GOVERNMENT is, and will remain,central to our society.It is the role of the government to ensure social justice, to create an even playing field that allows its citizens the freedom to realize their full potentials and creativity; and to deliver the servic es and opportunities that people need. An efficient, effective and accountable government is the best guarantor of social justice and an orderly society. While the case for good government is obvious,the gap between the aspirations and the realities is often large.There is widespread mal-governance and a pop ular perception that governments are not working;or that they are ineffective in delivering services and meeting the aspirations of the citizens; or that gov ernments are incompatible with the aspirations of the majority of the people in developing countries; or, perhaps albeit somewhat spuriously,that govern ments are becoming obsolete.The scep ticism about governments is manifested in a variety of ways:
◗ More and more people do not trust their governments.
◗ There is a stigma attached to govern ment services. In many countries gov ernment has become synonymous with corruption, cronyism and misrule.
◗ Governments no longer attract the best, the most talented or idealistic peo ple – in many countries governments are finding it difficult to recruit compe tent and trained people. Those already in the government are often disillu sioned, cynical and marking time.
◗ Citizens are becoming apathetic; and the number of citizens who turn out to vote is declining in many coun tries – both in developed and develop ing societies
◗ Society, and media that supposedly mirrors society, has lost its sense of out rage and even the worst scandals and acts of injustice do not shock us enough.
Supranational institu
tions, regional group
ings, decentralization of
power has combined to
diminishing sovereignty
of the state and to the
‘hollowing’ of the powers
of the government
Some of these criticisms may not be entirely true or are perhaps exaggerated. But the fact remains that there is a wide spread disillusionment with government and many of the criticisms are not entirely without good cause. Some of these dissatisfactions relate to the very fundamentals of the governments them inability to adapt to compelling change taking place globally that is impacting the very nature and character of the state and the government.For government to survive and retain its legitimacy, it must revitalize and adapt; and the real chal lenge for us in the 21st century is how to adapt and re-conceptualize govern ment so that it reflects and responds to current realities and challenges. It will call for careful nurturing of government institutions, a fresh vision, imagination; and a renewed commitment to social justice as the core mandate of the government.In short,the government must reinvent itself.
I will argue that the government, in public trust and legitimacy, must reinvent itself, redefine its role and sphere of activities, and most importantly refocus itself on its core role as the guarantor of social justice. But first I will outline the complex and multiple onslaughts on the authority and role of the government; and then I will highlight the important conceptual shifts in our notion of government which is compelling us to “reinvent” the way in which government functions. And finally I will highlight some of the components of the “new governance”
The sovereign power and role of gov ernment is diminishing. The “hollow ing”of the government has happened at several levels.At the international level, governments have surrendered many of their sovereign powers to supranational organizations;at the national level, pres sure for devolution has meant that some of these powers are being transferred to the grassroots level or to civil society organizations; and sub-regional group ings and organizations are increasingly bypassing national governments and working out arrangements that affect their local interests, sometimes even across borders. Civil society organiza tions, on the other hand, have not only become a player in the international arena but also in the national arena they have increasingly established themselves as advocates, service providers and part ners of the government in policy for mulation.Community-based and public service organizations are probably the most visible evidence of that partnership with the government. International agencies, philanthropic foundations and individuals have all taken on roles that were once regarded as the exclusive pre serve of governments.To sum up,the rise of supranational institutions, regional groupings, decentralization and devolu tion of power from the centre to the periphery has combined not only to diminish the sovereignty of the state but also to the “hollowing”of the powers of the government. The movement towards greater globalization has merely added new layers and complexities to the tasks of governments.
