Assignment

On
Good Governance: Meaning, Barriers and its
establishment in our society

Submitted To
M. kazi Tamim Rahman
Lecturer
Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology
Faculty of Business Administration and Management

Submitted By
Shofiq uddin khan
Roll no. 023; reg. no.00682
Level-3, semester-2
Session: 2004-05
Faculty of Business Administration and Management

Patuakhali science and Technology University

Chapters Topic Head

Summary

Chapter I Meaning of Governance

Introduction to Meaning of Good Governance

Good Governance
Features of Good Governance

Chapter II Good Governance and Bangladesh

Establishment of
Good Governance
in Bangladesh

Chapter III Impediments toward Good Governance in

Bangladesh
Barriers of Good
Governance in
Bangladesh

Chapter IV Conclusion

Conclusion and Recommendations

Recommendation
s

References
Summary

The terms government and governance are currently in widespread

use sometimes interchangeably. Particularly governance is a new
buzzword, which is connected with functionality, process, goals
performance co-ordination, outcomes, consultants, engagement and
societal guidance. The word “Good Governance” is wide in use as to
create a condition and effective promotion of participation,
accountability, transparency and responsiveness of the government. In
the context of globalization the issue of good governance has gained a
pivotal concern and has also been given paramount importance in the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Poverty Reduction Strategy
(PRS). Bangladesh government has adopted a number of policies to
ensure democratic governance through development planning
(developing a requirement of future actions consciously/caring
environment) to reduce the poverty. Ensuring good governance,
sustainable development and reducing the poverty in rural areas are
the formidable challenges in Bangladesh. In response to this need,
training course for functionaries of nation building organizations at
district and Upazila level as well as the NGO professionals who are
working at the grassroots level might be an impressive step in
continuing the development process.
Meaning of Governance

There is no doubt that today governance has become the focal

discourse of contemporary development and got serious attention from
development practitioners, policymakers, policy analysts and
international development agencies both in Bangladesh and across the
globe. Though its importance has got universal acceptance, it is not
defined in a uniform way by the theoreticians and practitioners. Even,
there is no widely accepted single definition of governance itself. In
simple wording, governance refers to 'the process of decision making
and the process by which decisions are implemented (or not
implemented)'. In its broader perspective governance involves actions
of publicly vested authorities. However, the concern of all and any
governance analyses moves around three fundamental questions:
What, How and How well.

The concept of governance is not new. It is as old as of social life

human civilization. When humans started to live in the society or social
life the concept started. There was no social system in the world when
governance was not implemented, either good or bad. After much
change in the course of time, we have got the present figure of
governance. An analysis of governance focuses on the formal and
informal factors involved in decision making and implementing the
decisions made and the formal and informal structures that have been
set in place. Government is one of the factors in governance. Other
factors involved in governance vary depending on the level of
government that is under discussion. At the national level, can be
added the media, lobbyists, international donors, multinationals
corporations etc. These all may play a role in decision making or
influencing the decision making process.

The relationship between good governance and democracy could be

seen in a linear way. However, democracy not only makes a difference,
but it would also be the basic ingredient and major prerequisite for all
other items included in the core characteristics of good governance. All
factors other than government and the military are grouped together
as part of the civil society.

Meaning of Good Governance

Governance can be viewed both in positive and negative terms (1)

Good governance and (2) Poor governance. Good governance means
an ideal governing system that is inevitable for political, economic,
social and cultural development of a country. It is the ideal orientation
of a state that works best to achieve self-reliance, sustainable
development and social justice.

According to V.K. Chopra, good governance is, "a system of

governance that is able to unambiguously identify the basic values of
the society where values are economic, political and socio-culture
issues including human rights, and pursue these values through an
accountable and honest administration."

Features of Good Governance

Good Governance consists of 8 major characteristics. These are:

1. Participation, 2. Rule of Law, 3.Transparency, 4. Consensus, 5.

Equity and Inclusiveness, 6. Effectiveness and Efficiency, 7.
Responsiveness and 8. Accountability. These criteria assure that:

Corruption is minimized
The views of minorities are taken into account
The voice of the most vulnerable in society is heard in decision
making
It is also responsive to the present and future needs of society.

PARTICIPATION
A key cornerstone of good governance is participation by both
men and women.
Participation needs to be informed and organized.
Involving all groups of stakeholders and taking into due
consideration their opinions.
It could be either direct or through legitimate intermediate
institutions or representatives.

RULE OF LAW
Good governance requires fair legal frameworks that are
enforced impartially
Most important point is full protection of human rights particularly
those of minorities
Impartial enforcement of laws requires an independent judiciary
and an impartial and incorruptible police force.

TRANSPARENCY
It means that decisions taken and their enforcement are done in
a manner that follows rules and regulations
Information flow must be free and directly accessible to those
who will be affected by such decisions and their enforcement.
 Enough information is provided and that are provided in easily
understandable forms and media.

RESPONSIVENESS
Good governance requires that institutions and process try to
serve all stakeholders within a reasonable timeframe.

CONSENSUS
It requires a broad and long-term perspective on what is needed
for sustainable human development and how to achieve the
goals of such development.
Good governance requires mediation of different interests to
reach a broad consensus in society on what is in the best
interest of the whole community and how this can be achieved.

EQUITY AND INCLUSIVENESS

It must ensure that society's all members feel that they all have
a stake in it and do not feel excluded from the mainstream of
society.
This requires all groups but especially the most vulnerable in
society should have opportunity to improve or maintain their
wellbeing.

EFFECTIVENESS AND EFFICIENCY

This meets the needs of society by efficient process and

institutions produce result while making the best use of
resources at their disposal.
Efficiency also covers the protection of environment and
sustainable use of natural resources.

ACCOUNTABILITY
Government institutions as well as private sectors must be
accountable to the public about their respective acts.
 Organizations and institutions have to be concerned about
those who will be affected by their decisions or actions.
Accountability has to be imposed on every steps of society.

Good Governance and Bangladesh

Before going to the discussion of needed reforms in governance field

according to my thought' I would focus on the criteria-wise picture of
good governance in Bangladesh.

PARTICIPATION: YET TO AVAIL MUCH

Though participation is a key cornerstone of good governance, in
Bangladesh participation of both men and women is not yet equal. In
the UN Millennium Report 2006, the Secretary General emphasized
that "better governance means greater participation. For Bangladesh
participation is important for three basic reasons:

Firstly: Active participation creates an opportunity to get a better

picture of the reality on the ground, which greatly helps in project
design.

Secondly: Through participation a development agency can gather and

knowledge on important issues.

Thirdly: It helps give a sense of ownership of the project to the

community, which significantly contributes to sustainability.

It should be necessary to involve all groups of stakeholders and take

into due consideration their opinions and views in all stages of project
cycle from design through monitoring and evolution. In our country
many development projects have been notorious for their 'top-down'
approach to designing and lack of genuine willingness to involve the
poor in the management of such project.
RULE OF LAW: FAR BEHIND
In Bangladesh judiciary is not free from bureaucratic dominance and
corruption. It is entangled with administration. Now the reform of the
judiciary is the most important point of good governance. Nowadays it
is like a longstanding demand of the civil society to separate the
judiciary from the administration. Judicial system must have a positive
impact because it is a way by which the rule of law and justice in the
society has to be ensured. If the judicial system is not transparent, it is
impossible to maintain human rights, particularly those of the
minorities. For maintaining good governance, the rule of law also
needs an impartial and incorruptible police force what we still do not
have.

TRANSPARENCY: THAT EVER REMAIN PAPERWORK

Transparency is a keyword of good governance. Both private and
government sectors should be transparent, especially for those who
are affected by such decision and their enforcement. Recently, an
independent Anti-Corruption Commission has been introduced to
prevent corruption. The commission's main target is to ensure
transparency. But the commission has failed to fulfill the target
because it is dependent on the government for its financial support
that may put some pressure on them from the government side.

The President can appoint the head of the commission who is

appropriate for it and ensure a good environment by which the
commission will work independently without fear and favor. I think
transparency should be in every sector of governance such as the rule
of law, justice, election commission and work plan what is made by the
actors of the governance.

RESPONSIVENESS: MERE VAGUE TERM FOR US

Responsiveness is one of the prime components of good governance.
Nowadays it is also a prime concern of development critics,
practitioners and of course the general people. Earlier it was discussed
on what philosophy a state is formed and on which principle a
government runs. The PSR as being representatives of the government
and as being the servants of the people take oath to serve the people.
This is expected not only because the people just elect or select them.
The people also carry the expenses of the PSR and pay taxes beyond
their salaries. So both legally and ethically they are bound to serve the
people with their best effort.

CONSENSUS ORIENTATION: RATHER A FANTASY

It is a big question, how much it is possible to arrive at a general
consensus for any matter in a country, where illiteracy is widespread;
public opinion is easily influenced by the social and political elite.
Another big problem is the lack of proper technique and methodology
to find out a general agreement.

EQUITY AND INCLUSIVENESS: MILES TO GO

The picture of governance in this criterion is more disappointing. With
days passing by common people in Bangladesh are getting more and
more unconcerned about state decisions and rather getting to feel
themselves helpless only to accept whatever comes in their fate. So,
people are becoming more and more individualized having very little
care for the society in large. When this is the deep-rooted situation of
us, we have miles to go to claim a level of equity and inclusiveness.

EFFECTIVENESS AND EFFICIENCY: EVER WITH A QUESTION MARK

Though in line with modern time we are getting habituated with
technology widely, still we are not overcoming the age-old raggedness
and inefficiency. Efficiency is not only at the apparent level of the
things; it should be rather in the very act of handling the crises and
managing the systems systematically.

ACCOUNTABILITY: IS IT FUTILE TERM?

If accountability is found in every sector, transparency also will work. It
is very important for our country at this time. It is possible to fight
against corruption by implementing a strong accountability system. It
is fully helpful to reduce corruption from government bodies and it will
definitely help increase economic growth and reduce poverty. The
reality is very different from the above written words. In almost all
organizations, accountability along the organizational hierarchy exists;
although question remains about their effectiveness. However,
accountability towards below hardly exists in many organizations.
Unless systems are developed and put in place to ensure
accountability towards below it may become difficult to achieve
desired result.

Impediments toward Good Governance in Bangladesh

At present, Good governance in Bangladesh is far from the actual

consonance of the term. There are several factors and issues that are
constraining the very process of good governance. The major factors
are corruption, inefficiency of bureaucracy, politicization of
administration, non-observance of the rule of law etc. The main issues
and problems for ensuring good governance in Bangladesh are
bellows:

a) Corruption
Corruption is a big obstacle in the way of good governance in
Bangladesh. Corruption has become so rampant that Bangladesh
currently belongs to the world's leading corrupt nations. It promotes
the interest of a few ovel many rampant corruption slow down the
investment and growth. It prevented a fair distribution of national
wealth and broadened the gap between rich and poor. Which is most
dangerous is that it is mainly responsible for the breakdown of law and
order in the country.
b) Inefficiency of Bureaucracy
Bureaucracy is inevitable in any society or state, an inseparable part of
an organized society. But the bureaucracy of Bangladesh is not
efficient in management and administration. The capacity of policy
implementation of our bureaucracy is very poor. Bureaucrats are not
accountable and transparent to the people. Lack of bureaucratic
accountability can be attributed inter-alia to bureaucratic corruption.
But there is no effective mechanism to make them accountable and
transparent.

c) Political interference in administration

In our country administration is always to work and the influence of
party in power. So, here nepotism is widespread and administration is
always unfair. The administration can not take any free and fair
decision. Sometimes, political influence breech factionalism in the
administration which in turn results in demoralization, utter negligence
of work and often serious tension among the bureaucrats. Ministers,
especially those with greater political strength and influence and
initiative, tended to stress their overall supervisory role to dominate
and direct those in administration who versed under them, from
secretaries downwards. In such situations the ministers virtually
inclined to act as executive heads of their ministries, though they did
not have to take the responsibilities either of the executive head or the
principal accounting officer responsibilities which still technically and
substantially remained with the secretaries.

d) Nepotism
Nepotism is another curse of our politics and administration. The rules
in our country pursue nepotism. They give privilege and under
advantage to their family members, kiths and kins on public resources.
So the mass people remain after regime.

e) Improper and non-observance of the rule of law

In true and real sense the application of rule of law in Bangladesh
follows a course of selective and discretionary application. It is said
that laws are there but there are applied only in favor of privilege
people or class. As a result justices suffer and denied to the common
people. And this environment affects out right the basic rights of the
poor and the social place elides although that is an important aspect of
good governance.
f) Improper use of resources
The fund flow in Bangladesh is not smooth the local government,
especially the union Parishad. Beside, this fund is not utilized properly
and very often diverted to other purposes. So, the ordinary people can
not get efforts, if any, of ensuring good governance.

Conclusion

In a developing country for good governance the fight against

corruption is not easy. Bangladesh after 1/11/07 has experienced a big
leap towards fighting corruption. It is expected the present caretaker
government, patriot citizens and other stakeholders will be able to
address the most difficult challenge – fighting corruption. Corruption is
a tremendous deterrent to good governance and development, and its
burden falls heaviest on the shoulders of the poor people. An effective
Anti-Corruption Commission – with strong political backing, can
become a credible tool to deter corruption. All concerned should help
the ACC to be fully operative. If Bangladesh wants to become a country
free of poverty and economically strong, where every citizen will enjoy
his or her rights and a better quality life, fighting corruption is the most
important need. It is the responsibility of every stakeholder to respond
to this need towards corruption free, transparent, participatory good
governance ensuring equity and social justice.
In Bangladesh , it is evident that the present condition of governance is
not satisfactory. Many issues and problems are the barriers to ensure
good governance , equity and social justice . Corruption, political
interference in administration, nepotism, misuse of power, absence of
rule of law, non-accountable and non-transparent government etc. are
the common features of our governance. Although a lot of measures
may be taken for ensuring good governance, it is high time to make
our autocratic parliament a democratic one. And re-engineer the role
of the dictatorial Prime Minister to a democratic one. In the interest of
good governance, time has come for us to think about amending the
black law(Article 70 of the constitution) to curve its abuse and free the
public representatives to voice peoples aspiration in the parliament.
Public opinion should be mobilized to discourage boycotting of
Parliament and make the Parliament fully functional and democratic by
making the speaker system a non-partisan institution.
It is also necessary to make the ministers accountable to the
parliament members while discharging their executive roles to make
the parliament truly democratic. Re-engineering is also required to
make the MPs the key actors of the parliament instead of the ministers
by making the parliamentary standing committees more powerful,
effective and functional. All the standing committees of the parliament
must be formed and made fully functional by the third session of any
elected parliament. To ensure increased accountability and set the
culture of resignation due to failure or inefficiency of ministers, legal
provisions should be made so that cabinet ministers has to render
resignation if no confidence motion is moved by one third members of
the parliaments of which one third must be from the ruling party. It is
required to make the parliament effective and functional and center of
all debates. On the other hand, the opposition, civil society and social
groups and organizations also have the moral obligations to help and
co-operate the government in establishing good governance. But after
1/11/07 discussions are tabled that constitutional amendments are
necessary to bring checks and balance of powers between the
President, Prime minister and Speaker of the country. To make the
parliament democratic, functional, effective measures should be taken
to make the speaker panel a institution above partisan standing.
Further brain storming is required whether a national security council
can play an even positive role in maintaining balance of power as it is
said - Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Recommendations

My cogitation towards a good governing system in Bangladesh

contains the following steps need to be taken immediately.

CHANGES IN ELECTION COMMISSION

The weakness of the Election Commission and its lack of independence
have been so inherent and endemic that Bangladesh Constitution
needed the 13th amendment in order to introduce provision for
caretaker government. Besides the provision for caretaker government
during the general elections there is also need for-

An independent and neutral body having its credibility on its own

right beyond any reproach
Fund and budget of the EC
Staff and personnel to be recruited by the commission itself
Support to training institutes
Improving voter education programmes
Computerization of the electoral roll
Independence of the media in the election process
Strengthening the capacity of EC enable it to perform its role
effectively.

ENFORCEMENT OF RULE OF LAW

To establish the rule of law in Bangladesh the following steps should be
taken:

Except the mode of appointment the independence of our higher

judiciary is ensured. But the independence of lower judiciary,
particularly of the magistrate courts is not ensured because these
courts are run by the executive. So, to ensure its independence it
should be separated from the executive.

The independence of other lower courts can be ensured by amending

the Article 116 to the following effect:

"The control (including the power of posting, promotion and grants of

leave) and discipline of persons employed in the judicial service and
judicial magistrates shall vest in the Supreme Court".

The Article 33 of Bangladesh Constitution allows the government to

use the provision of preventive detention in peace time. As a result, a
huge number of persons are detained every year without trial purely
for political purpose. So this provision should be reformed to be applied
only in time of emergency.

Article 93 of the Constitution allows the President to promulgate

ordinances anytime during the recesses of parliament sessions. And in
practice a huge number of ordinances are promulgated bypassing the
parliament. Ordinance-made laws are fully undemocratic since they
are made by the executive almost in an unrestricted way. These laws
are, therefore, contrary to the concept of rule of law. So this provision
is also needed to be reformed so that it cannot be used unless there
occurs any emergency situation like national crisis, national calamity,
severe economic deflation etc.

Article 141A of the Constitution empowers the president to declare

emergency whenever he wishes. But by declaring emergency in peace
time the government can suspend fundamental rights and suppress
the opposition movement. This amounts to avow arbitrary exercise of
power on the part of the government which is contradictory to the
concept of rule of law. So this provision is also needed to be reformed,
so that it can only be applied in war time situations only.

REFORM IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND BUREAUCRACY

To remove the difficulties and institutionalize this bureaucracy and
make public administration accountable following measures should be
taken immediately:

Standing committees on Ministries should be institutionalized and

allowed to work independently in full swing so that the
bureaucrats at every Ministry come under the direct of
parliament.
The constitutional independence and autonomy for the CAG
(Comptroller and Auditor-General) must be ensured so that it can
independently work in the way to make bureaucrats accountable
in respect of financial matter and to monitor their financial
responsibilities
A department of Ombudsman should immediately be created
which will work as an all-time watchdog against
maladministration, red-tapism and inefficiency in the bureaucracy
Unconstitutional laws dealing with the functions and formation of
constitutional bodies like CAG, PSC, local government, EC etc
must be replaced by democratic laws allowing them to
independently in furtherance of better administrative
accountability.
The larger the government, the wider is its reach. The wider the
reach of the executive, more the likelihood of public harassment;
more the likelihood of bureaucratic corruption. Government has,
therefore should be shrunk; in the present context where multi-
national foreign investment is involved in the exploration of oil
and gas, and the generation of power, there cannot be any
justification for restricting our own private sector from importing
and distributing various products like petroleum etc. monopolies
such as BPC (Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation) which bring no
public benefit should be abolished. There are many other
instances where the state must be sold back. Reduction in state
intervention should be the prime principle of reform. Whenever
possible government executive should be branched out to
agencies and the private sector is allowed to participate in
creating a competitive atmosphere.
 The functioning of the PSC must be strengthened and it should be
chaired by an expert opposition MP particularly one who had
been previously a Finance Minister. Proper functioning of the PSC
will ensure the financial responsibility of bureaucrats in every
ministry
Reports of the PSC must be dealt with a standing committee as in
parliament and the compliance of the commission's report must
be ensured through the scrutiny of the committee system
To control delegated law making by the bureaucrats a standing
committee should be set up and a instrument act should be made

INSTITUTIONALIZING LOCAL GOVERNMENT

To institutionalize local government following initiatives should be
taken-

In accordance with the provisions of Article 11, 59 and 60 of

the Constitution local government institutions should be set up
for ensuring people's participation.
Every tier of local government should be autonomous and
maximum devolution of power to be made to the local
government
Local governments institutions should be made free from
government interference except audit and inceptions of funds
provided by the governments
In accordance with the provisions in Article 59(1) of the
Constitution the local government administrations and officials
must be vested in control of the local government and not
under the control of the central government as present
provision provide, because a centralized administration tends
by nature to be more bureaucratic
The term of office of chairman of local bodies should be
reduced to 2 years instead of 5 years to make the office of
chairman less attractive to moneyed candidates, but more
attractive to dedicated persons
STEPS TO SOLVE POLITICAL PROBLEMS
Political problems are supposed to be the root cause of poor
governance in Bangladesh. Because political parties who ultimately
governs the country contains the following problems:

There are more than 100 political parties in Bangladesh but very few of
them have definite ideology or programmes to be followed by
supporters and future generations. Though one or two parties have
ideologies and programmes, the leaders often defy them for their own
gain.

Each major party is headed by a person who is omnipotent in the

management of the party, including the formation of central and
executive committees. The constitutions of most of the parties are
absolutely monolithic in nature.

The basic reason behind almost all the problems is the illiterate and
politically unconscious people behind the scene who are supplying the
real force into the body polity of Bangladesh. To get rid of this problem
we need to make our people educated and politically conscious. And to
do that here again comes the question of dedicated leadership.

So for the sake of democracy in the country the following steps

should be taken by leaders
The hereditary nature of leadership should be abolished and the
party constitution should be amended to allow change in
leadership after each specified term
The party structure and committees should be filled only by
elections and this will encourage as well as develop leadership
from the grassroots- level
The post of party president and the leader of the parliamentary
party should not be held by the same person. Ministers must be
barred from holding any party office. This will ensure the entity of
the party as an institution of democracy on one hand, and on the
other, the party will be in a position to exercise a sort of control
 over the government or the parliamentary party so that they do
not deviate from their party mandate or manifesto
What is urgently needed now is to play an effective role by some
of our MPs or political leaders who are really sincere, educated
and devoted to the institutionalization of parliamentary
democracy; they should from their respective parties, whenever
and whatever way possible, consistently create a sort of genuine
pressure so that Khaleda-Hasina cannot take any arbitrary or
dictatorial actions to destroy democracy.
Although a lot of measures need to be taken for ensuring good
governance. I hope, if sincere efforts can be taken for
implementing the above-mentioned steps then good governance
will be ensured. On the other extreme, the opposition, civil
society and social groups and organizations also have the moral
obligations to help and cooperate with the governments in this
juncture.

References

1. Khan, M.M., "Urban local Governance in Bangladesh: An overview",

Journal of Administration and Diplomacy, Vol.4, No.1 Jan-Jun, p.1,
1996.
2. Husain, Saddat, "Good Governance-A case for training Intervention",
Proshikhyan, Journal of Bangladesh society for training and
development (BSTD), vol.2, No.1, p.2, Jan-Jun, 1995.
3. Graham, J.; Amos, B. and Plumptre T., "Principles for Good
Governance in the 21st century",
http://www.unpan.org/whatsnew_bulletin.asp, August 2003.
4. Chowdhury Dilara, "Legislature and governance in Bangladesh",
Governance-(South Asian perspective), eds; Hye, Hasnat A., the
university press Limited: Dhaka-1100, p.49, 2000.
5. http://www.unescap.org/huset/gg/governance.htm