According to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, Governance refers to “the process of decision-making and the process by which decisions are implemented (or not implemented). Governance can be used in several contexts such as corporate governance, international governance, national governance and local governance. Government is one of the actors in governance”.
ETYMOLOGY
Governance comes from a Greek word kubernaō. According to Strong’s Hebrew and Greek dictionaries, it means to steer referring to what a pilot or helmsman does. It has a Latin derivative which is spelt Gubnero. According to Fr. John Zuhlsdorf’s blog, “Gubnero was a favorite word of the great ancient Roman orator Cicero. Guberno is “to steer or pilot a ship“. Logically, it also means “to direct, manage, conduct, govern, guide“. The Liddell, Scott, Jones Greek Lexicon, or LSJ, says that kubernao is to “steer”, “drive” and metaphorically “guide, govern” and then “act as a pilot…“”
In the case of the governed being a family, corporation, state or regional body, governance simply refers to everything that goes into steering or piloting the affairs of the governed. In the case of a state, governance would refer to everything that goes into steering or piloting the affairs of the state for the greater benefit of its citizens. These affairs could range from political affairs, international affairs, economic affairs or even social affairs.
OTHER DEFINITIONS OF GOVERNANCE
Governance involves “systems, processes and procedures put in place to steer the direction, management and accountability of an organization” (Birmingham City Council).
Governance is ultimately concerned with creating the conditions for ordered rule and collective action (Stoker,1998; Peters and Pierre, 1998; Milward and Provan, 2000).
Governance refers to self-organize, inter-organizational networks characterized by interdependence, resource-exchange, rules of the game, and significant autonomy from the state (Rhodes, 1997a:15).
Global governance is conceived to include system of rule at all levels of human activity – from the family to the international organization – in which pursuit (search) of goals through the exercise of control has transnational repercussions (Rosenau, 1995:13).
Governance is the stewardship of formal and informal political rules of the game. Governance refers to those measures that involve setting the rules for the exercise of power and setting conflict over such rules (Hyden, 1999:185).
Governance has been defined to refer to structures and processes that are designed to ensure accountability, transparency, responsiveness, rule of law, stability, equity and inclusiveness, empowerment, and broad-based participation. Governance also represents the norms, values and rules of the game through which public affairs are managed in a manner that is transparent, participatory, inclusive and responsive. In a broad sense, governance is about the culture and institutional environment in which citizens and stakeholders interact among themselves and participate in public affairs. It is more than the organs of the government (UNESCO).
Governance is “The traditions and institutions by which authority in a country is exercised” (Kaufman et al).
Governance is the way “… power is exercised through a country’s economic, political, and social institutions” (the World Bank’s PRSP Handbook).
Governance is the “sound exercise of political, economic, and administrative authority to manage a country’s resources for development. It involves the institutionalization of a system through which citizens, institutions, organizations, and groups in a society articulate their interests, exercise their rights, and mediate their differences in pursuit of the collective good” (Country Governance Assessment, 2005).
Governance is the “exercise of economic, political, and administrative authority to manage a country’s affairs at all levels. It comprises mechanisms, processes, and institutions through which citizens and groups articulate their interests, exercise their legal rights, meet their obligations, and mediate their difference” (UNDP).
