Barriers to good governance

Now, let us understand the barriers to good governance. Going through the discussion on good governance, it can be said that development is a value-loaded concept and has a strong relationship to good governance. However, the process of good governance encounters various barriers. The barriers are multi fold and intense in nature. Most importantly, all the barriers are inter related to each other. The barriers to good governance are discussed briefly.

i) Lack of awareness: this is one of the biggest barriers that come in the way of good governance. Due to inadequate literacy, lack of information from the government side, and the failure of civil society institutions there is a lack of awareness among people about the process of governance, and development initiatives. The sense of apathy among people also compounds the problem.

ii) Absence of transparency and accountability: governance gets derailed due to lack of transparency. Moreover, lack of accountability leads to authoritarianism and creates a huge gap between the government and the governed.

iii) Corruption and failure to check corruption: corruption is generally identified as private gains from using public means through unethical practices. This phenomenon takes away development benefits from people.

iv) Weak civil society: civil society bridges the gap between government and governed, and checks the growth of unethical practices. But, when there is an absence of civil society institutions, or when they are weakened, the gap between people and the government gets widened.Good governance is badly affected by weak civil society institutions.

v) Lack of strong institutions of governance: governance functions with the Governance: An Overview support of various institutions such as the legislature, executive, and the judiciary, with a clear separation of power. If these institutions succumb to illegal and unethical pressures, and they fail to perform their designated functions, then the institutions get weakened. This results in the failure of the process of governance, and hampers development initiatives.

The process of governance is being strengthened by modern information technology. Video conferencing, for example, is a way to organize direct discussions between officials and citizens. The availability of information on internet sites, the conversion of documents into electronic format, the storage of all data related to citizens, makes the process of transparency and accountability simple. The devolution of power by giving constitutional status to grassroots organizations has brought an upsurge of democratic values and participation among citizens. The participation of citizens in the development process enhances governance, and, ultimately, democratic ideals.