Governance - The Problem

Before I venture into this domain and try unraveling this phenomenon, let’s sample this:

• A country rich in natural resources but such resources have either remained unexploited optimally or have been concentrated in just a few single hands in a clear disregard to the rule of law. This state of affairs has made the country to earn a dubious distinction of not only hosting the largest population of poor in the world, but to depend heavily on imports even for the basic raw materials.
• The government has launched a very ambitious scheme for the distribution of food subsidies amongst the poor living below the poverty line. An investigation based on a media report revealed that the subsidized food grains have been siphoned off by some unscrupulous officials directly from the government depot and sold in the market for a profit. It has not only dented the much touted scheme of the government, but also violated the basic human rights of the intended consumers who remained at the receiving end of this whole fiasco. After this scandal was exposed, it has been discussed in the media and intellectual circles that had this task been assigned to local bodies with a constant monitoring or to the voluntary sector working in the area, this unsavory incident could have well been avoided.
• Despite many policy initiatives and legislative efforts made by the government to attract foreign and domestic investment into the country, it seems to be not forthcoming as the investors still labour under the perpetual fear that unwieldy rules and regulations coupled with a web of hackneyed laws and an unfriendly tax regime, all amounting to breed the scourge of red tapism, it is not safe to park their investment in the country until a favourable business climate is ensured by the government.
• A rampant violation of human rights has been witnessed in the country that has attracted the global attention mainly due to the efforts of domestic and transnational third sector entities. The UN has passed a resolution condemning the prevailing state of affairs in the country and mulled over slapping economic and diplomatic sanctions until the national government acts steadily to improve the situation…

In all the above illustrations, (except the last one which is typically cited to throw light on global governance), one can very well discern that there is something missing in the way the state or government should have functioned or the manner in which government has to rule or act. This is despite the fact that there is a legitimately elected government in place. This has necessarily called for a shift in the very working or action of the government so that the above stated narratives could not have been implicated to it.

Experts right from political scientists to international theorists point out that this required shift in the working (behaviour) of the government is to be found in the phenomenon of what they call as, GOVERNANCE. They have argued that merely having a government is not enough to cure many of the evils a society has traditionally been afflicted with and governance should be the core mantra today insofar, as the working of any social institution is concerned. Given thus, many governance related terms have today come into currency in order to emphasize on this concept say, democratic governance at the one end to global governance at the other end of the spectrum with good governance, media governance, internet governance, corporate governance or e-governance in between.

Nevertheless, building upon the above analogies, one can easily drive home the truth that there is certainly a difference between the two yet related concepts called as government and governance, for as we noted in above mentioned analogies that there is very much a government, but what has remained missing is the notion of governance. Therefore, in view of this distinction, it becomes rather vital for us to at least understand the conceptual underpinnings of these two concepts so as to justify eventually the much touted statement: “It is possible to have governance without government.” Or as remarked by the noted philosopher, David Thoreau about a century ago: “That government is the best which governs the least and that government is the worst which governs the most.” Or for that matter, our Prime Minister’s oft repeated pre-election rhetoric: “Minimum government, Maximum governance.”

By: Pritam Sharma