Is Better Governance the Enemy of Good Enough?

Derick W. Brinkerhoff Research Triangle Institute Presentation at: International Food Policy Research Institute Washington DC October 11, 2005

The good governance agenda

Relatively strong donor consensus on the components and the desirability of good governance. The good governance agenda includes:
Respect

for the rule of law and a free flow of information

Transparency High

levels of accountability management of public resources citizen participation and equity. of corruption

Effective Control

Significant

Good vs. bad governance

An evil twin for each of the positive features of good governance:
Unjust/unenforced

legal systems

Opaque decision-making and abuse of executive power bureaucracies policy-making and clientelist resource allocation corruption exclusion and unengaged civil society

Unaccountable Arbitrary

Widespread Social

Assumptions of the good-bad governance dichotomy

Formal systems (institutions, rules, procedures) are associated with good governance Informal systems (institutional dualism) tend to be associated with bad governance All the elements of good governance go together All the elements of good governance are necessary All the elements of bad governance need to be reduced or eliminated

Good vs. good enough governance

Real countries fall between the good-bad dichotomy of ideal types Some degree of institutional dualism/informality is:
Inevitable Potentially

beneficial (or at least not harmful) associations and local system

Examples:
Brazilshantytown

politicians
Moroccomakhzen

History and good governance: the case of the United States

Patronage and pork Urban political machines Clean elections

Good enough governance strategy

Trade-offs Complementarities Capacity Outcomes
Increased Equitable Social

investment and growth service delivery

stability

Sustainability

Selectivity and targeting

Example: Madagascar forestry reform

All the elements of the good governance agenda figure strongly in Madagascars environment program & specifically in the forest sector. The GOM has made good governance a key focus of national policy and directed each sectoral ministry to include good governance in its program. USAID is funding the Sustainable Environment and Forest Ecosystems Management Project (SEFEM or JariAla) to support reform.

Governance deficits
Dominant role of Department of Water and Forests (DGEF) without checks and balances Limited comprehension of what is good governance Weak agencies of restraint Weak civil society Rampant corruption Overexploitation of forest resources

Applying a good enough governance strategy

Build constraints on forest governance actors through increased accountability, transparency, checks and balances. Build actors capacities to fulfill their roles in forest governance through increased partnership and improved management effectiveness. Track progress through impacts on outcomes, e.g., improved permitting processes, DGEF service user satisfaction surveys, community management contracts, etc.

Sources of constraints: Examples

Inside government
Supreme audit institutions Courts Elections Professional codes of conduct National/international standard-setting bodies Accreditation agencies Referenda

Outside government

Stronger Weaker

Inspectors general Law enforcement agencies Parliamentary hearings Administrative review councils Anti-corruption agencies Advisory boards Ombudsman offices Blue ribbon panels Citizens charters Sunshine laws

Citizen oversight committees Service delivery surveys Civil society watchdog organizations Investigative journalism (media)

Some key issues

Potential overload on GOMPresidents office (with donor support) has Cadillac vision of good governance Long timeframe for forestry sector outcomes requires creativity in intermediate indicators that can credibly link governance improvements to results How to reach the tipping point on institutional dualism and good enough governance