That good governance matters for development and poverty reduction has become a mantra for development professionals. This report addresses the gap between the mandate to improve governance for development and the dilemmas facing professionals designing the interventions to improve governance. The paper argues for the adoption of the concept of ‘good enough governance’ to target fewer, more useful and more feasible interventions. This can be promoted by using a number of analytical frameworks to improve decision-making about which governance interventions should be undertaken in particular contexts.
There is general agreement on the importance of good governance. However, there are questions over which institutions matter most and which kinds of interventions are most likely to promote development in specific contexts. Organisations such as the World Bank and the UK Department for International Development play a sensitive role in translating academic research into recommendations for action. Often these translations short change the methodological and empirical ambiguities that continue to challenge researchers. The concept of ‘good enough governance’ suggests that not all governance deficits need to or can be tackled at once. The concept directs attention to considerations of the minimal conditions of governance necessary to allow political and economic development to occur. However, it falls short of being a tool to explore what needs to be done in a real world context.
A review of recent literature shows that methodological choices about how to study the issue of governance and development have considerable impact on findings.
- Cross-national studies tend to find strong links between development and governance. Governance is seen to be essential to and causal of development. It is this literature that is often cited to argue for the importance of governance interventions as preconditions for development.
- Studies that focus on the particular conditions of specific countries tend to demonstrate that development is not fully dependent on getting governance right. They propose arguments that link the impact of governance to those particular conditions.
- Other studies move past the causal and inferential arguments. They address the problems created for governance by particular conditions. They look at challenges to governance in fragile states, the impact of HIV/AIDS on governance capacity and the possible role of aid in weakening governance.
The utility and feasibility of particular governance interventions can be assessed using a number of existing analytical frameworks. These frameworks can improve decision making over which governance interventions should be undertaken in particular country contexts.
- An analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of states
- An effort to think of a hierarchy of governance interventions related to state characteristics
- The ability to understand sources of support and opposition embedded in the political economy of specific countries
- The effort to understand the implications of the contents of different types of reform initiatives for conflict and implementation systems.
