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Democracy, Good Governance and (Sustainable)
Development The Challenge of Matching Governing
Form to Developmental Function William M.
Lafferty Programme for Research and
Documentation for a Sustainable Society
(ProSus) Centre for Development and the
Environment (SUM), University of Oslo and Centre
for Clean Technology and Environmental Policy
(CSTM) University of Twente Lecture SUM 4000,
Spring 2006, 2 March 2006
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Program for Research and Documentation for a
Sustainable Society
Program for forskning og utredning for et
bærekraftig samfunn
One of four research programmes Centre for
Development and the Environment (SUM) University
of Oslo
Funded by the Research Council of Norway (RCN)
Division for Strategic
Priorities,
Department for Environmental Issues, Energy and
Sustainable Development

Område for miljø og utvikling
Norges forskningsråd
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The ProSus mandate

• Documentation and evaluation of Norways
  follow-up of the Rio accords and the guidelines
  from the UN Commission on Sustainable
  development. Increasing emphasis on the
  European, Nordic and Norwegian strategies and
  action plans for sustainable development.

• Strategic research on the barriers and
  potential facilitators for a more rational and
  effective realization of strategies and action
  plans for sustainable development.

• Information and dissemination of the projects
  evaluations and research results, and the
  promotion of public debate on alternative
  strategies, scenarios and normative futures.

www.sum.uio.no\prosus
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What is Sustainable Development? The
Brundtland definition complete! Sustainable
development is development that meets the needs
of the present without compromising the ability
of future generations to meet their own
needs. It contains within it two key
concepts - the concept of needs, in
particular the essential needs of the worlds
poor, to which overriding priority should be
given and - the idea of limitations imposed by
the state of technology and social organization
on the environments ability to meet present and
future needs. Three crucial additional
principles - Differentiated responsibility
Between developed and developing member
states the issue of over development vs.
under development - Environmental policy
integration Integrating competing economic,
social, and environmental concerns -
Precautionary principle Protecting the
sustainability of natural life-support systems in
the face of uncertainty as to probable negative
impacts from any given economic or social-welfare
initiative
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• The political mandate for sustainable
  development
• A normative programme for change with high
  moral-political legitimacy (in Europe)

• UN Rio Declaration, Agenda 21, Climate
  Convention, Biodiversity Convention, Declaration
  on Implementation of Agenda 21 from Rio 5 (New
  York, 1997), Millennium Goals from WSSD
  (Johannesburg, 2002), the Global Compact, etc,
  etc
• EU Treaties of Maastricht, Amsterdam, Nice the
  5th EAP Towards Sustainability the
  Gothenburg Strategy for Sustainable
  Development the Cardiff Process numerous
  directives and lesser agreements (including
  several directives and action plans on Renewable
  Energy Systems (RES)).
• Nordic Council Strategy for A Sustainable
  Nordic Region, with indicators and targets for
  SD recently evaluated and revised
• Norway Numerous parliamentary decisions,
  governmental White Papers, National Strategy for
  Sustainable Development and the National Agenda
  21 Action Plan for Sustainable Development

? An integrated multi-level strategic programme
for promoting SD
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Democracy An idea in historyI. The basic
elements
Instruments - Elections - Representation -
Majority Rule - Minority rights - Legal
enactment - Judicial Review - Referenda
Core definition (Cohen Democracy) A system of
community government, in which the members of the
community, participate, directly or
indirectly, in the making of decisions which
affect them all
Presuppositions - Community - Rationality
Conditions - History - Religion / values -
Technology / culture - Economy / level of need
satisfaction - Education - Constitutions ("power
maps")
Outputs - Decisions - Laws / regulations -
Policies - Allocations
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Democracy An idea in historyII.
Democratization form follows function
Democracy for sustainable development
History
Democracy for development
Economic democracy
Industrial democracy
National democracy
Local democracy
Scope and function
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Democratization, good governance and
development Perspectives from Potter (Ch. 17)
The Washington consensus Essentially, the
view was that a combination of liberal market
capitalism in an international context and
liberal democracy and good governance
domestically were mutually reinforcing (a
virtuous cycle) and provided core elements of a
comprehensive strategy for development success
equally valid for all types of society. (p.
375) The opposing view ... if eliminating the
continuing offence of poverty and misery is the
real target, then unlimited liberal democracy and
unrestrained economic liberty may be the last
thing the developing world needs as it whirls
towards the 21st century (Leftwich, 1993) (p.
376) The key challenge The contradiction is
that the rules and hence practices of stable
democratic politics will tend to restrict policy
to incremental and accommodationist (hence
conservative) options whereas developmental
requirements (whether liberal or radical) will be
likely to pull policy in the direction of quite
sharp change affecting the economic and social
structure of the society and hence important
interests within it. (p. 377)
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Good Governance Procedural vs substantive views
The World Bank Governance the means in
which power is exercised in the management of a
countrys economic and social resources for
development (p. 379) Good governance
synonymous with sound management in four
areas 1. Public sector management 2.
Accountability 3. The legal framework for
development 4. Information and transparency Note
The World Bank criteria are highly procedural
no specific mention of substantive developmental
goals (free markets, liberalization, etc.),
nor of competitive democracy Yet Demands
for good governance have, in practice, almost
exclusively been connected to the
liberalization/de-regulation of national
developing economies (conditionality) and
competitive party politics Hvorfor det???
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A triad of models of democratic form, good
governance, and developmental goals
The model of development Guiding principles,
programmes, policy instruments
The model of democratic decision-making To
determine and legitimate the goals
The model of good governance (public management)
To effectively realize the goals
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The model for democratic decision-makingcan be
in conflict with The model for development
Goals and principles of sustainable development
Values and principles of liberal-pluralist
democracy (polyarchy)
Community within ecological domains
Community within historical-geographical domains
Categorical citizenship and proxy
representation of the interests of future
generations and (for some) other species
Individual citizenship and direct representation
of interests
A strong need for science and expertise
Core values of personal preference and common
sense
A need for holistic, integrated decisions
Pluralistic representation, partisan competition
and majority governance
Prompt, decisive and effective action
Debate, dialogue, compromise, reflection and
learning
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Conclusions for further discussion

• The notion of democratization must be
  relativized according to the function/purpose of
  the activity that is to be democratized
• The Western model of liberal pluralism
  (competitive democracy, polyarchy) is
  strongly conditioned by the emergence and
  consolidation of free-market capitalism
• There are good reasons to separate the
  decision-making and management functions of
  governing
• Standards of good governance are essentially
  formulated as standards of good i.e.
  effective public management.
• Some aspects of development are more
  democratically sanctioned (globally) than others
  human, civil and social rights environmental
  sustainability
• Northern states have a clearly moral
  differentiated responsibility to do more to
  reduce burdens on life-support systems and
  natural resources than do Southern states
• Southern states must nonetheless also be held
  responsible for good governance for sustainable
  development

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For greater detail on the approach
Edward Elgar 2004 www.e-elgar.co.uk Paperback
edition from April 2006
Can be downloaded at the ProSus website
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Model for good public management for
SD Vertical and Horizontal Environmental Policy
Integration (EPI)
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Model for good public management for
SD Vertical and Horizontal Environmental Policy
Integration (EPI)