It is tempting to give governance top priority on the list of solutions to major global problems. Because it encompasses so many of the activities that make up a country it seems like a logical starting place. And indeed it may be, but if we fail to give equal emphasis to restructuring the international economic system and to changing our management of the environment, reform of governance by itself will have little long-term impact. Yet building good governance in both developing and industrialized countries has the potential to benefit the globe in a number of ways.

Introducing representative, fully decentralized and well-funded programs locally can invigorate governance at every level in the administration of a country. Research points to a significant and durable reduction of poverty in countries where this kind of grassroots change takes place. With their newfound political power, citizens begin to insist on services that their government is obliged to deliver to them. Gradually, government agencies take responsibility for health care, education and other essential social programs previously denied, especially to citizens at the lower end of the socio-economic scale.

Good governance requires persistence and determination on the part of all citizens. Where individuals take their civic responsibilities seriously and their civil and political rights are protected, chances of small conflicts turning into wars are significantly reduced. Good governance has the capacity to break the cycle that often consumes societies, enabling them to rebuild from the bottom up. It proves the point that all the component parts of any society are interconnected: improve even one essential function of governance and all the others will change as well.

References

1. UNDP, Poverty Report 2000:Overcoming Human Poverty
2. Thakur & Newman, New Millennium, New Perspectives: The United Nations, Security & Governance, New York: UNU Press, 2000
3. UNDP Governance for Sustainable Development, New York: UNDP, 1997
4. UNDP The Changing Nature of Democracy, New York: UNU Press, 1998
5. www.idea,int, International Institute for Democracy & Electoral Assistance

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