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Asian Journal of Multidimensional Research (AJMR)
https://tarj.in
78
AJMR
3. Government effectiveness (GE), the quality of public services, the quality of the civil service
and the degree of its independence from political pressures, the quality of policy formulation
and implementation, and the credibility of the government‘s commitment to such policies
4. Regulatory quality (RQ), the ability of the government to formulate and implement sound
policies and regulations that permits and promotes private sector development.
5. Rule of law (RL), the extent to which agents have confidence in and abide by the rules of
society, and in particular the quality of contract enforcement, the police, and the courts, as
well as the likelihood of crime and violence.
6. Control of corruption (CC), the extent to which public power is exercised for private gain,
including both petty and grand forms of corruption, as well as capture of the state by elites
and private interests (Kaufmann et al, 2006: 4).
Aside the objectives of good governance, there is an intense debate as to what type of political
system is well-suited for engendering good governance or put succinctly, what theoretical
congruence exists, between democracy and good governance? Two key perspectives can be
identified in this regard. Prominent African scholars like Goran Hyden and Richard Joseph
recognize a symmetrical linkage between democracy and good governance. To Goran Hyden,
good governance refers to ―the conscious management of regime structures with a view to
enhancing the public realm‖ (Hyden, 1992: 7). The major components of the governance
structure include authority, accountability and reciprocity; these components reinforce the
democratic values and practices interchangeably. For example, authority seeks expression in the
legitimate use of power where the citizenry elect and control their leaders, while the
measurement of accountability refers to the degree to which the people can hold their elected or
appointed officials answerable for their actions or inactions. Reciprocity concerns the nature and
quality of the social interaction among people in a political environment where individuals are
free to form associations to promote and protect their interests (Hyden, 1992. Good Governance
in these respects is equivalent to liberal democracy. On his part, Richard Joseph argues that
accountability is the most fundamental principle of good governance, actualized through open
competitive elections in a democratic society; according, ―free and fair elections are the bedrock
of any democratic society and the most important means of making governments accountable to
the citizenry‖ (1990: 205). This libertarian position on the association between democracy, good
governance and development was supported by Nyongo (1988), Ihonvbere (1996), Awa (1991),
Fatton (1992) and Alderman (1978).
The opposing stance to the libertarian proposition is that good governance is not connected to
any particular type of political system. Good governance in effect is concerned with purposeful,
effective and productive governance that may be found in a democratic, dictatorial, totalitarian or
socialist regime, depending on the type of structures and political leadership provided by the
rulers in the management of political power and its results. In this case, the idea of good
governance is understood to be holistic substantial and far-reaching (Dunn, 1986; Charlick,
1991; Chabal, 1992). While democracy is undeniably a preferred form of government which may
enhance good governance mainly, with respect to the ideologies and principles it propagates and
guarantees, nonetheless, it does not add up to nor is it naturally linked with good governance.
The establishment of good governance in Africa according to Mafeje (1995), will be determined
among other things by two factors; the degree to which decisions taken by the people would
ISSN: 2278-4853 Vol 9, Issue 6, June, 2020 Impact Factor: SJIF 2020 = 6.882
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