Since the introduction of liberal economic policies in 1991, governance has emerged as an important element in policy discourse. Policy makers stress on governance reforms for improved policy outcomes. But the precise meaning of governance is not very clear. Different meanings lead to different thrusts in proposing and executing reform agenda. I am thankful to Prof. Bipan Chandra for giving me an opportunity to clarify some of these meanings and identify the various dimensions of change that are occurring in the domain of public institutions in India.
It is fair to say that until the late 1980s, governance was not a word heard frequently within the development community. Today it is a buzzword used freely in most publications emanating from government departments, donor agencies and academics. It is heavily relied upon to explain developmental outcomes. International and multilateral aid-giving agencies have adopted it as a general guiding principle to improve the capability of the recipient countries to handle development assistance better and utilise it more efficiently. Policymakers in countries now place stress on governance reforms for improved policy outcomes. However, improving a country's capability to utilise aid better or work for improved developmental performance does not connote the same meanings to everyone. The meanings range from following liberal economic policies, to strengthening and reforming market institutions, building capacities of public institutions to perform, encouraging democratic participation through strengthening civil society institutions etc. Some meanings are concerned with reducing the role of the state in economic activities, others with strengthening state institutions to promote the role of market and yet others relate to the encouragement of democracy and participation. The reason for this lack of consensus in its conceptual meaning and how it can be applied concretely lies in the way governance enters common parlance. The result is that multilateral aid-giving agencies choose different meanings to emphasise the intervention strategy they want to follow to bring about changes in the recipient countries. Governance entered the Western social science vocabulary after gaining prominence in the discourse of practitioners. But the use and meaning of the concept take different hues and these are influenced by the way the concept has risen and entered different discourses.
Ascendancy of the Concept
The rise in the popularity in the use of the term governance is closely linked with the redefinition of the role of state. In the post World War II period, state was seen as an engine of growth, but with failures in development performance, it began to be blamed for all that had gone wrong. Ineffective development policies and poor implementation of these policies together with inefficient and incompetent absorption of international aid, triggered the search for alternative frameworks for policy making and alternative institutions for delivering public services.
Hindu (933)
Agriculture (120)
Ancient (1084)
Archaeology (754)
Architecture (563)
Art & Culture (911)
Biography (703)
Buddhist (544)
Cookery (167)
Emperor & Queen (564)
Islam (242)
Jainism (307)
Literary (896)
Mahatma Gandhi (373)
Send as free online greeting card
Email a Friend
Manage Wishlist