Good Governance and Civil Society
What
is Governance?
Governance, simply put is to govern. However, the concept of governance is broader
than government. Governance involves
government, civil society and the private sector in managing the affairs of a
nation, which means that the responsibility for managing the affairs of a
nation is not limited to government alone, but includes a wide variety of
stakeholders including: union and state government, local governments; the
private sector; non-governmental and community-based organizations (NGOs/CBOs),
the media, professional associations and other members of civil society. However,
government is the major stake holder in governance.
8 major
characteristics of Good Governance
- participatory,
- consensus oriented,
- accountable,
- transparent,
- responsive,
- effective and
efficient,
- equitable and inclusive
and
- follows the rule of
law.
Good governance assures that corruption is
minimized, the views of minorities are taken into account and that the voices
of the most vulnerable in society are heard in decision-making and
implementation. It is also responsive to the present and future needs of
society, balancing between growth and distribution, present and future resource
use. When governance fails, social tension mounts,
leading to anarchy.
What is Civil Society?
Civil society is seen as a social sphere
separate from both the state and the market. The increasingly accepted
understanding of the term civil society organizations (CSOs) is that
of non-state, not-for-profit, voluntary organizations formed by people in that
social sphere. As per the World Bank “the term civil society to refer to the
wide array of non-governmental and not-for-profit organizations that have
a presence in public life, expressing the interests and values of their members
or others, based on ethical, cultural, political, scientific, religious or
philanthropic considerations. “
Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) therefore refer
to a wide of array of organizations: community groups, non-governmental
organizations (NGOs), labor unions, indigenous groups, charitable
organizations, faith-based organizations, professional associations, and
foundations”.
Civil Society is gradually becoming important as there
is growing agreement that civil society, civic culture, and social capital are
all important for strengthening democracy and enabling conflict resolution.
A question often asked is: what is civil society’s stake in
good governance? The answer is simple: public welfare, which in a way include
its own welfare.
What can civil society
do to promote/help/ensure good governance and democracy?
The answer is: lots. As Individual and as part of a community. Through heart and head.
Through emotion and intellect. As part of the civil society one should have
empathy towards our people. There has to a kind of bridging not mere bonding.
There has to be a sense of oneness and a sense of justice.
Civil society, which is responsible and responsive-must try to understand
how development can happen. It must look for what is needed, and not what is
wanted. And it must help the under privileged to stand on their feet.
Here are 9 points on what can civil society do:
1. Limit and control the
power of the state: Civil society actors should watch how state
officials use their powers. They should raise public concern about
any abuse of power. They should lobby for access to information,
including freedom of information laws, and rules and institutions to control
corruption.
2. Expose
the corrupt conduct of public officials: To expose the corrupt conduct of public officials
and lobby for good governance reforms. Even where anti-corruption
laws and bodies exist, they cannot function effectively without the active
support and participation of civil society.
3. Promote political participation: NGOs can do
this by educating people about their rights and obligations as democratic
citizens, and encouraging them to listen to election campaigns and vote in
elections. NGOs can also help
develop citizens’ skills to work with one another to solve common problems, to
debate public issues, and express their views.
4. Develop the other values of democratic life: Civil society organizations
can help to develop the other values of democratic life: tolerance,
moderation, compromise, and respect for opposing points of view. Without this deeper culture of accommodation, democracy cannot be
stable. These values cannot simply be taught; they must also be
experienced through practice.
5. Lobby for the needs and concerns: Civil society is an arena for the
expression of diverse interests, and one role for civil society organizations
is to lobby for the needs and concerns of their members, as women, students,
farmers, environmentalists, trade unionists, lawyers, doctors, and so
on.
6. Provide new forms of interest and solidarity: Civil society can strengthen
democracy is to provide new forms of interest and solidarity that cut across
old forms of tribal, linguistic, religious, and other identity
ties.
7. Inform the public about important public issues: Civil society can help to
inform the public about important public issues. This is not only
the role of the mass media, but of NGOs which can provide forums for debating
public policies and disseminating information about issues before parliament
that affect the interests of different groups, or of society at large.
8. Mediate
and help to resolve conflict: Civil society organizations can play an important
role in mediating and helping to resolve conflict.
9. Monitor
the conduct of elections: This requires a broad coalition of organizations,
unconnected to political parties or candidates
However, please note that civil society is not in tension with the state. Because civil
society is independent of the state doesn’t mean that it must always criticize
and oppose the state. In fact, by making the state at all levels
more accountable, responsive, inclusive, effective—and hence more legitimate—a
vigorous civil society strengthens citizens’ respect for the state and promotes
their positive engagement with it.
A democratic state cannot be stable…unless it is
effective and legitimate, with the respect and support of its
citizens. Civil society is a check, a monitor, but also a vital
partner in the quest for this kind of positive relationship between the
democratic state and its citizens.
Caveat
Members of Civil Society need to be public minded. Don’t only look at
yourself. Look at the society and its sustainable development. The problem is
we want this to happen. But when it comes to us, we don’t do our bit. We all
can help bring in good governance, if we do our little bit- honestly.
Therefore, let us pledge to be Just, honest, vocal, proactive and engaged
with society.
***
(Excerpted from a talk delivered at Bhubaneswar on 14.11.2015)
No comments:
Post a Comment