CHAPTER TWO

Features of New Public Administration

2.1. Concept of Governance and Good Governance
The word “governance” may be used in various circumstances such as
business administration or administration at international, national, corporate
or local levels.
In this context, governance can apply to corporate, international, national, or
local governance as well as the interactions between other sectors of society.
Simply put "governance" means: the process of decision-making and the
process by which decisions are implemented (or not implemented). It
focuses on 'the exercise of political power to manage a nation's affairs‘.
The term “good governance” is a combination of two words “good”
and “governance”. Governance means the way to exercise power to
manage the resources of an organization. Therefore, “good
governance” is a good way to exercise power to manage the resources
of an organization.
Governance and Good Governance: Varying Definitions
 Governance is:
“The sound exercise of political, economic, and administrative authority to
manage a country’s resources for development. It involves the
institutionalization of a system through which citizens, institutions,
organizations, and groups in a society articulate/express their interests,
exercise their rights, and mediate their differences in pursuit of the collective
good “(Country Governance Assessment, 2005).
“The exercise of economic, political, and administrative authority to manage a
country’s affairs at all levels. It comprises mechanisms, processes, and
institutions through which citizens and groups articulate their interests,
exercise their legal rights, meet their obligations, and mediate their
differences.”( UNDP).
‘’Governance issues pertain to the ability of government to develop an
efficient, effective, and accountable public management process that is open
to citizen participation and that strengthens rather than weakens a
democratic system of government “. (The USAID, Office of Democracy &
 Cont’d………..
‘’the interactions among structures, processes and traditions that
determine how power and responsibilities are exercised, how decisions
are taken, and how citizens or other stakeholders have their say.
Fundamentally, it is about power, relationships and accountability: who
has influence, who decides, and how decision-makers are held
accountable’’. (IOG 2003).
According to the world bank (1992) “good governance is central to
creating and sustaining an environment which fosters strong and
equitable development and it is an essential complement to sound
economic policies”.
According to UNDP, “Good Governance is, among other things,
participatory, transparent and accountable. It is also effective and
equitable. And it promotes the rule of law.
Good governance ensures that political, social, and economic priorities
are based on broad consensus in society and that the voices of the
poorest and the most vulnerable are heard in decision making over the
 Cont’d………
Mohit Bhattacharya (2013) has been discussed the recent developments of
good governance in three ways:
It is an attempt to widen the scope of public administration by going
beyond the formal government.
It is an externally dictated term invented to prescribe aid-conditionality.
It is a more genuinely democratic intensifying concept- to make public
administration more open, transparent, and accountable.
 From above definitions we can understood:
Good governance’ means:
Competent management of a country’s resources and affairs in a manner that is
open, transparent, accountable, equitable and responsive to people’s needs.
Participatory, consensus-oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective
and efficient, equitable and inclusive and follows the rule of law.
It assures that corruption is minimized, the views of minorities are taken into
account and that the voices of the most vulnerable in society are heard in
decision-making.
It is also responsive to the present and future needs of society.
 Cont’d…..
Good governance is about both achieving desired results and achieving them in
the right way.
‘Good Governance’ refers to the welfare in governance and improving the quality of governance.
It enables the government to provide equal opportunities and fair delivery of goods and services to
the people who are most marginal in society.
Good governance refers to mobilizing the people of a country in the best direction possible. It
requires the unity of people in society and motivates them to attain political objectivity. In other
words; It ensures proper utilization of all the resources of the state for its citizens which ensures
sustainable development.
Good governance is the responsibility of political leadership at all levels:
primarily the government, government agencies, authorities, municipalities
(municipal authority), state and partly state-owned companies, organizations -
and the media.
Good governance is a way of measuring how public institutions conduct public
affairs and manage public resources in a preferred way. It involves an efficient
public service, an independent judicial system and legal framework to enforce
contracts; the accountable administration of public funds; an independent public
auditor, responsible to a representative legislature; respect for the law and
human rights at all levels of government; a pluralistic institutional structure, and
 Cont’d……
Governance has three legs/pillars: economic, political and
administrative.
Economic governance includes decision-making processes
that affect a country's economic activities and its
relationships with other economies.
Careful management of the national economy is vital in
order to maximize economic and social advancement.
Good economic growth is best achieved in an efficient,
open, market-based economy governing country’s
economic affairs at all levels.
Therefore, good governance requires policies to promote
broad-based economic growth, a dynamic public and
private sector and social policies that will lead to poverty
reduction.
 Cont’d……….
Political governance is the process of decision-making to
formulate policy.
In this context, good governance requires:
a strong and pluralistic civil society where there is
freedom of expression and association.
good institutions which sets of rules governing the
actions of individuals and organisations and the
negotiation of differences between them.
the primacy/supreme of the rule of law maintained
through an impartial and effective legal system.
a high degree of transparency and accountability in
public and corporate processes.
 Cont’d……….
Administrative governance is the system of policy
implementation. Encompassing all three, good governance:-
 Ensures that political, social and economic priorities are based
on broad consensus in society and that the voices of the
poorest and the most vulnerable are heard in decision-making
over the allocation of development resources;
 Includes components of good governance such as good
governors/administrators, good government, openness, free
from corruption, adaptation to world phenomena, close contact
with citizens, quality legislation and good professionals;
 Creates a strong future for an organization by continuously
steering towards a vision and making sure that day-to-day
management is always lined up with the organization’s goals.
 Cont’d……….
In generally, good governance can be applied by the government sector, the
private sector, civil societies, individuals, and international organizations in order
to guarantee justice, honesty, efficiency and effectiveness.
It is a new principle of administration which does not focus on a theory rather
on practices. If applied, it will bring about the best results on: justice, honesty,
social equity, fairness, efficiency and effectiveness.
We can measure good governance in given public/private sector by raising
following questions:
1. Do people fully participate in governance?
2. Are people fully informed?
3. Do people make decisions or can they at least hold the decision makers
accountable?
4. Are the women equal partners with men in Governance?
5. Are the needs of the poor and disadvantaged met?
6. Are peoples’ human rights guaranteed?
7. Are the needs of the future generation taken into account in current
government policies?
 1.2.Origin and Growth of Good
Governance
The concept of good governance is examined in the
context of a broad vision of development and globalization
and its facts include efficient functioning of these arms of
government – the executive, legislature, and judiciary.
The expectation is that each of these arms should carry
their individual tasks with dedication and integrity with
the active participation of the citizens with the
government in policy making, planning, implementation
and monitoring.
The central, state and local governments in a given
countries ought to discharge their duties as to show case
accountability, transparency, responsiveness,
2.3. Principles/features/ of Good Governance
Governance needs some parameters to make it good. This
parameters/indicators are:
(1) Participation: The participation of citizens in the process
of governance is the key characteristics of good
governance.
Participation as an important step for mobilizing
people to participate in the decision-making
process.
Citizens participate in the organs of government -
executive, legislature, judiciary and regularly exercise their
rights to franchise.
 Cont’d……..
All citizens have a say in decision-making, either directly or
through legitimate representatives representing their
interests.
The aims and objectives of the political rights would be
fulfilled by the greater participation of the people in the
society.
The legal framework represents the rule of law which
ensures impartiality in terms of participation in the
decision-making process of governance.
 Cont’d…….
(2) Accountability:
In public administration, accountability means that
administrators and administrative bodies must fulfill the
functions and obligations of the positions they hold.
If they fail to fulfill their bounden functions or duties, or if
they do so in an inappropriate manner, their conduct
constitutes lack of accountability.
Decision-makers in government, the private sector and civil
society organizations are accountable to the public as well
as to institutional stakeholders.
Who is accountable to whom varies depending on whether
decisions or actions taken are internal or external to an
organization or institution.
 Cont’d……..
Government accountability is facilitated by approaches,
mechanisms, and practices to ensure that its activities and
outputs meet the intended goals and standards.
(3) Transparency/Openness: Transparency means that decisions
taken and their enforcement are done in a manner that follows
rules and regulations.
Governance needs transparency for the fair delivery of services
to the citizens.
It ensures a balance between policymaking and its enforcement
following proper rules and regulations.
It also enables the citizen to access governmental information
regarding various policies and their implementation freely. The
information is freely available and directly accessible to those
who will be affected by such decisions and their enforcement.
 Cont’d…….
All government processes, institutions and information need to be
accessible to interested parties, and the information available
should be sufficient to be understood and monitored.
Proper media should be established for an easy understanding of this
information.
All citizens are entitled to the information on State policies that are
related to their own interests, including legislative activities, policy-
making, legal provisions, policy enforcement, administrative budget,
public expenditure and other relevant political information.
The principle of transparency or ‘openness’ in government responds
to the citizens’ right to have access to information about what the
government is doing and how decisions have been reached. In this
regard, government officials should be as open as possible about
their decisions, actions and transactions providing reasons for
them.
 Cont’d…….
Published information about the government’s performance
and operations – such as regular financial reports validated for
accuracy by an independent auditor – allows the public to
make its own assessment and evaluation of the government.
The principle of transparency is related to that of the rule of
law since it allows citizens to judge if government decisions,
actions and transactions follow rules and regulations.
Openness at all levels within government to effective public
examination and oversight helps to ensure a well-functioning
public sector and engender /produce public confidence in the
government.
The higher the degree of transparency is, the higher the level of
good governance will be.
 Cont’d……..
(3) Rule of Law: A cornerstone /prerequisite principle of good
governance is the rule of law.
Rule of law means:
law is the supreme principle in public administration that should be
observed by all government officials and citizens (all equal before the
law).
law is above everyone and is applied fairly to everyone, whether
governor or governed.
It entails fair legal frameworks, enforced impartially by an
independent judiciary and an incorruptible police.
It provides the checks and balances to minimize the opportunities for
the abuse of power by government officials in order to promote their
own interests and those of their friends at the expense of the public
interest through arbitrary acts and corruption.
 Cont’d…………..
So, good governance requires fair legal frameworks that are
enforced impartially and also requires full protection of
human rights, particularly those of minorities as well as
impartial enforcement of laws requires an independent
judiciary and incorruptible police force.
 Cont’d……
(4) Consensus Oriented: Good governance bridges different
interests in order to build a comprehensive and best
consensus for community groups, and especially in policies
and procedures.
It requires mediation of the different interests in society to
reach a broad consensus in society on what is in the best
interest of the whole community and how this can be
achieved.
This can only result from an understanding of the
historical, cultural and social contexts of a given society or
community.
 Cont’d……..
(5) Effectiveness and Efficiency:
Governance processes and institutions produce results
according to the needs of citizens and by using the
resources that are as optimal as possible.
This means good governance rests upon the fact that the process
and institutions should produce results to meet the needs of the
society.
It mainly refers to management efficiency. It has two
essential meanings: (i)rational administrative structure,
scientifically designed administrative procedures and
flexible administrative activities; and (ii)minimized
administrative costs.
The higher the level of good governance is, the higher the
 Cont’d………
(6) Responsiveness: Good governance would be
possible only when the institution and processes are
responsive and serve all stakeholders/citizens within a
reasonable time-frame.
This means public administrators and administrative
bodies must respond to the demands/questions of
citizens in a timely and responsible manner, and
that is forbidden to make delays without cause or
leave any issue unresolved without response.
The greater the level of responsiveness is, the
higher the level of good governance will be.
 Cont’d……..
(7) Inclusiveness and Equity:
Good governance advocates that people should not
be excluded from the mainstream of the society
and the marginalized are able to avail /advantage
opportunities.
A society’s well-being depends on ensuring that all
its members feel that they have a stake in it and do
not feel excluded from the mainstream of society.
This requires all groups/citizens particularly the
most vulnerable/backward sections of community
have an opportunities to improve or maintain their
Cont’d……..
 THE PRINCIPLE OF “3E’S” – ECONOMY,
EFFICIENCY, and EFFECTIVENESS
In principle, economy means “doing things inexpensively”, refers
primarily to the costs of specific activities and is the evaluation
criterion for input.
It represents minimizing costs on resources used in specific activities
within the appropriate quality.
In the case of determining whether the principle of economy has
been met by the relevant institution in the process of ensuring the
public good regarding the performance evaluation.
It is tested whether the minimizing of costs occurred during the
process without reducing the quality of results.
Economy = the lowest possible expenditure of funds within the
appropriate quality (performance in relation to price), the evaluation
criterion for input based on the principle of doing things
inexpensively.
 Cont’d…………
Efficiency is doing things right. It is the relationship
between outputs in the form of goods, services or other
results and resources used to achieve them.
Efficient activities maximize outputs towards given inputs,
or minimize inputs towards given outputs, again always
with a view to maintaining the required quality.
Efficiency = achieving the necessary outputs by little
money, the relationship between inputs and outputs based
on the principle of doing things the most suitable way.
In principle, effectiveness means “doing things the right, or
the best way in the best possible manner” or “doing the
right things or doing only those things that really should be
done”.
 Cont’d……….
Effectiveness describes the extent to which objectives have been
achieved, i.e. the relationship between the intended and the actual
impact of the monitored activity, or the verification of the actual
effects of activity compared with the intended.
Effectiveness = expresses the degree of progress towards the set
objectives (Do we have what we wanted?).
An effective activity is such activity whose results most closely match
the expected goals.
Economy Effectiveness Efficiency
Inputs Outputs Results
resources Approved plans & Results of objectives &
objective processes
Less spending Targeted spending Wise spending
Fig.1. Shows the basic links within the public administration processes
and their relation to the principles of “3E’s”.
 Cont’d……….
The principles of “3E’s” are in collectively defined as organizational
performance and the model concept of the “3E’s” is considered the
basis for performance monitoring in public administration when based
on the objectives are provided inputs, i.e. resources that are in the
form of personnel and material securing transformed into outputs.
Outputs are developing effects in which public administration is
interested.
When considering all the aspects of economy, efficiency and
effectiveness, it is essential to proceed comprehensively.
Even with a separate study of the economy or efficiency of the given
activity, it is essential to assess the effectiveness at least in general,
which has fundamental importance. And vice versa, in assessing the
effectiveness is necessary to evaluate the economy and efficiency,
because assessed activities, programs, operations, etc. could indeed
have the desired result, but resources to achieve this result have not
been used economically and efficiently.
 Principle of Citizen Participation/Citizen
engagement
UN Public Administration Glossary: Citizen Participation“…
implies the involvement of citizens in a wide range of
policymaking activities, including the determination of levels
of service, budget priorities, and the acceptability of physical
construction projects in order to orient government programs
toward community needs, build public support, and
encourage a sense of cohesiveness within neighbourhoods.
DPADM working definition: Citizen engagement in public
administration implies the involvement of citizens in decision-
making process of the State through measures and/or
institutional arrangements so as to increase their influence on
public policies and programmes ensuring a more positive
impact on their social and economic lives.
 Principle of Empowerment
Empowerment is defined as engaging citizens against
corruption and other governance weaknesses through
activities comprising access to information about service
entitlements and standards prescribed by the law, granting
voice to beneficiaries regarding design and implementation
of service programs, providing grievance redress
mechanisms and citizens with tools and access to demand
accountability from service providers.
As Eyben (2011), ‘Empowerment happens when individuals
and organised groups are able to imagine their world
differently and to realise that vision by changing the
relations of power that have kept them in poverty, restricted
their voice and deprived them of their autonomy.’
 Cont’d……….
Governments should focus on creating an enabling
institutional environment for empowerment through
transparency and access to information, use of
information, decentralization, participatory governance
reforms and communication technologies, anti-corruption
measures and ensuring access to justice and a free media.
 Principle of Privatization
Privatization is the process of transferring property from
public ownership to private ownership and/or
transferring the management of a service or activity from
the government to the private sector. It occurs when
planning and administrative responsibility or other public
functions are transferred from government to voluntary,
private, or non-government institutions.
In some cases, governments may transfer to "parallel
organizations" such as national industrial and trade
associations, professional organizations, political parties,
or cooperatives - the right to license, regulate or
supervise their members in performing functions that
were previously controlled by the government.
 Cont’d……….
In other cases, governments may shift responsibility for
producing goods or supplying services to private
organizations, a process often called privatization.”
The aims for privatization include cost reduction, risk transfer,
a source of revenue, the desire for a higher level of service, a
need for greater expertise, and flexibility and free enterprise
from control of rigid bureaucratic structures and makes the
management of such enterprises more flexible in their
operation and investment strategies.
When services are privatized, the government’s role is limited
to regulation within the scope of the regulator’s powers.
In recent years, public private-partnerships have become a
regular tool for national, state, and local governments to
more conveniently fulfill their duties.
 Cont’d……..
By involving groups from the private sector, governments
have tried to improve the way they perform their duties
especially concerning infrastructure improvement
projects.
Governments have transferred over design, construction,
operation, and maintenance responsibilities to the private
sector based on the belief that the private sector can fill
these needs more efficiently than the government could.
Governments are also leasing or selling established
government assets, such as toll roads or loan portfolios, in
exchange for upfront cash payments. These moneys are
used towards new projects or put towards other
government needs.
 Cont’d………
The end product of privatization is to promote a significant
relationship between the government and private sector, with
the role or the level of involvement of the state in the
economy being reduced, as more of the functions get shifted
to the private sector. So, the advantages of privatization is the
extent to which it can make the behaviour and performance of
companies more transparent.
Privatization has worked in the sense that “divested firms
always become more efficient, more profitable, and financially
healthier, and increase their capital investment spending.”
Shortcomings/disadvantage of privatization principle is a
genuine fear that the influence of power brokers, interest
groups and other political considerations will prostitute the
exercise by replacing public monopoly with private
 Cont’d…….
As Obadan (2000) summarizes the fears about privatization as
follows: Fear of job losses, exploitation of consumers through price
hike and low quality goods and services, concentration of public
asserts in the hands of small elite groups and worsening of income
and wealth distribution. Fear of subjugation of social objectives,
monopoly of the privatization process by ethnic and other interest
groups with easy access to capital, fear of lack of transparency,
and hence corruption and nepotism, in the process, and fear of
foreign domination.
As a development strategy, privatization has paved the way to an
increasingly diversified role for the private sector in the public
service delivery.
It is based on the assumption that the introduction of market
forces or their equivalent in government operations could
enhance the efficiency of those operations, including the delivery
 Principle of Decentralization
Decentralization means different things to different people.
Decentralization is a mixture/transfer of administrative, fiscal and political power,
functions and their relationships to sub-national units of government. It involves
the roles and relationships of all of the societal actors, whether governmental,
private sector or civil society.
Decentralizing governance refers to the restructuring or reorganization of authority
so that there is a system of co-responsibility between institutions of governance at
the central, regional and local levels according to the principle of subsidiarity, thus
increasing the overall quality and effectiveness of the system of governance, by
increasing the authority and capacities of sub-national levels.
“. . . UNDP uses the term ‘decentralizing governance’ as it firmly believes that
decentralization of the public sector, in itself, will not be effective unless support is
also provided to strengthen local governance, involving the public, private and civil
sectors. And, in turn, the achievement of good "governance at the local level is also
not possible without the transfer of responsibilities and capacities through
decentralization. It is systematic and harmonious interrelationship resulting from
the balancing of power and responsibilities between central governments and other
levels of government and non-governmental actors, and the capacity of local bodies
to carry out their decentralized responsibilities using participatory mechanisms.”
 Cont’d………..
Administrative decentralization means the transfer of responsibility for planning,
management, and the raising and allocation of resources from the central
government and its agencies to field, units of government agencies, subordinate
units or levels of government, semi-autonomous public authorities or corporations,
area-wide regional or functional authorities, or non-governmental private or
voluntary organizations. It focused on the hierarchical and functional distribution of
powers between central and non-central governmental units.
Decentralization could also be expected to contribute to key elements of good
governance, such as increasing people's opportunities for participation in economic,
social and political decisions; assisting in developing people's capacities; and
enhancing government responsiveness, transparency and accountability.
While decentralization or decentralizing governance should not be seen as an end in
itself, it can be a means for creating more open, responsive, and effective local
government and for enhancing representational systems of community-level decision
making.
By allowing local communities and regional entities to manage their own affairs, and
through facilitating closer contact between central and local authorities, effective
systems of local governance enable responses to people's needs and priorities to be
heard, thereby ensuring that government interventions meet a variety of social
 End of Chapter Two
Thank You Pay Attention!!
Questions……?
Well-come