPONSIVE NEO-
LIBERAL STATE
GOOD GOVERNANCE
AND GOOD ENOUGH
GOVERNANCE
2000-2010 INCLUSIVE GROWTH RESPONSIVE NEO-
LIBERAL STATE
GOOD GOVERNANCE
AND GOOD ENOUGH
GOVERNANCE
43. South Asia's crisis of governance
South Asia is replete with examples of poor
governance
Inefficient deployment of resources
Crippling debt burdens
Social divisions drawn on ethnic and sectarian lines
Arbitrary law enforcement and failed political
leadership
44. THESE QUESTIONS MUST BE ANSWERED
Do people fully participate in governance?
Are people fully informed?
Do the people make decisions, or can they at least hold
the decision-makers accountable?
Are women equal partners with men in governance?
Are the needs of the poor and disadvantaged met?
Are people’s human rights guaranteed?
Are the needs of the future generations taken into
account in current policies?
In short, do people own their structure of governance?
45. GOOD GOVERNANCE CRITERIA
“With humane governance
people are the ultimate end of
governance…. We must try to
reflect the people’s values and
aspirations- only then we can
achieve an innovative
breakthrough”