Lecture 1b 17-1-2024

HSS F362: Local Governance and
Participation
Lecture 1b : 17-1-2024
Mohan Kumar Bera

BITS Pilani Goa Campus
Difference between government and Governance
• The words ‘government’ and ‘governance’ are

often used interchangeably, though they are not
the same.
• (a) Government is a group of people who rule or

run the administration of a country.
– It is the body of representatives that governs and
controls the State at a given time. It is the medium
through which the power of the State is employed.
• Governance, is the act of governing or ruling.
– It is the set of rules and laws framed by the government that are to
be implemented through the representatives of the State.
– Governance is the physical exercise of the polity while the
government is the body through which this is done.
• (b) Government includes the regularised body of people who

run the administration of a country.
– There can be various forms of government like, democracy, autocracy
etc., they all serve the same purpose i.e., to drive the national wheel
• Governance is the act of ruling that comes after the

government is formed. It is a function of a government.
• (c) A government is a body entrusted with the power to

make and enforce laws to govern a country.
• Governance has features such as efficiency, accountability,

transparency, responsiveness, and equity
• (d) According to Rosenau, government and governance refer

to purposive behaviour, to goal-oriented activities, to system
of rule of law.
– Government suggests activities that are backed by formal authority,
by police powers to ensure the implementation of duly constituted
policies
– Governance refers to activities backed by shared goals that may or
may not derive from legal and formally prescribed responsibilities
and that do not necessarily rely on police powers to overcome
defiance and attain compliance.
 Polity is a form or process of civil government or constitution ;
 Politics is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power
relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status.
 Policy is a law, regulation, procedure, administrative action, incentive, or voluntary practice of governments and
other institutions. It is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol.
Concept of Governance
• The concept of governance had been in France in

fourteenth century. It meant ‘seat of government’.
• It has been derived from Greek word ‘Kybernan’ which

means ‘to steer and to pilot or be at the helm of things’
(Medury, 2010).
• Governance, in simple terms, means “the process of

decision-making and the process by which decisions are
implemented (or not implemented)”.
• The term ‘governance’ was first used by Harland Cleveland
(1972) as an alternative to public administration.
• According to Harland Cleveland, what people want is ‘less

government and more governance’.
• According to him “the organisations that get things done will no longer be
hierarchical pyramids with most of the real control at the top. They will be
systems – interlaced webs of tension in which control is loose, power
diffused and centres of decision plural…. Because organisations will be
horizontal, the way they are governed is likely to be more collegial,
consensual, and consultative. The bigger the problems to be tackled, the
more real power is diffused and the larger the number of persons who can
exercise it – if they work at it” (Frederickson, 2008).
• World Bank explained three aspects of governance:

– The form of a political regime (parliamentary or
presidential, military, or civilian, and authoritarian or
democratic);
– the processes by which authority is exercised in the

management of a country’s economic and social
resources; and
– the capacity of governments to design, formulate, and

implement policies, and, in general, to discharge
governmental functions.
• Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD) denotes “the use of political authority and exercise
of control in a society in relation to the management of its
resources for social and economic development”.
• The OECD mentioned following components of

governance:
– Legitimacy of government;
– Accountability of political and official elements of government;
– Competence of governments to make policy and deliver
services; and
– Respect for human rights and the rule of law.
Six sources of legitimacy
• As per the United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP) (1997) “the exercise of economic, political, and
administrative authority to manage a nation’s affairs at all
levels. It is the complex mechanisms, processes and
institutions through which citizens and groups articulate
their interests, exercise their legal rights and obligations, and
mediate their differences”.
• UNDP has mentioned the characteristics of good

governance viz., participation, rule of law,
transparency, responsiveness, consensus
orientation, equity, effectiveness and efficiency,
accountability, and strategic vision.
• United Nations Education and Social Cultural

Organisation (UNESCO) (1997) mentioned
governance as … “a process whereby citizens’ needs, and
interests are articulated for the positive social and economic
development of the entire society and in the light of a
perceived common good. Governance means more than
government: it refers to a political process that encompasses
the whole society and contributes to the making of citizens,
active contributors to the social contract that binds them
together. Their sense of political efficacy is one of the
indicators of democratic governance”.
Contexts of governance
• Governance as the Minimal State
– In this sense, governance redefines the extent and
form of public intervention and the use of markets
and quasi-markets to deliver ‘public’ services.
• The size of government was reduced by privatisation and

cuts in the size of the civil service
• Government creates major regulatory bodies

• Governance as Corporate Governance
– In this context, governance refers to “the system by which organisations

are directed and controlled” (Cadbury Report, 1992).
– It is the structure and the functioning of corporate policies.
– It is the mechanism by which corporations and managers are governed

(Holmstrom and Kaplan, 2001).
– The governance role is not concerned with running the business of the
company, per se, but with giving overall directions to the enterprise, with
overseeing and controlling the executive actions of management and with
satisfying legitimate expectations for accountability and regulation by the
interests beyond the corporate boundaries
– All companies need governing as well as managing (Tricker, 1984).

Corporate governance ensures business flexibility, market transparency,
corporate ethics and maintaining the monitoring standards.
• Governance as ‘Good Governance’
– The World Bank (1992) popularised the phrase ‘good governance’, which includes an
efficient public service, independent judicial system and legal framework and
accountable administration.
– good governance is a combination of the efficiency concerns of public management

and the accountability concerns of governance thereby enhancing the quality of
governance through empowerment, participation, accountability, equity, and justice
– The good governance agenda advocates freedom of information, a strong legal system
and efficient administration to help the underprivileged sections’ claim to equality;
but these have been most successful when backed up by strong political mobilisation
through social movements or political parties with a clear-cut mission.
– Good governance means bringing about goodness in all the three sectors:
government, civil society and corporate world including transnational corporations.
– Good governance is a tryst with trust, a commitment of the people for the people, a
social contract for the greatest good, the collective conscience of the community
Forms of governance
• Political
• Due to the global political and economic shifts, the nation states’ capacity to govern has been limited.
• There is a general feeling that there is a ‘hollowing out’ of the State.
• This has resulted in shifting of the power outwards to international financial markets, to global
companies to be able to move capital and other resources from one site of investment to another, and
to supra-national entities such as the World Bank or European Union.
• Power has also percolated downwards to the sub- national level of regions and cities.
• As a result of these changes, a series of reforms have taken place resulting in reduction in the size of
the machinery of government and its fragmentation.
• Under the new model of governance, the State is one of the actors in the process of governance along
with civil society, NGOs, and private sector. New strategies based on informal influence, enabling and
regulation have grown in importance.
• The State is now the ‘enabler’ rather than ‘doer’ and is being reinvented through reducing welfare
expenditure, retrenching public services, and contracting out functions to private agencies
Forms of governance
• Economic
• A central theme in the governance literature is the idea that markets,
hierarchies, and networks form alternative strategies of coordination.
• The governance, including those based on markets, hierarchies, and network,

are likely to coexist, with different institutional combinations in specific nations,
but with networks becoming increasingly significant (Newman, 2001).
• The neo-liberal political/economic regime of the 1980s and 1990s partly

dismantled the conception of the State as a direct service provider.
• The introduction of market mechanisms has led to a more fragmented and

dispersed pattern of service delivery and regulation that required new forms of
coordination.
• The states can no longer provide traditional public goods. Where the states
were once the masters of markets, now it is the markets which, on many crucial
issues, are the masters of the governments of the states (Strange, 1996).
Forms of governance
• Social
• Another form of analysis of governance is responding to complexity, diversity, and
dynamic changes in society.
• Kooiman and Van Vliet (1993), link governance to the need for an interactive form of
governing.
• The purpose of governance in our societies can be described as coping with the
problems but also the opportunities of complex, diverse, and fragmented societies.
• Governing in an interactive perspective is directed at the balancing of social interests

and creating the possibilities and limits of social actors and systems to organise
themselves.
• There seems to be a shift away from more traditional patterns in which governing was
basically seen as a ‘one way traffic’ from those governing to those governed, towards a
‘two way traffic’ model in which aspects, qualities, problems, and opportunities of both
the governing system and the system to be governed are taken into consideration.

Lecture 1b 17-1-2024

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Lecture 1b 17-1-2024

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Lecture 1b 17-1-2024

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

HSS F362: Local Governance and

Mohan Kumar Bera

• The words ‘government’ and ‘governance’ are

• (a) Government is a group of people who rule or

• (b) Government includes the regularised body of people who

• Governance is the act of ruling that comes after the

• (c) A government is a body entrusted with the power to

• Governance has features such as efficiency, accountability,

• (d) According to Rosenau, government and governance refer

• The concept of governance had been in France in

• It has been derived from Greek word ‘Kybernan’ which

• Governance, in simple terms, means “the process of

• According to Harland Cleveland, what people want is ‘less

• World Bank explained three aspects of governance:

– the processes by which authority is exercised in the

– the capacity of governments to design, formulate, and

• The OECD mentioned following components of

• UNDP has mentioned the characteristics of good

• United Nations Education and Social Cultural

• The size of government was reduced by privatisation and

• Government creates major regulatory bodies

– In this context, governance refers to “the system by which organisations

– It is the structure and the functioning of corporate policies.

– It is the mechanism by which corporations and managers are governed

– All companies need governing as well as managing (Tricker, 1984).

– good governance is a combination of the efficiency concerns of public management

• There is a general feeling that there is a ‘hollowing out’ of the State.

• The governance, including those based on markets, hierarchies, and network,

• The neo-liberal political/economic regime of the 1980s and 1990s partly

• The introduction of market mechanisms has led to a more fragmented and

• Governing in an interactive perspective is directed at the balancing of social interests

You might also like

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.