introduction to key concepts state governance civil society democracy

Introduction to Key Concepts

StateGovernanceCivil Society Democracy

State and civil society

• What is the State?• State is defined using many criteria such as its

legal form, coercive capacities, institutional composition and boundaries, internal operations, declared aims, functions for the broader society, or sovereign place in the international system etc.

• There is no universal acceptable definition of what it is.


• What is the State?• Taken from the Latin stare (to stand) a state is

a political community that occupies a definite territory; having an organized government with the authority to make and enforce laws without the consent of a higher authority.


• What is the State?• Weber defined modern state as “the human

community that successfully claims legitimate monopoly over the means Of coercion in a given territorial area”

• Weber emphasizes three aspects of the modern state: its territoriality; its monopoly of the means of physical violence; and its legitimacy.


• What is the State? • The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics

defined state as:• A distinct set of political institutions whose

specific concern is with the organization of domination, in the name of the common interest, within a delimited territory.


• What is the State? • Professor Garner defined state as:• A community of person more or less

numerous, permanently occupying a definite portion of territory, independent or nearly so, of external and possessing an organised government to which the great body of inhabitants render habitual obedience.

Essential elements of the state• Characteristics of the state:• Population: People – Which nation has the largest

population? How many citizens are there in the URT? • Geography: A state must have a territory with known and

recognized boundaries. Which country has the largest territory?

• Sovereignty: A state must have absolute and complete authority to make the rules within its own territory

• Government• International recognition: International recognition is

desirable for better and absolute state hood

Origins of the State

• Evolution Theory (family to tribal council)• Force Theory (conquest of family /tribe)• Divine Right (Rulers are chosen by God)• Social Contract (agreement between the

ruler and the ruled a contract)

How did states and governments come into being? Four theories:

What is the Differences between State and Government?

1. State is a Political organization to control the various aspects of social life while Government is the agent through which the will of the state is expressed

2. State is abstract. It is not visible while Government is concrete. It is visible.

3. State is permanent while Government is temporary4. State is sovereign while government is not

sovereign. It drives its power from the state

What is the Differences between State and Government?

5. State is wider while government is one among the basic element of the state

6. In a State all citizens are members while the membership of the Government is limited to the ruler only.

7. There can be no rights against the state while there can be rights against the government.

What is the differences between Nation and State?

• NATIONAL SYMBOLS• Flag• National Anthem • Monument• Seal• The Constitution• Animal• Language• Currency• Coats of Arms (shield)


• There is a difference between the terms nation, state, and country, even though the words are often used interchangeably. Country and State are synonymous terms that both apply to self-governing political entities. A nation, however, is a group of people who share the same culture but do not have sovereignty.


• The State has four elements—population, territory, government, and sovereignty. In the absence of even one element, a State cannot be really a State. A state is always characterised by all these four elements.

• On the contrary, a nation is a group of people who have a strong sense of unity and common consciousness. common race, common religion, common language, common history, common culture and common political aspirations are the elements which help the formation of a nation


• The State is a political organisation which fulfills the security and welfare needs of its people. It is concerned with external human actions. It is a legal entity.

• On the other hand, a Nation is a united unit of population which is full of emotional, spiritual and psychological bonds. A nation has little to do with the physical needs of the people.


• The State is limited to a fixed territory. Its boundaries can increase or decrease but the process of change is always very complex.

• Nation can be wider than the State: a nation may or may not remain within the bounds of a fixed territory

• A State can be created while a Nation is always the result of evolution


• State has police power. Those who dare to disobey it are punished by the state. A nation does not have police power or force or coercive power. It is backed by moral, emotional and spiritual power. A nation survives on the power of sense of unity of the people. A nation appeals, the State orders; a nation persuades, a States coerces; and a nation boycotts, the State punishes.


• Not all nations have States. While the Jewish nation is not a State, Israel is a State.

• Modern States tend to try to develop a sense of nation within their territorial boundaries.

• It is believed that a state consisting of a nation of people is more cohesive and easier to govern as there is a common set of beliefs, values, culture, and history.

Governance• The concept of Good Governance can be traced

back to the Ancient Greek period if one catch the essence of Aristotle’s fundamental statement that “the state came in to existence for the sake of mere life, but continued for the sake of good life”.

• looking into the term “good life” we can traced out the components of Good Governance which is discussed in modern time.

Governance• Recently the scope and the meaning of the

term have been much expanded. • Because of this, there is no consensus on the

definition and the scope of the term of governance. There is no unity among the scholars and the funding agencies over the term govern.

Governance• It is only recently that the role of government

and the creation of good institutions by government are deemed important again.

• Scholars began to realize that government should do what it is supposed to do, that is at least to create security, protect property rights, reduce societal problems and take back its leading role in controlling and steering societal developments

Governance• Before that some scholars viewed governance

something like the final blow for government that had to accept that society cannot be hierarchically steered or controlled. The steering of developments had to be left to societal actors and had to be accomplished through networks in which hierarchy hardly played a role.

Governance• The Oxford dictionary defines governance as• the act or method of governing, of exercising

control or authority over the actions of subjects, a system of regulation.

• At the same time the governments is one of the actors in governance. The military, civil society organizations, media, political parties, and NGOs are the other actors in the process of Governance

Governance

• The United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) definition of good governance is set out in a 1997 UNDP policy document entitled “Governance for Sustainable Human Development”.

• Governance can be seen as the exercise of economic, political and administrative authority to manage a country’s affairs at all levels.

Governance

• The AfDB in the process of preparing an institutional policy on good governance. The draft policy paper, dated April 1999, defines governance as

• a process referring to the way in which power is exercised in the management of affairs of a nation.

Good governance

• World Bank defines: "Good governance is epitomized by predictable and enlightened policy making; a bureaucracy imbued with a professional ethos; an executive arm of government accountable for its actions; a strong civil society participating in public affairs; and all behaving under the rule of law“

Good governance

• Good governance is a process, where rules and well-functioning institutions are applied to manage nation’s affairs in a manner that safeguards democracy, human rights, good order and human security, and economy and efficiency are followed in management of country’s resources.

TYPES OF GOVERNANCE

• 1. Political or public governance, whose authority is the State, government or public sector, relates to the process by which a society organizes its affairs and manages itself.

• 2. Economic governance, whose authority is the private sector, relates to the policies, the processes or organizational mechanisms that are necessary to produce and distribute services and goods.

TYPES OF GOVERNANCE

• 3. Social governance, whose authority is the civil society, including citizens and non-for-profit organizations, relates to a system of values and beliefs that are necessary for social behaviors to happen and for public decisions to be taken.

Good governance

• Good governance is measured using different elements or indicators:

• World Bank WGI has 6 indicators• United Nation (UN) 8 charecteristics• UNDP use 5 indicators• Ibrahim Index of African Governance has 4• African Development Bank (AfDB) 5 indicators

8 charecteristicsof Good Governance

United Nation (UN) 8 charecteristicsof Good Governance

• Participation by both men and women is a key cornerstone of good governance. Participation could be either direct or through legitimate intermediate institutions or representatives.

• Transparency means that decisions taken and their enforcement are done in a manner that follows rules and regulations. It also means that information is freely available and directly accessible to those who will be affected by such decisions and their enforcement. It also means that enough information is provided and that it is provided


• Rule of law ;Good governance requires fair legal frameworks that are enforced impartially. It also requires full protection of human rights, particularly those of minorities. Impartial enforcement of laws requires an independent judiciary and an impartial and incorruptible police force.


• Responsiveness : Good governance requires that institutions and processes try to serve all stakeholders within a reasonable timeframe.

• Consensus oriented: There are several actors and as many view points in a given society. Good governance 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. It also requires a broad and long-term


• Equity and inclusiveness: 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, but particularly the most vulnerable, have opportunities to improve or maintain their well being.


• Effectiveness and efficiency: Good governance means that processes and institutions produce results that meet the needs of society while making the best use of resources at their disposal. The concept of efficiency in the context of good governance

• Accountability In general an organization or an institution is accountable to those who will be affected by its decisions or actions. Accountability cannot be enforced without transparency and the rule of law.

World Bank WGI has 6 indicators

1) voice and accountability: political process, civil liberties and political rights, independence of media

2) political instability and violence: perceptions that the government will be destabilized or overthrown by violent means

3) government effectiveness: quality of public service provision, of bureaucracy, competence of civil servants.

World Bank WGI has 6 indicators

1) 4) regulatory burden: incidence of market-unfriendly policies

5) rule of law: incidence of violent or non-violent crime, effectiveness and predictability of the judiciary, enforceability of contracts

6) graft: corruption (exercise of public power for private gains

Ibrahim Index of African Governance

• The IIAG data are classifed within four categories:

1. Safety & Rule of Law�2. Participation & Human Rights�3. Sustainable Economic Opportunity�4. Human Development�

Ibrahim Index of African Governance�• 1 Safety & Rule of Law• Rule Of Law 5 indicators• Accountability 7 indicators• Personal Safety 6 indicators• National Security 5 indicators

Ibrahim Index of African Governance�• 2 Participation & Human Rights• Participation 5 indicators• Rights 7 indicators• Gender 7 indicators

Ibrahim Index of African Governance�• 3 .Sustainable Economic Opportunity• Public Management• Business Environment• Infrastructure• Rural Sector

Ibrahim Index of African Governance�4 Human Development• Welfare: Social Protection & Labour, Social

Exclusion, Welfare Services (Health & Education) Equity of Publ Resource Use, Access to Water, Access to Sanitation etc.

• Education: Education Provision & Quality, Educational System Quality etc.

• Health

civil society

• Civil society is defined as; Any organization or movement that works in the area between the household, the private sector and the state to negotiate matters of public concern.

• Civil society is a space, an arena, a sphere in which citizens associate with each other independently of the state, creating a network of links and organizations to promote their collective identities and serve and represent their group interests

THE STRUCTURE OF CSOs• Loose, informal groups involve more or less casual

meetings of like minded people to discuss issues and perhaps plan for concerted actions.

• Semi structured groups may have a charter and a clearly stated vision and mission and perhaps some voluntary codes of practice and rules and regulations regarding membership

• Civil Society organisations can be registered under five different government acts. When they are legally constituted they are likely to have a Constitution, a Board, a bank account and regular meetings of the responsible people.

Civil Society• Civil Society covers a wide range of organised

groupings. They occupy the public space between the state and individual people. They are normally interest groups with different degrees of accountability to their membership. They include:

• NGOs – national and international• Religious organisations• Professional associations• Trade Unions• Co-operatives

Civil Society

• Voluntary and self-help groups• Organisations of socially excluded groups• Political parties• The Media• Community-based organisations (CBOs)• Legal and Human rights groups• Research Organisations

Civil Society

• Civil Society organistions have a wide range of agendas. Only some are deliberately pro-poor and of those only some take a rights-based approach to empowerment and advocacy. The next diagram maps the different types of CSOs.

3 questions determine State-society relations

• How much individual freedom and autonomy does the state allow?

• How free are citizens to form associations?• Does civil society challenge the state?

• The rise of civil society is an evolutionary, gradual process

• At some point, this evolution leads to a clash with the state, cooperation or lack of cooperation

State-society relations

• In established democracies:• Representation of interests means pressure on

the state• Every state policy evokes different reactions

from civil society: some support, some oppose• So, a degree of friction and tension between

civil society and the state is a normal condition in a democracy

What is democracy?

• Democracy is government of the people, by the people and for the people ( Abraham Lincoln

• Democracy is any form of government in which the rules of society are decided by the people who will be bound by them (Catherine Kellogg)

• Democracy is a state in which all fully qualified citizens vote at a regular intervals to chose, among alternative candidates the people who will be in charge of setting the state policies. (Shively,W.P)

The Concept of Democracy

• Theories of a democratic government include differencing democracy from other form of government:– Autocracy: power to govern is concentrated in the

hands of one individual.– Oligarchy: power is concentrated in the hands of a

few people.– Democracy: in theory, the people rule, either

directly or indirectly.

2-52


• The Meaning and Symbolism of Democracy – The first major school of thought about

what constitutes democracy believes that democracy is a form of government that emphasizes the procedures that enable the people to govern or how decisions are made. – This is the procedural view of democracy

2-53

The Concept of Democracy• Procedural democratic theory establishes

principles that describe how government should make decisions. The principles address three questions:

• Who should participate in decision-making? • How much should each participant’s vote

count? • How many votes are needed to reach a

decision?

2-54

The Concept of Democracy• Universal participation: everyone in a democratic

society should participate in governmental decision-making.

• The principle of political equality establishes an equality in political decision-making providing for one vote per person, with all votes counted equally.

• The decision of a group must reflect the preference of more than half of those participating; a simple majority, known as majority rule.

2-55


• The Meaning and Symbolism of Democracy– The second major school of thought about

what constitutes democracy see democracy in the substance of government policies, in freedom of religion and the provision for human needs or what government does. – This is the substantive view of democracy

2-56


• The substantive view of democracy• Democracy is embodied in the substance of

government policies rather than in the policymaking procedure.

• The criterion for substantive democracy states that government policies should guarantee civil liberties and civil rights.

2-57

The Concept of Democracy• Procedural Versus Substantive Democracy • The problem with the substantive view of

democracy is that it does not provide clear, precise criteria that allow a determination of whether or not government is democratic.

• The procedural viewpoint, while presenting specific criteria for democratic government, can produce undesirable social policies because of those criteria, such as those that prey on minorities.

2-58

Institutional Models of Democracy

• Institutional Mechanisms Necessary for Democratic Government– Establishing procedures and organizations

to translate public opinion into policy– Elections–Political parties– Legislatures– Interest groups

59


• The majoritarian model of democracy is the classical theory of democracy in which government by the people is interpreted as government by the majority of the people.

• The pluralist model of democracy is an interpretation of democracy in which government by the people is taken to mean government by people operating through competing interest groups.

2-60

Institutional Models of Democracy (Cont’d)

• A comparison of the majoritarian and pluralist models reveals:

• Pluralist model: • Does not demand much knowledge from citizens in general

but requires specialized knowledge of groups of citizens• Limits majority action - allows minorities to rule

• Majoritarian model: • Conclusive elections• Centralized structure of government• Cohesive political parties with well-defined programs

2-61


• An undemocratic model, elite theory, is the view that a small group of people actually makes most of the important government decisions. – Identified and stable minority makes most important

government decisions – Control key financial, communications, industrial, and

government institutions– Power derived from wealth– Define issues and affect outcomes– Powerful few manage issues and constrain outcomes

2-62

Weaknesses

• Democratic rule can become tyranny of the majority in situations where basic values are not shared.

• Inability to act swiftly and decisively when such actions are needed

• Does not reach out across national boundries. Can we have international democracy?

introduction to key concepts state governance civil society democracy

Documents