There does not appear to be a single accepted definition of governance. Governance just like any other concepts in social sciences, is a contested phenomenon in terms of scope of definition. The term “governance” as used in the social science is a buzz word that defies unanimous definition and as such, scholars have given varied definitions on the concept and these varied definitions are fiercely contested without unanimity of what actually the term “governance” means. Even though the terms can be traced to classical Greek and Latin states, it usage in politics is quite recent. The term started appearing in politics by the late 1980s and was popularize by the World Bank with its focus on management as key measure of good or bad governance.
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Governance is a continues process where citizens are able to elect their leaders, monitor their performance and have unrestrained access to information on how their resources are being distributed. This is followed by sound policies that make sure that rulers are always held accountable for any decision taken on behalf on the ruled. The performance of governance is not a sole preserve of the Global North countries or countries with huge industrial base and robust economies. And so, governance can deteriorate at a well advance countries with huge industrial base like India, Russia, and the United States while improving at weak industrial countries like Rwanda, Mauritius or Botswana.
Governance also depend on the political and social history of various countries. Some countries perform poorly on several governance indicators because their political institutions are creations of colonial legacies and imperial rule. Thus, governance at some countries has performed poorly due to historical underpinnings that can be traced to precolonial, colonial and post-colonial periods. I believe Ghana as a country should be measure by the following indicators of governance.
Health is one key indicators of governance with focus on, access to health facilities, availability of water and sanitation, control of communicable diseases as well as compliance to international health regulations. The prime focus of health as an indicator of governance is to ensure that human have access to certain basic healthcare system that will improve their well-being. Availability of healthcare systems indeed an indicator of good governance since its unavailability would mean that deprivation of certain basic necessity in life.
Another key indicator of good governance is the provision of education. This is another aspect of human development that every country need for the purpose of managing its own administration as well as harnessing its natural resources through robust capacity built by the human capacity. Education has its own indicators such gross enrollment rate, literacy rate, mean age spent in school etc. Any country with good educational system is a sign or an indicator of good governance.
Rule of Law is another key determinant of good governance and as such, is used as a key indispensable variable in assessing governance all the over the globe. Rule of law dictates that both the rulers and the ruled conform their duties and responsibilities by the dictates of the constitution. It takes into account issues of personal liberties, media freedom, justice and fairness in the judicial system, compliance with judicial rulings, fight against corruption, property rights, law enforcement, and other several indicators that seeks to safeguard human rights.
Another indicator of good governance worthy to mention is the effectiveness of Government. The quality of public service coupled with the quality of public policy are all benchmark for evaluating good governance in any country. The ability of any government to formulate policies can meets the needs of the current generation and that of the unborn generation indicates the soundness of such policy and as such, such policy serving as a catalyst for good governance.
The impartiality of the civil service and its effectiveness is another key indicator of effectiveness of government. The ability of the government or the State to respond to sudden changes and craft policies for such trends or changes goes a long way to determine the soundness and effectiveness of the governance in a particular country.
In conclusion, there are several indicators of good governance and so, countries must strive to attain the best for their people.