FEM 3335Good Governance and

Sustainability

Assoc Prof Dr Sharifah Norazizan Syed Abd Rashid, APPMDepartment of Social & Development Science

Faculty of Human Ecology

Universiti Putra Malaysia

sharifah@putra.upm.edu.my

Content

• Sustainability and Good Governance• Characteristics of Good Governance• Innovative Management• Assessment Technique to Achieve Sustainability• Sustainable Planning Technique

Sustainability and Good Governance

• Sustainability cannot be achieved without good governance. The Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002 stated that governance and sustainable development are intimately tied together and the future role of institutions, from local to international levels, will be crucial determinants to whether future policies and programs for sustainable development will succeed.

• The traditional systems of regulations are being subjected to growing pressure for reform. All stakeholders including the government need to play a significant, if changed, role in the future. Sustainable development requires this change.

Sustainability and Good Governance

• Such an intra- and intergenerational concept cannot be achieved with a top-down approach, but rather needs the participation of all. In fact, the governance of sustainable development requires the exploration of new forms of both social co-operation and confrontation. By doing so, the different levels (global and local), players (state, company and civil society), control structures (hierarchy, market and public-private) and fields of action need to be taken into consideration.

• There is thus the need to examine the possibilities of integrating the environmental, social and economic dimensions of sustainable development within the framework of governance processes and how that might steer societies towards sustainability.

The Different Levels of Governance

• International level • National level

Government Private sector Civil society

• Local level • Family level

New Challenge of the Century – The Changing Roles of the Government, Private Sectors, NGOs and the Community

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What is Meant by Good Governance?

• Definition of Governance• Definition of Good Governance• Concept and Elements of Good Governance• Characteristics of Good Governance

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What is Governance

• A PROCESS• NOT equivalent to government• It involves multiple stakeholders in society (in

multiple roles) IndividualsMembers of community/groups with specific

groups interest and concernsSectoral entities with sectoral interests and

concernsThe whole society

Governance is about…

• Striking a BALANCE in attending to and providing for the needs and interests of its multiple stakeholders

• SAFEGUARDING the interest of the WHOLE

STEERING SOCIETY TOWARDS A SPECIFIC AGREED VISION OR GOAL

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What is meant by Governance?

Governance can be seen as the exercise of economic, political, and administrative authority to manage a country’s affairs at all level. It comprises the mechanisms, processes and institutions through which citizen and groups articulate their rights and interests, exercise their legal means to meet their obligations and mediate their differences (UNDP)

DEFINING GOVERNANCE

The manner in which power is exercised in the management of a country’s economic

and social resources for development

World Bank

The exercise of economic, political and

administrative authority to manage

a country’s affairs at all levels …

equitable, rule of law, with consensus

UNDP

Key issues

• “Governance”- how power is shared and distributed to generate a better quality of life

• People Development• Equitable Access• Indigenous Content Development• Pressures for Change

Pressure for Change

Globalized economy

Shrinking resources

Environmentaldegradation

Government

Private Sector Community

Information Revolution And ICT Convergence= Knowledge explosion

Rise of Third Sector

Informed citizenry

What are some of the Challenges?

• Government– Become more Facilitative, Open & Transparent

• Private Sector– Go beyond the Profit motif, and Help society value

• Community– Become more Participative and more Tolerant of each other

• Leaders (all sectors)– Become more facilities (focus on building and enhancing Understanding)– focus more on institutional and capacity building

What does a good Government should be?

• Not just representative but fully participatory affording opportunities for people to express their voice, opinion and make choices;

• Must be dynamic and changing but the core values do not get diminished;

• Must not be a separate entity but a continuum of the civil society;

• Allows full participation, uphold visions and values of its peoples, translate them into policies and allocate resources to convert policy into reality;

• Should be open and not closed;

• Must be people friendly and human;

• Uphold public interest

ANY GOVERNMENT WHICH HAS THE ABOVE CHARACTERISTICS CAN BE CONSIDERED AS PRACTICING GOOD GOVERNANCE.

What is Good Governance?

Good Governance is among other things, participatory, transparent and accountable. It is also effective and equitable and it promotes the Rule of Law. Good governance ensures that political, social and economic priorities are based on broad consensus in society and that the voice of the poorest and the most vulnerable are heard in decision making over the allocation of development

processes.

Nine Characteristics/Principles of Good Governance

1. Participant2. Rule of law3. Transparency4. Responsiveness5. Consensus orientation6. Equity7. Effectiveness and efficiency8. Accountability9. Strategic visionRefer : PRINCIPLES OF GOOD GOVERNANCE.docx

The Concept and Element of Good Governance

1. The Concept

Governance encompasses the state, but it transcends the state by including the private sector and civil society organizations. The private sector covers private enterprise (manufacturing, trade banking, cooperatives and so on) and the informal sector in the market place.

Civil society, lying between the individual and the state, comprises individuals and groups (organized or unorganized) interacting socially, politically and economically, regulated by formal and informal rules and laws.

• The Concept of Good Governance normally encompasses a large range of concerns, including the effectiveness of institutional arrangements, decision making processes, policy formulation, implementation capacity, information flows, and the nature of the relationship between rulers and the ruled. It involves a comprehensive view of the government decision making process.

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2. The Element

Two Aspects To Governance

i. The formal structure within which the local governments operate, and

ii. The ways in which local governments act in relation to the wider community

An essential element of good governance in the context of the ways in which local authorities relate to their communities is ‘inclusiveness

Good Governance

• Implies a participatory and an inclusive approach to the community at large. It implies a bottom up approach to decision making, having all concerned people at every level of government and non governmental organizations.

• A good governance system is a democratic system – it is participatory, transparent, accountable, equitable, and it promotes the rule of law. This implies the creation of an institutional framework recognizing the legitimacy the will of the people.

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Assessing Governance

• Governance is a process that has a goal

• The governance process is based on PEOPLE via human networks or institutions (formal or informal)

• How the human networks /institutions participate in or carry out the process of governance is how governance is usually assessed (i.e., ‘good’ vs ‘bad’ governance)

GOOD VERSUS BAD GOVERNANCE

Governance is the exercise of authority and participation of citizen in policy making process. Governance fulfill the following 4 function:

• Policy making and implementation;• Perform regulatory actions; • Produce goods and services;• Provide public access to goods and services

For Governance to be GOOD, the state must not only perform the above functions effectively but must ensure that citizens are able to participate in the decision making process.

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ASSESSING THE TRADITIONAL APPROACH TO

GOVERNANCE

Traditional Approach to Governance

Elements:• Government leads• Hierarchical model• Centralized decision-

making• Top-down processes• Authority and influence

based on positions of power within the hierarchy

• Information flow limited and controllable (mostly 1 way communication)

• Transparency on a need to know basis

Government

Private

Sector

Community

Community

Sustaining and Improving Quality of Life

Private

Creating Value

Public

Preserving Rule of Law

Maintaining Order, Ensuring Social, Economic Justice

M= The Marginalized Governance

Process

The WHOLE Greater Than the sum of its parts

M

M

M

A Smart-Partnership-based Governance Approach

Ideal characteristics of the alternative approach

• Integrated and holistic

• Premised upon knowledge and expertise as a source of authority and influence

• Prioritizes communication & info-sharing transparency, shared accountability, mutual respect and trust

• Leverages on partnership that focuses on better quality of life for all as the end of goal

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How to best handle the process of ‘opening-up’ to ensure justice

for all

Local Governance in Malaysia – Problems

• Getting less attention and prominence• Supposed to work for people instead takes

orders from higher authority• Failed to understand the problems, needs

and aspirations of the local people.

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Problems encountered by Local Government

• Lack of authority and autonomy• Staff lack motivation and commitment to serve• Lack efficiency – red tapes and bureaucracy• Lack motivation where problem solving is based on

‘std’ procedure and little room for innovation

Public Management: Evolutions and Changes

• The old public management bureacratic style, ineffective management ↓• The new public management: market-driven approach, effective management, social

disappointments ↓

• Good governance new syntesis and maturity - aimed to reach sustainable

growth and public sector efficiency , as well as citizens satisfaction and social welfare

Urban Management -the process of good governance

• Continuous processes -- planning-implementation-evaluation-feedback, etc.technical process -- multi disciplinary actorspolitical decision making process -- multi

stakeholders (public-private-community-mass media)

• Participation-transparency-equity-accountability, etc.

Urban Management : the input -- institutions

• Political support & commitment public-private-community participation

• Supporting resources law & regulation organization human resources finance

• Leadership to do the right thing

Urban Management the forces -- globalization

• External / global forcesborderless world, rapid changes, high

uncertainty, etc.

• Internal / local pressureslocal needs, local culture, etc.

UM to Reach Sustainability:the institutional system

• How to manage the institutional system => sustainable economically, socially, culturally, and environmentally legalorganizationhuman resources finance

Conclusion

• Local governance must change to keep pace with development and time

• Local authority must be at par with others with the advancement of technology, local bureaucrats could not longer hide behind red tapes for the inefficiency and inability to deliver a certain standard of services to the people.

Conclusions

• Today, there is almost full concensus among social stakeholders: modern public management requires implementation of good governance principles.

• Good goivernance is a policy approach aimed to increase public sector efficiency and citizens satisfaction from having responsible and commited government.

• Good governance in global context: require learning and sharing knowledge and practices among scientists, policymakers, practitioners, NGOs from many countries.

Discussion

1. What do you think good governance is when you hear that expression in everyday life?

2. Compare and contrast on the strengths and weaknesses of the traditional and new approach to governance.

Reference:

• Sharifah Norazizan Syed Abd Rashid et al (2002) “Cities in the 21st Century : Urban Issues and Challenges”, Penerbit UPM

• Patsy Healey et al (1995) “Managing Cities : The New Urban Context” John Wiley and Sons.

• http://www.uneca.org/itca/governance/Governance.htm• http://www.iog.ca/• http://www.hcmripa.gov.in/ggovern.html 47

Thank You