How good is good enough?
How can their security be guaranteed? Photo: Shafiq Islam/ Drik News
Governance has been characterised as exercise of power and making decisions by a group which, in a democratic dispensation, happens to be the elected government. It is omnipresent in all segments of the society and the welfare of a community depends on the choices made by the people granted this authority. There are various actors who, by virtue of the position they hold, arrogate to themselves the power to govern. Security in its comprehensive sense is premised on three factors: one is the traditional security emerging from statist discourse, but security of the people that can also come from economic progress and good governance and rule of law; these three things, working together, are really what determine security. One of the views that was forcefully articulated at a seminar on "Good Governance and National Security" recently was that it was well nigh impossible to attain an ideal state of good governance and as such we should be satisfied with the second best option, that is "good enough governance" rather than trying to attain the ideal state. The fact that there is an inextricable link between security and good governance, since bad governance or failure to govern properly will inevitably adversely impact the wellbeing of the people, and in turn the security of the state, it will be risky to accept anything less than good governance. And if we go for the second best the question is how much of "enough" will be good enough for the government to deliver to its people. One feels that although the position, that one will not be able to achieve the maximum, might be a realistic view given the centrifugal forces acting on all the agents of change, one would like to ask who will determine as to what is the optimum level. Governance issues predominate our existence today. It is a catch phrase for our development partners. For the developing countries, anything and everything that is donor driven has to fulfill the criterion of good governance. In fact, the idea has reached such a phenomenal proportion that tomes have been written to define what good governance is. The IFIs, the UN and EU have spent considerable effort and time to secure the assurances of the developing countries to understand their formulation and explication of the term "good governance" as well as to undertake such measures as would ensure that those conditions are fulfilled, to qualify for aid. And why not, those that provide money for various development programs would want to know how well that is being utilised. And that is crux of the issue -- doing it well -- is a function of good governance. Leaving aside the developing countries, good governance is an enabling condition, which claims universality in application irrespective of the level of development, and which enables governments to ensure that quality of life of its people which would rule out the possibility of unrest and violence. That in turn would ensure peace and security, at least in so far as the internal manifestation is concerned. It must be emphasised that good governance is not entirely about wielding power. Neither, by the same token, is there a direct correlation between economic strength and security. But interestingly all the definitions propounded by the international institutions and other scholarly studies converge on the term as referring to a process by which power is exercised. There are many examples in recent times where lack of good governance has resulted in terrible consequences for the state. To quote Chris Patten, of the seven states, out of the top ten that appear in the list of states facing the greatest risk of failure, are in Africa, and all have come to this state due entirely to the consequence of bad governance. Security is inseparable from good governance, since good governance helps prevent conflicts and ensure peace. The link had been spelled out more than 200 years ago by Kant who said: "People who feel secure and free, governed by the rule of law and not of men, are much less likely to go to war with each other -- either within or across borders -- than those who don't." And while looking at security we forget all too often that at times the state can itself be a cause of its insecurity. Even the lone superpower, the USA, has been constrained to acknowledge the predominant role of good governance in conflict resolution when the US national security advisor admitted very recently that the solution of the Afghan crisis lay not in military victories but in delivering to the people their basic needs through a regime of good governance. Looking at the matter in a more down-to-earth manner, good governance is in fact good management that would ensure security of the people; and if people are secure so will be the state. Thus, it will never do to be satisfied with the second best. The aspiration should be to strive for absolutely good governance that fulfills all the universally accepted criteria.Brigadier General Shahedul Anam Khan, ndc, psc (Retd) is Editor, Defence & Strategic Affairs, The Daily Star.
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