The Search for GoodGovernance

The Role of State

B, Guy PetersDepartment of Political Science

University of Pittsburgh

Crucial Questions

• Quality of Life

• Policy Capacity

• Transparency and Democracy

• But Not Easy to Attain

What is Governance?• Numerous Definitions

• Focus on Steering and Management

• And Focus on Who Gets What?

• Various Elements

Goal Setting Coherence Implementation Feedback and Accountability

What is Good Governance?

• Numerous Definitions

• Academic and Practical

• All Have Some Validity

• All Have Some Weaknesses

Options

• Anti-Corruption

• Service State

• Democracy

• Effective Service Provision

What is the Role of the State?

• Fashionable to Denigrate

New Public Management Networks Markets in Development

• But Remains Central• And Is Being Brought Back (Again)

The Bureaucracy as theCentral Institution

• Not to Denigrate Legislatures and Political Executives

• But Bureaucracies are Central to Governance

• Why?

Deliver Services

• Determine Who Gets What

• Major Locus for Efficiency Gains

• Major Potential Locus for Corruption (more retail than wholesale however)

Contact With Society

• Almost Daily Contacts

• Style as well as Substance

• Importance of Representative Bureaucracy

Locus for Democracy

• May Seem Contradictory

• Development of “Output Democracy”

• Participation Around Specific Facilities and Programs

Importance of the Lower Levels of the Bureaucracy

• The Street Level

• Where Government Meets the People

• Interactions

But Not the State Alone

• Limited Capacities

• Leverage Resources

• “Governing at A Distance

• But in Turn Requires Developing Civil Society and Markets

But How Do We Build Effective States and Bureaucracies?

• Difficult

• Build the Bureaucracy First

• And A Weberian Bureaucracy

• Fight Corruption

• Build Programs

Virtuous and Vicious Cycles in Governance

• Effectiveness

• Legitimacy

• Can Go in Either Direction

• Effectiveness May be Easier to Manipulate

• Hence Importance of Governance

Conclusion

• Governance Is Central for Promoting Collective Goals

• The State is Crucial For Governance

• Now the Difficult Task is Building Strong State

• But More than Just Effective and Efficient

• Must Recognize Other Values