A couple of questions I ask when reflecting on the definition of good governance focuses on measuring what system of governance would foster development, how exactly should developing countries align developmental priorities and what does good governance mean to different classes of people in the society?
I had often considered that governance recommendations to developing countries were premature simply because some of them put the cart before the horse. Developing countries have limited state capacity, countries cannot leapfrog into good governance and nation building is a systematic process. My study of the US corporate law for example shows that several corporate governance regulations in the United States were developed in response to scandals in the corporate world[1]. Such regulations are then promoted to countries with way smaller budgets, usually smaller than the budgets of many companies in the United States for implementation. While leadership requires foresight, I believe it is important not to overburden institutions that have limited capacity.
As someone from the country dubbed as the poverty capital of the world[2], the conversations that I sometimes have is with respect to people wanting to be assured of the basics—food, shelter, and clothing. While there is more that is required to live a decent life, people living in poverty would appreciate a good enough governance that provides the basics and may not really care about other things such as political rights for example, which perhaps explains why Nigeria has one of the highest incidences of vote buying[3] despite various civic sensitization programs embarked upon by donor agencies and other stakeholders.
Economic decentralization despite its flaws has helped China lift millions of its people out of poverty, some developing countries have similar governance structures (Nigeria has the local governments). I believe that the focus should be on supporting developing countries through their developmental process, so they can learn what has worked for other people and iterate with focus on the unique nature of their countries. Investing resources to teach them to govern like the developed world is inefficient, especially because developed countries are also evolving.
Considering that some developing countries have existed as countries for lesser years in comparison to the developed ones, nation building is essential, and one of the ways of achieving that is to ensure accessibility to some semblance of governance from the top to the grassroot level, I believe decentralization provides a means to achieving this.
[1] The Enron scandal that prompted the Sarbanes Oxley Act : https://www.thebalancesmb.com/sarbanes-oxley-act-and-the-enron-scandal-393497 , accessed on May 3, 2201 [2]Nigeria has become the poverty capital of the world: https://qz.com/africa/1313380/nigerias-has-the-highest-rate-of-extreme-poverty-globally/ , accessed on May 2, 2021 [3] Cinjel, Nandes & Dickson, Cinjel. (2020). The Impact of Poverty On The Practice Of Vote Buying In Nigeria: A Focus On The 2015 And 2019 Elections. 2. 198.
Commentaires