WHAT IS GOOD GOVERNANCE?

Good governance is about the processes for making

and implementing decisions. Its not about making
correct decisions, but about the best possible
process for making those decisions.
Good decision-making processes, and therefore good
governance, share several characteristics. All have a
positive effect on various aspects of local
government including consultation policies and
practices, meeting procedures, service quality
protocols, councillor and officer conduct, role
clarification and good working relationships.
Participation
All men and women should have a voice in decision-making, either directly or
through legitimate intermediate institutions that represent their interests. Such
broad participation is built on freedom of association and speech, as well as
capacities to participate constructively.
Rule of law
Legal frameworks should be fair and enforced impartially, particularly the laws
on human rights.
Transparency
Transparency is built on the free flow of information. Processes, institutions
and information are directly accessible to those concerned with them, and
enough information is provided to understand and monitor them.
Responsiveness
Institutions and processes try to serve all stakeholders.
Consensus orientation
Good governance mediates differing interests to reach a broad consensus on
what is in the best interests of the group and,. where possible, on policies and
procedures.

 Equity
All men and women have opportunities to improve or maintain their wellbeing.
Effectiveness and efficiency
Processes and institutions produce results that meet needs while making the
best use of resources.
Accountability
Decision-makers in government, the private sector and civil society
organizations are accountable to the public, as well as to institutional
stakeholders. This accountability differs depending on the organisations and
whether the decision is internal or external to an organisation.
Strategic vision
Leaders and the public have a broad and long-term perspective on good
governance and human development, along with a sense of what is needed for
such development. There is also an understanding of the historical, cultural and
social complexities in which that perspective is grounded.

A state is a type of polity that is an organized political community living under a

single system of government.[1] States may or may not be sovereign. For instance,federated
states are members of a federal union, and may have only partial sovereignty, but are,
nonetheless, states.[1] Some states are subject to external sovereignty orhegemony, in which
ultimate sovereignty lies in another state.[2] States that are sovereign are known as sovereign
states.

The term "state" can also refer to the secular branches of government within a state, [3] often
as a manner of contrasting them with churches and civilian institutions.

Speakers of American English often use the terms state and government as synonyms,[note
1]

with both words referring to an organized political group that exercisesauthority over a

particular territory.[4]

Many human societies have been governed by states for millennia, but many have
been stateless societies. Over time a variety of different forms developed, employing a
variety of justifications of legitimacy for their existence (such as the divine right of kings, the
theory of social contract, etc.). In the 21st century, the modern nation-state is the
predominant form of state to which people are subjected.

Governance refers to "all of processes of governing, whether undertaken by a government, market

or network, whether over a family, tribe, formal or informal organization or territory and whether
through the laws, norms, power or language."[1] It relates to "the processes of interaction and
decision-making among the actors involved in a collective problem that lead to the creation,
reinforcement, or reproduction of social norms and institutions."[2]
A variety of entities (known generically as governing bodies) can govern. The most formal is
a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a
given geopolitical system (such as a state) by establishing laws. Other types of governing bodies are
possible. These include an organization (such as acorporation recognized as a legal entity by a
government), a socio-political group (chiefdom, tribe, family, religious denomination, etc.), or another,
informal group of people.
Whatever form the entity takes, its governance is the way the rules, norms and actions are
produced, sustained, regulated and held accountable. The degree of formality depends on the
internal rules of a given organization. As such, governance may take many forms, driven by many
different motivations and with many different results. For instance, a government may operate as
a democracy where citizens vote on who should govern and the public good is the goal, while a nonprofit organization may be governed by a small board of directors and pursue more specific aims.
In addition, a variety of external actors without decision-making power can influence the process of
governing. These include lobbies, political parties, and the media).