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World Bank defines governance as “the method through which power is exercised in the management of a country’s political, economic and social resource, But of late, it has placed special emphasis on governance issues like Transparency, accountability and judicial reforms. It has started looking at issues related to good governance.
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What
is Governance ?
UNDP
(The United Nations Development Programme) defines governance as “the exercise
of economic, political and administrative authority to manage a country’s
affairs at all levels. It comprises the mechanisms, processes and institutions,
through which citizens and groups articulate their interests, exercise their
legal rights, meet their obligations and mediate their differences”.
World Bank defines governance as “the method through which power is exercised in the management of a country’s political, economic and social resource, But of late, it has placed special emphasis on governance issues like Transparency, accountability and judicial reforms. It has started looking at issues related to good governance.
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A.
Distinguishing ‘governance’ from ‘government’
Governance
is what a government does. The government may be of different kinds. It might
be a geo-political government, a corporate government, a socio-political
government etc. The dynamic exercise of management of power and policy is known
as governance, while the governments act as the instrument that does it.
B.
Different Aspects of term “Governance”
This
term “governance” is very broad and includes all formal and informal
organizations; and can be used as suffix to a wide array of processes of
governing such as Public Governance, Private Governance, Global Governance,
Corporate Governance, Non-Profit Governance, Project Governance, Environmental
Governance, Internet Governance, Meta Governance and so on. They are discussed
briefly as follows:
C. Public
Governance
Public
Governance is simply the interaction between government and other actors of the
social sphere and the process of decision making in public policy sphere. It
serves the citizens by safeguarding territorial integrity of the state,
securing individual security, rule of law, and delivery of services such as
education, health, livelihood and food security. There are three broad ways of
public governance:
· Top to bottom methods which include
various tiers of government and state bureaucracy
· The networks involving public-private
partnerships (PPP) or with the collaboration of community organisations;
· The use of market mechanisms whereby
market principles of competition serve to allocate resources while operating
under government regulation;
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D. Private
governance
Private
governance is when the Non-governmental / private entities make rules and
standards which have a binding effect on life of public at large. This implies
that in private governance, private entities make public policy. In India,
examples of such mode of governance can be seen to limited extent in Special
Economic Zones and Industrial townships.
E. Global
governance
This
refers to the complex of formal and informal institutions, mechanisms,
relationships, and processes between and among nations, markets, citizens and
organizations, both inter- and non-governmental, through which collective
interests on the global plane are articulated, right and obligations are
established, and differences are mediated”.
F. Corporate governance
This
term is used to describe the manner in which corporations are governed and the
laws / custom that applies to such governance. The key players in corporate
governance include shareholders, management, board of directors and other
stakeholders such as employees, suppliers, customers, credtors, banks and
government bodies.
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G. Project governance
This
term is generally used in the IT sector and describes the processes that are
needed for a successful project.
H. Environmental governance
Environmental
governance refers to all processes of governing via various laws, norms, power
or language with focus on environmental protection and sustainability. It
covers all environment related laws, bodies, rules, regulations, stakeholders
and public at large.
I. Internet governance
This
refers to the development and application of shared principles, norms, rules,
decision-making procedures, and programs that shape the evolution and use of
the Internet.
J.
Electronic governance / E-Governance
E-Governance
refers to application ICT for delivering government services, exchange of
information, communication transactions, integration of various stand-alone
systems and services between government-to-customer (G2C),
government-to-business (G2B); government-to-government (G2G) as well as back
office processes and interactions within the entire government framework
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K.
Information Technology governance
IT
governance primarily deals with connections between business focus and IT
management. The goal of clear governance is to assure the investment in IT
generate business value and mitigate the risks that are associated with IT
projects.
L.
Participatory Governance
This
refers to governance which focuses on deepening the democratic engagement
through the participation of citizens in the processes of governance with the
state. It emphasizes that the citizens should play more direct roles in public
decision-making or at least engage more deeply with political issues. The
my.gov.in platform is an example of participatory governance. It is different
from “collaborative governance” which uses a relationship management structure,
joint performance and transformation management processes and an exit
management plan as controlling mechanisms to encourage the organizations to
make ethical, proactive changes for the mutual benefit of all the parties.
M.
Metagovernance
Metagovernance
is a normative concept referring to “governing of governing”. It represents the
ethical norms which shape and steer the entire governing process.
N. Good
governance
Good
governance is a normative concept which describes how the public institutions
ought to conduct public policy and manage public resources. It encompasses full
respect of effective participation, human rights, the rule of law, multi-actor
partnerships, and accountable processes, political pluralism, transparent and
institutions, an efficient and effective public sector, legitimacy, access to
knowledge, information and education, political empowerment of people, equity,
sustainability, and attitudes and values that foster responsibility, solidarity
and tolerance.
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