Good governance
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Good governance is a term used in development literature. Governance describes the process of decision-making and the process by which decisions are implemented (or not implemented). Hereby, public institutions conduct public affairs, manage public resources, and guarantee the realization of human rights. Good governance accomplishes this in a manner essentially free of abuse and corruption, and with due regard for the rule of law.
Good governance defines an ideal which is difficult to achieve in its totality. However, to ensure sustainable human development, actions must be taken to work towards this ideal. Major donors and international financial institutions, like the IMF or World Bank, are increasingly basing their aid and loans on the condition that reforms ensuring good governance are undertaken.
A basic practical example of good governance would be where a member of a committee, with a vested interest in a topic being discussed at committee, would absent themselves from the discussion and not attempt to exert influence.
Criticisms of the approach abound. Variously, it is suggested that the paradigm is ultimately ahistorical and acontextual, ignoring the role of power, politics and social relations in forging the particular institutional structures of any given country. Thus it is accused of asserting technocratic solutions to political problems. As with other such 'prerequisite' models of development, debates continue as to whether 'good governance' is as much a product of growth as an input. Others (eg. Rodrik) suggest the evidence of sustained growth following a large number of institutional reforms is virtually non-existent, and that at the very least reforms should be prioritised and staggered.
