Public Governance
“Good Governance is perhaps the single most important factor in eradicating poverty and promoting development”
-Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan
In recent past, world is witnessing a convergence in the interests of Government, Business and Civil Society. This convergence has brought a shift in the thinking of people. As a result, the civil societies all over the world expect a certain responsible behavior from business as well as government. It has been well established through several studies and research findings that ‘Growth & Sustainable Development’ of societies cannot be attained by weak governance in any country. This has catapulted the issue of ‘Governance” to the ‘Global Center Stage.’
The foundation of society rests on the values, ethics and morals of the individuals who lead the country. Therefore, the need of intellectual honesty and value based leadership in public life cannot be over emphasized. As democracies have matured over time, it is imperative now, that a new generation of leadership govern these countries. This generation of leaders will have a different vision and mission for the world of 21st century. Improving Public Governance has been very effectively argued by David Osborne and Ted Gaebler in their book ‘Reinventing Government’. The book articulated a concept called The New Public Management (NPM), it applies ‘The Business Customer Service model’ to government. Citizens are seen as customers and the administrative role is streamlined by converting policy alternatives into market choices. This approach focuses on results and promotes competition inside and outside government.
Adopting New Public Management (NPM) concept as per the political, social and cultural context of a country holds the best prospects for raising the quality of public administration. Locally adapted NPM can indeed raise the quality of life as well as step up the rate of inclusive growth in developing countries, as has been the experience of USA and Britain. This is very well articulated in the book ‘Transforming Government through New Public Management’ by an eminent Indian author Pradip N Khandwalla, former professor and director of the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA).
In broader terms, World Bank and other multilateral development banks on good governance address economic institutions and public sector management, including transparency and accountability, regulatory reform, and public sector skills and leadership. Other organizations, like the United Nations, European Commission and OECD, highlight democratic governance and human rights, aspects of political governance more. Some of the issues that are treated under the governance programmes of various donors include election monitoring, political party support, combating corruption, building independent judiciaries, security sector reform, improved service delivery, transparency of government accounts, decentralization, civil and political rights, government responsiveness “forward vision”, and the stability of the regulatory environment for private sector activities.
“Governance and leadership are the yin and the yang of successful organisations. If you have leadership without governance you risk tyranny, fraud and personal fiefdoms. If you have governance without leadership you risk atrophy, bureaucracy and indifference.”
-Mark Goyder (Director of Tomorrow’s Company)
Credits:
Book: ‘Reinventing Government’ by David Osborne and Ted Gaebler
Book: ‘Transforming Government through New Public Management’ by an eminent Indian author Pradip N Khandwalla,
http://unu.edu/publications/articles/what-does-good-governance-mean.html