Good governance
Topic: Transparency, Accountability and e-Governance · NCERT: Class 6, Ch 10 "Grassroots Democracy – Part 1: Governance"; Class 6, Ch 12 "Grassroots Democracy – Part 3: Local Government in Urban Areas"
Meaning
Good governance means using power in a way that is participatory, transparent, accountable, responsive, efficient and equitable (fair to all), and that follows the rule of law. Governance is the process of using authority. Markets and civil society also take part in it, not just the government. The World Bank's Governance and Development (1992) described governance as the way power is used to manage a country's resources for development. UNESCAP lists eight features of good governance. In India, the 2nd ARC linked good governance to ethics and to citizen-centric administration. India's ideas on this go back to Kautilya's rajadharma, the king's duty to govern well.
Example
India marks Good Governance Day on 25 December. When an RTI request led to an unfinished road in Bagepalli being completed, that showed transparency and accountability working together.
Don't confuse with
- Government: this is the set of institutions that rule. Good governance is about how well power is used, and non-state actors take part in it too.
Related concepts
- Good Governance Day
- Minimum government, maximum governance
- Transparency
- Vertical accountability
- Horizontal accountability