Author of machiavelli.net, proud father of three, interested in shaping network society. Welcome to my blog.Do you speak Good Governance?
At the dinner table last night, in a beautiful house overlooking the grand Mexican Flag on Cerro del Opispado, I sensed a sadness that I had not felt since discussions with Central and Eastern European policy makers around our very similar dinner table in Munich, Germany in the early 1990s. Our hosts here in Monterrey were arguing that for more than 20 years, they had hoped that if the vote would matter, if democracy would arrive, everything would change. And now six years later, they were still fighting their battles for integrity and honesty, and they did not feel that the country was moving forward, as they voiced their frustration that the country was not governed well.
When I ask my students at the Graduate School for Public Administration and Public Policy what governance means in Spanish, most answer with gobernabilidad. When I tell them that I prefer to say gobernanza, they laugh out loud at my Spanish.
Gobernanza (Governance) as a concept is not commonly employed in Spanish. It was first used in England in 1380 by John Wycliff, the reformer and bible translator, as a concept that allows us to compare different ways of governing.
For 600 years languages like Spanish or German could happily ignore this concept. However, in the last years word has become fashionable, mainly for three reasons. Governments are loosing the capability to take decisions for their populations as alternative actors (business, civil society) are taking up governmental functions, are “doing governanceâ€, globalization has led to us to call for global governance (not global government), and the move towards a customer orientation in public administration has empowered the voices calling for good governance.
As we are expecting a new administration in office in December, the following seven principles can be used to hold any politician, public administrator, and other actors involved in public life accountable.
Rule of law: A society needs to implement the rule of law. This means that the law is above any individual actor or group, even the most powerful. The law must be equally valid for all members of the society. The legal system must provide justice and equal treatment for all groups and individuals of the society. This includes the observation of human rights.
Functions of the state: The state must have a monopoly over the legitimate use of force in society and guarantee the enforcement of its laws. The state must also offer a political process that guarantees the participation of all members of its society through some type of representative process, and ensure that its checks and balances work properly. Beyond these functions, the state is an institution that must work to maximize the benefits of all of its members.
Securing fair competition: In order to make market economies work efficiently, an effective economic framework is required. The state has to assure that contracts are enforced (which requires an efficient legal and juridical system), a stable currency (which requires consistent monetary policy and well-regulated financial markets), and that fair competition is guaranteed (which requires antitrust legislation, consumer protection legislation, intellectual property legislation).
Internalization of external effects: The state is responsible for minimizing the negative side effects of production. If a producer is able to shift the costs of environmental pollution to the public, this externalization has the effect of an (undesired) subsidy to the producer and regulatory intervention is necessary.
Public goods: Good governance requires the state to provide public goods which, by definition, are not provided by a market, such as internal and external security (police/military), a basic infrastructure for transportation and communication, the preservation of the society’s cultural heritage, basic education, and a social policy that guarantees residents a minimum income and health care. Although the quality and quantity of public goods depends on the economic wealth and foundational philosophy of a society, without these goods a successful society cannot exist.
Education: The state has the responsibility to make optimal use of the intellectual resources of its society. This includes giving all children access to affordable education according to their abilities and protecting them from exploitation for short term gains, thereby securing a society’s longer term investment in adequate education.
Regional integration and global compatibility: In a globalizing world, economies and societies cannot exist self-sufficiently. Therefore, they need to make themselves more compatible to other societies by adhering to global economic and social standards and integrating into larger markets. This requires a state structure that can guarantee fair domestic competition even against powerful external investors. Regional integration is not merely about issues such as reduction of custom rates; it should focus on the harmonization of legal rules and standards in order to create viable markets and on accords with neighbors centering on the provision of regional public goods (security, water, environment, etc.).
Implementing good governance will have a greater impact on the success or failure of Mexico than any Mexican President or party. And it is time that Mexico’s citizens hold all political leaders, all public administrators, and private sector actors that impact public life accountable to the seven principles of good governance. With Central and Eastern Europeans from countries that have adhered to these principles, we have had much happier conversations around the dinner table in 2006 than in 1993 – let us hope for the same in Mexico in 2007.
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gobernanza
1. f. Arte o manera de gobernar que se propone como objetivo el logro de un desarrollo económico, social e institucional duradero, promoviendo un sano equilibrio entre el Estado, la sociedad civil y el mercado de la economÃa.
2. f. ant. Acción y efecto de gobernar o gobernarse.
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