What is Governance
Governance can be termed as a system where in services to citizens are provided by the administration through a controlling mechanism with four phases, namely - information, interaction, transaction and transformation.
These steps constitute a complete cycle, starting with a person gathering information about citizen services and eventually availing it to deliver end result – transformation. A country with such a system which permits flow of entire cycle without any hindrance, can be said to possess and practice good governance.
Some of the definitions of governance accepted worldwide are:
- Governance is the exercise of political, economic and administrative authority to manage a nation's affairs.
- 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)
- Governance is the manner in which power is exercised in the management of a country's social and economic resources for development. Governance means the way those with power use that power. (ADB)
- Governance is "... the traditions and institutions by which authority in a country is exercised for the common good. This includes (i) the process by which those in authority are selected, monitored and replaced, (ii) the capacity of the government to effectively manage its resources and implement sound policies, and (iii) the respect of citizens and the state for the institutions that govern economic and social interactions among them. " (World Bank).
Essentially, governance is a continuous interplay of three elements:
- Institutions - formal and informal; -these bring predictability, stability and efficiency in interfaces and transaction
- Delivery mechanism - the apparatus used to implement the agenda/objectives of the institutions
- Rules and procedures - formulated to deliver and meet the tasks of the institutions
