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The Relevance of Democracy and Good Governance

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Title: The Relevance of Democracy and Good Governance


1
  • The Relevance of Democracy and Good Governance
  • Parliamentary Involvement in the Poverty
    Reduction and Environmental Protection Process
  • in Developing Countries
  • ZEFa PhD-Course
  • Uwe HOLTZ, February 10/11, 2004
  • Only for internal use!

2
Course Objectives
  • to acquaint you with the main features of
    democracy, good governance, and development
  • to plead for a stronger commitment to political
    systems and parliamentary involvement in
    development theory and practice (poverty
    reduction)
  • to help develop your own thinking and analytical
    ability

3
Topics to be covered
  1. Neglect of political systems issues
  2. Democracy and human rights
  3. Good governance
  4. Development
  5. Relationship between democracy and development
  6. Practical experiences Poverty Reduction and
    Environmental Protection - UNCCD
  7. Future action - more and better parliamentary
    involvement

4
Reading list
  • Amartya Sen Democracy as a Universal Value, in
    Journal of Democracy 10.3 (1999) 3-17 (also
    http//muse.jhu.edu/demo/jod/10.3sen.html )
  • Inter-Parliamentary Union Universal Declaration
    on Democracy, 1997, in www.ipu.org (gt quick
    search gt universal declaration on democracy
    exact address http//www.ipu.org/cnl-e/161-dem.ht
    m )
  • A Concept Paper on Legislatures and Good
    Governance. Based on a Paper prepared by John K.
    Johnson and Robert T. Nakamura for UNDP. July
    1999, in http//magnet.undp.org/Docs/parliaments/
    Concept20Paper20Revised20MAGNET.htm
  • Human Development Report 2002. Deepening
    democracy in a fragmented world. Published for
    the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP),
    New York Oxford 2002 (also http//www.undp.org/
    hdr2002/complete.pdf ) (Overview p. 1-9)
  • InWent (ed.) Global Policy without Democracy?
    The Participation and Interface of
    Parliamentarians and Civil Societies for Global
    Policy, Bonn, November 2001 (also
    http//www.dse.de/ef/parlmnt/ind2501e.htm)
  • Walter Eberlei Elementary standards of
    participation in national PRSP-processes (GKKE
    Joint Conference Church and Development), Berlin
    - Bonn 2002 (http//www.justitia-et-pax.de/justiti
    a/pdf/arb_96_engl.pdf )
  • Uwe Holtz Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers and
    Country Strategy Papers and their relationship to
    the combat against desertification. The role of
    Parliaments, Bonn 2003, http//www.unccd.int/parli
    ament/data/bginfo/PRS.pdf

5
References
  • Robert Dahl Polyarchy. Participation and
    Opposition, New Haven - London 1971.
  • Robert Dahl Democracy and its Critics, New Haven
    - London 1989.
  • IPU (ed.) Democracy Its Principles and
    Achievement, Geneva 1998.
  • InWent (Hg.) Human Rights in Developing
    Countries - How can Development Cooperation
    contribute to furthering their Advancement?, Bonn
    September 2003. (http//www.dse.de/ef/human_rights
    /index.htm)
  • Jakkie K Cilliers Peace and security through
    good governance? A guide to the NEPAD African
    Peer Review Mechanism, Pretoria 2003.
  • Declaration of Santiago on democracy and public
    trust. A new commitment to good governance for
    the Americas. / OAS General Assembly. - Santiago,
    2003. - 6 S.
  • Tom Pierre Najem (ed.) Good governance in the
    Middle East oil monarchies, London 2003.
  • United Nations Economic and Social Commission for
    Asia and the Pacific What is good governance?,
    in http//www.unescap.org/huset/gg/governance.ht
    m

6
  • People First (a trust promoted by Development
    Alternatives, a prominent NGO of India)
    Governance for Sustainable Development -
    empowerment of people in democracies for global
    sustainability-, New Delhi, January 1997
    (http//www.ecouncil.ac.cr/rio/focus/report/englis
    h/people.htm and http//www.ecouncil.ac.cr/rio/fo
    cus/summary/policy/Governance )
  • Paul P. Streeten Good Governance History and
    Development of the Concept (Speech - Novartis
    Foundation), 12 Juin 2002, in www.novartisfoundat
    ion.com/symposium/rede_streeten_06122002.pdf
  • Walter Eberlei / Heike Henn Parliaments in
    Sub-Saharan Africa actors in poverty
    reduction?(GTZ-Study), Eschborn, December 2003
    (http//www.gtz.de/prsp/download/parliaments.pdf
    )
  • Uwe Holtz Partnership for the 21st Century - A
    Preliminary Assessment of the EU-ACP Agreement,
    in DC (Development and Cooperation) 2/2000, p.
    8-12. ( http//www.dse.de/zeitschr/de200-3.htm )
  • Uwe Holtz The previous four Round Tables of
    Members of Parliament on the United Nations
    Convention to Combat Desertification, Bonn 2003,
    in http//www.unccd.int/parliament/data/bginfo/PP
    RT(eng).pdf
  • (French http//www.unccd.int/parliament/data/bgi
    nfo/PPRT(fra).pdf -
  • Spanish http//www.unccd.int/parliament/data/bgin
    fo/PPRT(spa).pdf )

7
Our One World the developing world
8
1. Neglect of political systems issues

9
  • Development theories (modernisation, dependency)
    laid no great emphasis on the question of
    political systems.
  • Very often, development meant economic growth.
  • During the Cold War, the West and East were
    primarily looking for friends in the Third World
    and didnt care much about the question if their
    friends were democrats or dictators.

10
1992 Rio UN Conference on Environment and
Development
  • Rio Declaration silent on democracy
  • Agenda 21 democracy takes place
  • 27.1. Non-governmental organizations play a vital
    role in the shaping and implementation of
    participatory democracy.
  • 2.6. Experience has shown that sustainable
    development requires a commitment to sound
    economic policies and management, an effective
    and predictable public administration, the
    integration of environmental concerns into
    decision-making and progress towards democratic
    government, in the light of country-specific
    conditions, which allows for full participation
    of all parties concerned.

11
  • ZEFs mission is to give scientific support to
    the implementation of Agenda 21 and to contribute
    to a sustainable development which ensures a life
    in human dignity for everyone.
  • Bonn University Rector Prof. M. Huber in a
    letter to the UN Secretary-General B.
    Butros-Ghali, April 1, 1996

12
J. von Braun, P. Vlek, A. Wimmer (2002)
STRATEGY FOR THE FUTURE OF ZEF - The Development
Experience
  • In the 1950s and 60s, the general emphasis was on
    creating conditions that would stimulate economic
    growth, often through the expansion of physical
    infrastructure.
  • Many gigantic infrastructure projects illustrate
    important lessons learned from the 1950s, 60s,
    and 70s notably, that efforts to stimulate
    economic growth in one sector can be offset by
    adverse impacts in another that the management
    of resources can have long-term consequences for
    their sustainable use and that development is
    tied to the larger political and economic context
    in which it occurs.

13
  • In the 1980s, development approaches that focused
    on rapid aggregate economic growth were attacked
    as too narrow and not sufficient t o ensure
    long-term growth and an equitable sharing of
    economic progress. International leaders embraced
    the term sustainable development.
  • Besides improved livelihoods, the redefined
    notion of development also included aspects of
    freedom, rights, cultural identity, information,
    and participation.
  • Through the 1990s, development was taking place
    in a rapidly changing political, economic, and
    social context.

14
UNDP, Human Development Report - Deepening
democracy in a fragmented world, 2002
  • Many persistent development problems reflect
    failures of governance. Studies in a range of
    countries and regions hold weak governance
    responsible for persistent poverty and lagging
    development.
  • The governance crisis is evident in widespread
    corruption, inefficient public services and a
    host of other failures.
  • Studies have also shown what poor governance
    means for ordinary citizens - schools without
    teachers, courts without justice, local
    bureaucrats demanding bribes at every turn.

15
  • Since the end of the Cold War, NGOs and INGOs are
    playing quite important roles in the development
    process (international conferences, advocacy
    role, negotiation partners).
  • The tendency for donors and international
    organisations to engage with civil society and
    NGOs but to neglect parliaments is neither
    acceptable nor prudent.
  • Donors and international organisations have to
    engage with parliaments, who have the last word
    on laws and budgets and are the representative
    institutions providing the political base for
    policy and institutional arrangements.

16
  • During its 108th Conference (Santiago de Chile,
    April 2003), the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU)
    underlined the natural function of parliaments as
    one of meditation between the public and
    international organisations and institutions.
  • The Conference emphasised that parliaments
    represent the basis for good governance grounded
    on democratic institutions that are responsive to
    the needs of the people, the rule of law,
    anti-corruption measures, gender equality and the
    need for a favourable atmosphere and environment
    for investment

17
Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul / Uschi Eid
Development cooperation with Sub-Sahara Africa
a position paper, January 2004
  • Broad based anti-poverty strategies must be
    backed by political will in the developing
    countries.
  • Strategies have to be integrated in the whole
    political process with parliamentary
    decision-making and with civil society
    participation.
  • The final text of the New Partnership for
    Africas Development (NEPAD), October 2001,
    makes no reference to parliaments.

18
  • 2. Democracy and human rights

19
  • Democracy and human rights are belonging together
    and mutually reinforcing
  • Political Science is democracy science and about
    politics, policies and polity
  • Politics activities concerned with the
    acquisition of power art and science of
    directing and administrating states and other
    political units
  • Policies area or plan of action adopted or
    pursued by a government, party, business etc.
  • Polity form, constitution or institutional
    framework of government or organisation of a
    society etc.

20
The International Bill of Human Rights
  • consists of
  • the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted
    by General Assembly resolution 217 A (III) of 10
    December 1948,
  • the International Covenant on Economic, Social
    and Cultural Rights adopted by the General
    Assembly by its resolution 2200 A (XXI) of 16
    December 1966 - entry into force 3 January 1976.
  • the International Covenant on Civil and
    Political Rights adopted by the General Assembly
    by its resolution 2200 A (XXI) of 16 December
    1966 entry into force 23 March 1976, and its
    two Optional Protocols.
  • The first Optional Protocol to the International
    Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, adopted
    by the same resolution, provided international
    machinery for dealing with communications from
    individuals claiming to be victims of violations
    of any of the rights set forth in the Covenant.
  • Second Optional Protocol to the International
    Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at
    the abolition of the death penalty, U.N. Doc.
    A/44/49 (1989), entered into force July 11, 1991.

21
  • Since 1948 the Universal Declaration has been and
    rightly continues to be the most important and
    far-reaching of all UN declarations, and a
    fundamental source of inspiration for national
    and international efforts to promote and protect
    human rights and fundamental freedoms.
  • It has set the direction for all subsequent work
    in the field of human rights and has provided the
    basic philosophy for many legally binding
    international instruments designed to protect the
    rights and freedoms which it proclaims.
  • The Declaration came to be recognized as a
    historic document articulating a common
    definition of human dignity and values. The
    Declaration is a yardstick by which to measure
    the degree of respect for, and compliance with,
    international human rights standards everywhere
    on earth.

22
International Covenants on Human Rights
  • The preambles and articles 1, 3 and 5 of the two
    International Covenants are almost identical.
  • The preambles recall the obligation of States
    under the Charter of the United Nations to
    promote human rights
  • remind the individual of his responsibility to
    strive for the promotion and observance of those
    rights
  • and recognize that, in accordance with the
    Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the ideal
    of free human beings enjoying civil and political
    freedom and freedom from fear and want can be
    achieved only if conditions are created whereby
    everyone may enjoy his civil and political
    rights, as well as his economic, social and
    cultural rights.

23
WORLD CONFERENCE ON HUMAN RIGHTSVienna, 14-25
June 1993
  • Irrespective of the fight between
    universalism and cultural relativism during
    the conference, the VIENNA DECLARATION AND
    PROGRAMME OF ACTION was adopted unanimously
  • 1. The World Conference on Human Rights reaffirms
    the solemn commitment of all States to fulfil
    their obligations to promote universal respect
    for, and observance and protection of, all human
    rights and fundamental freedoms for all in
    accordance with the Charter of the United
    Nations, other instruments relating to human
    rights, and international law. The universal
    nature of these rights and freedoms is beyond
    question. Human rights and fundamental freedoms
    are the birthright of all human beings their
    protection and promotion is the first
    responsibility of Governments.

24
  • 5. All human rights are universal, indivisible
    and interdependent and interrelated.
  • 18. The human rights of women should form an
    integral part of the United Nations human rights
    activities
  • 19. The persons belonging to minorities have the
    right to enjoy their own culture, to profess and
    practise their own religion and to use their own
    language in private and in public, freely and
    without interference or any form of
    discrimination.20. The World Conference on
    Human Rights recognizes the inherent dignity and
    the unique contribution of indigenous people to
    the development and plurality of society and
    strongly reaffirms the commitment of the
    international community to their economic, social
    and cultural well-being and their enjoyment of
    the fruits of sustainable development.
  • 8. Democracy, development and respect for human
    rights and fundamental freedoms are
    interdependent and mutually reinforcing.

25
The word democracy
originates from the Greek demos
the people

kratein to rule democracy
rule by the people (in the Athenian
democracy, slaves and women were prohibited from
voting)
  • The classical distinction between governments in
    terms of the number of rulers
  • government by one man (monarchy or tyranny),
  • government by the few (aristocracy or
    oligarchy),
  • government by the many (democracy).
  • The distinction between monarchies and republics.
  • Schemes classifying democracies in terms of their
    key institutions
  • parliamentary democracy,
  • presidential democracy.

26
US President Abraham Lincoln in his Gettysburg
Address (19.11.1863)
  • Democracy is
  • government of the people by the people for the
    people
  • rule emanating from the people (legitimacy)
  • participatory form of rule (execution)
  • committed to the people and the public welfare
    (normative aspect of rule).

27
  • There is much debate on the ability of a
    democracy to properly represent both the will of
    the people and to do what is right, but to
    quote Winston Churchill
  • Democracy is the worst form of government
    except for all those others that have been
    tried.
  • This is because there is no system that can
    ideally order society. Traditionally the purpose
    of democracy is to prevent tyranny and
    dictatorship (the accumulation of too much
    authority in the hands of one or a few).
  • IPU, Universal Declaration on Democracy, 1997
  • Democracy is the only political system that has
    the capacity for self-correction.

28
U. HoltzThe triangle of core components of
any democracy
  • 1. Free, fair and regular elections with the
    possibility to change government
  • Elections require the freedom of expression and
    associational freedom.
  • Electoral competition is required for any
    democracy to thrive and flourish. In a
    democracy, multiple political forces compete
    inside an institutional framework (Adam
    Przeworski 1991).
  • Without inclusion, certain segments of society
    are not eligible to participate, leaving a lack
    of true democratic representation.

29
Nelson Mandela voting in 1994 elections
30
  • 2. Politics shall be bound by constitutional
  • law and order
  • This requires the - at least a minimum of
  • separation of powers,
  • independent judiciary,
  • rule of law.

31
Federal Constitutional Court - Karlsruhe / Germany
32
  • 3. The respect for, and observance and protection
    of inalienable human rights and civil and
    political liberties
  • Elections and a body of civil rights - both
    institutions limit the power of the state the
    first by ensuring that the rascals can be thrown
    out of office, the second by making sure that the
    rascals cannot do certain things even while in
    office. Civil rights also protect minorities
    against the dictatorship of the majority.
  • (Paul P. Streeten, Prof. em., Boston University)

33
European Court of Human Rights Strasbourg /
France
34
Streeten Does democracy require a market
economy, and does a market economy require
democracy?
  • The answer to the first question is yes, for
    there are no democracies that are not market
    economies, although the admixture of public
    ownership, management and regulation varies
    widely the answer to the second question is no,
    for there are many market economies that are not
    democracies. What about market economy as a
    characteristic of democracy?
  • A market economy, which promotes the free
    exchange of goods and services, and civil
    society, which involves freely-formed civil
    associations, are in practice distinguishing
    features of a constitutional democracy. And both
    the market economy and civil society depend upon
    constitutionalism to guarantee the freedom
    conjoined with order that enables them to thrive.

35
Robert Dahl Polyarchy. Participation and
Opposition, New Haven - London 1971
  • Polyarchy requires not only extensive political
    competition and participation but also
    substantial levels of freedom (of speech, press,
    and the like) and pluralism that enable people to
    form and express their political preferences in a
    meaningful way.
  • During the democratisation process the following
    criteria should be negotiated
  • associational autonomy,
  • freedom of expression,
  • alternative information,
  • inclusive suffrage,
  • right to run for office,
  • free and fair elections,
  • elected officials

36
Democracy universally recognised?
  • IPU, Universal Declaration on Democracy,1997
    Democracy is a universally recognised ideal as
    well as a goal, which is based on common values
    shared by peoples throughout the world community
    irrespective of cultural, political, social and
    economic differences. It is thus a basic right of
    citizenship to be exercised under conditions of
    freedom, equality, transparency and
    responsibility, with due respect for the
    plurality of views, and in the interest of the
    polity.
  • Amartya Sen, 1999 The recognition of democracy
    as a universally relevant system, which moves in
    the direction of its acceptance as a universal
    value, is a major revolution in thinking, and one
    of the main contributions of the twentieth
    century. Democracy enriches the lives of the
    citizens.
  • UNDP, 2002 Political participation and freedom
    are fundamental parts of human development.

37
Samuel P. Huntington The Third Wave -
Democratization in the Late Twentieth Century,
Norman University of Oklahoma Press, 1991
  • Huntington coined the label third wave for the
    trend of democratization that had begun 30 years
    ago.
  • The first wave had lasted from the American
    revolution until the break-up of empires at the
    end of World War I
  • the second followed from decolonization after
    World War II.
  • The third began in Portugal in 1974 and included
    the countries liberated by the end of communism
    in the late 1980s.

38
  • A wave of democratization is simply a group of
    transitions from nondemocratic to democratic
    regimes that occur within a specified period of
    time and that significantly outnumber transitions
    in the opposite direction during that period.
  • Each of these waves was followed by an ebb tide
    as fascism spread over Europe in the 20s and
    30s and Communism and forms of autocratic
    Socialism took hold in the third world in the
    60s and 70s.

39
  • Each wave had its own conditions, but several
    variables
  • merit mentioning
  • - As a country industrializes, it becomes
    increasingly difficult for an authoritarian
    regime to maintain its monopoly on power.
  • - Industrialization also fosters the growth of a
    questioning middle class that becomes more vocal
    as its wealth increases (not to mention a vibrant
    working class that is also a vital force for
    democracy).
  • - Authoritarian regimes inevitably weaken over
    time as they fail to meet expectations and public
    dissatisfaction increases they also become stale
    and are usually incapable of renewing themselves.

40
Graeme Gill The Dynamics of Democratization -
Elites, Civil Society and the Transition Process,
Houndmills MacMillan Press, 2000
  • Gill shows the significance of civil society in
    comparing the varied course of democratization in
    different states in the third wave.
  • In all cases the process starts with the fall of
    the dictatorial regime for differing reasons
    (economic crisis, political mobilization,
    international pressure, dissent within the
    regime, etc).
  • The fall of the regime does not necessarily lead
    to the establishment of democracy. The outcome
    depends instead on the behaviour of the elites.
  • Transition theory focused largely on the market
    and democracy - and saw these two as not
    contiguous. Gill introduces society as a link
    between the two and makes the plausible argument
    that social organization and social structures
    have a major impact on the democratization
    process.

41
The last two decades of the 20th century have
been dubbed the third wave of democratization,
as dictatorial regimes fell in scores of
countries
  • Before the start of this global trend toward
    democracy, there were roughly 40 countries that
    could be classified as more or less democratic.
  • The number increased moderately through the late
    1970s and early 1980s as a number of states
    experienced transitions from authoritarian
    (predominantly military) to democratic rule.
  • In the mid-1980s, however, the pace of global
    democratic expansion accelerated markedly, and
    today there are between 76 and 117 democracies,
    depending on how one counts.

42
  • In 2002, the first Arab Human Development Report
    was released by the United Nations Development
    Program and the Arab Fund for Social and Economic
    Development.
  • With contributions from dozens of Arab scholars,
    it declared bluntly The wave of democracy that
    transformed governance in most of the world has
    barely reached the Arab states. The freedom
    deficit undermines human development and is one
    of the most painful manifestations of lagging
    political development.

43
  • The world has more democratic countries and more
    political participation than ever, with 140
    countries holding multiparty elections. Of 147
    countries with data, 121- with 68 of the worlds
    people - had some or all of the elements of
    formal democracy in 2000.
  • This compares with only 54 countries, with 46 of
    the worlds people, in 1980. Since then 81
    countries have taken significant steps in
    democratization, while 6 have regressed. Scores
    of authoritarian regimes have been replaced by
    governments more accountable to the people - a
    real achievement for human development.
  • But true democratization means more than
    elections. It requires the consolidation of
    democratic institutions and the strengthening of
    democratic practices, with democratic values and
    norms embedded in all parts of society.
  • Source UNDP

44
Transitology - Consolidation of democracy
  • Wolfgang Merkel (1966)
  • 4 levels of consolidation institutional
    (polity), representative (politics), behavioral
    (elites) and civic culture
  • Juan J. Linz /Alfred Stepan (1996)
  • 3 dimensions Behaviorally, Attitudionally,
    Constitutionally
  • 5 arenas Civil society, Political society,
    Rule of law, State apparatus", Economic
    society)

45
  • By a minimalist, electoral democracy definition,
    countries such as Turkey, Russia, Sri Lanka or
    Colombia, qualify as democracies. But by a
    stricter conception of liberal democracy, all
    fall short and are partly free. All suffer
    sufficiently serious abridgments of political
    rights and civil liberties that they failed to
    attain a rating of free in the most recent
    Comparative Survey of Freedom, the annual
    global survey of political rights and civil
    liberties conducted by Freedom House.
  • This gap between electoral democracy and liberal
    democracy, which has become one of the most
    striking features of the third wave, has
    serious consequences for theory, policy, and
    comparative analysis.

46
Freedom in the World 2003www.freedomhouse.org
  • 193 countries
  • 90 Free
  • 55 Partly Free
  • 48 Not Free

47
Map of Freedom 2003
48
(No Transcript)
49
Parliament key institution of democracy
  • IPU, 1997
  • Democracy is founded on the right of everyone to
    take part in the management of public affairs it
    therefore requires the existence of
    representative institutions at all levels and, in
    particular, a Parliament in which all components
    of society are represented and which has the
    requisite powers and means to express the will of
    the people by legislating and overseeing
    government action.

50
PARLIAMENTS' ROLE IN STRENGTHENING DEMOCRATIC
INSTITUTIONSAND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IN A
FRAGMENTED WORLD Resolution adopted unanimously
by the 108th Conference, Chile, 11.4.2003
  • national parliaments represent the basis for
    good governance grounded on democratic
    institutions responsive to the needs of the
    people, the rule of law, anti-corruption
    measures, gender equality and a favourable
    atmosphere and environment for investment,
  • the important role of parliaments as legitimate
    representatives of the people in strengthening
    democratisation in multilateral institutions and
    furthering human development,
  • parliaments have a vital responsibility to
    guarantee free universal education without any
    discrimination whatsoever, as this hastens the
    pace of economic, social and political
    development and fosters cultural and spiritual
    advancement,

51
The Assemblée Nationale / Niamey (Niger)
German Parliament / Berlin
52
  • The Universal Declaration on Democracy rightly
    stipulates that a parliament must be endowed with
    the requisite powers and practical means to
    express the will of the people by legislating and
    overseeing government action.
  • The IPU Resolution Parliaments' Role in
    Strengthening Democratic Institutions and Human
    Development in a Fragmented World propagates
    sustainable human development as an overall
    political objective at the same time, it
    expresses concern that efforts to build strong
    democratic institutions in ensuring successful
    long-term human development encounter numerous
    challenges, such as poverty, corruption,
    globalization, lack of resources, discrimination,
    transnational crime, civil strife, environmental
    degradation and overpopulation.

53
Parliamentary HexagonU. Holtz
  • There are idealiter main six roles and functions
  • Making laws (legislative power)
  • Deciding on the budget (power of the purse)
  • Holding government accountable and exercising
    control of executive action (power of
    parliamentary oversight)
  • Representing democratic publics (power of
    representation and discourse)
  • Electing the executive (elective power)
  • Influencing foreign policy and international
    relations (treaty and war power, power of
    mediation between the public and international
    organisations and institutions).
  • 1 A very important role is played by the
    political opposition, which should be adequately
    represented in the workings of the parliament and
    be given the resources it needs to do an
    efficient job.

54
Legislative Types John K. Johnson and Robert T.
Nakamura, 1999
55
  • In theory policy-making is a problem-solving
    process which is rational, linear, balanced,
    objective and analytical.
  • However, very often, the whole life of policy is
    a chaos of purposes and accidents. Practice
    teaches that policy implementation is an ongoing,
    non-linear process that must be managed. It
    requires consensus building, participation of key
    stakeholders, conflict resolution, compromise,
    contingency planning, resource mobilisation and
    adaptation.
  • New policies often reconfigure roles, structures,
    and incentives, thus changing the array of costs
    and benefits to implementers, direct
    beneficiaries, and other stakeholders.
  • As a result, policy implementation is often very
    difficult. Experience has shown that an inwardly
    focussed, business as usual approach will fall
    short of achieving intended results.
  • Rebecca Sutton, The Policy Process An Overview
    Working Paper 118, (Overseas
  • Development Institute), London, August 1999.

56
  • 3. Good governance

57
  • It was politically difficult to complain about
    corruption, mismanagement, and the abuses of
    authoritarian regimes, especially in Africa,
    without giving offence. So a new term was
    invented, whose meaning in relation to the more
    old-fashioned government is not entirely
    clear. (Paul Streeten)
  • The Oxford English Dictionary defines governance
    as the act or manner of governing, of exercising
    control or authority over the actions of
    subjects a system of regulations.
  • Governance can be used in several contexts such
    as national governance and local governance,
    global governance, corporate governance. There
    are many actors.

58
  • Governance was a rarely used term in development
    circles until employed in the World Banks 1989
    report, Sub-Saharan Africa From Crisis to
    Sustainable Growth.
  • Later, Governance and Development provided a
    specific definition relevant to the Banks
    purposes the manner in which power is exercised
    in the management of a country's economic and
    social resources for development.
  • The World Bank has identified three distinct
    aspects of governance
  • (i) the form of political regime
  • (ii) the process by which authority is exercised
    in the management of a country's economic and
    social resources for development
  • (iii) the capacity of governments to design,
    formulate, and implement policies and discharge
    functions.
  • The first aspect is deemed outside the Banks
    mandate thus the Bank's focus has been on the
    second and third aspects.

59
  • The term usually describes conditions in a
    country as a whole.
  • The African Development Bank has introduced the
    notions of macro-, meso-, and micro-governance to
    conditions at various levels of government,
    suggesting that authoritarian regimes committed
    to development might exhibit and allow good
    governance at the middle and lower levels.
  • The Inter-American Development Bank gives special
    emphasis to the modernization of public
    administration.
  • Some bilateral donors (for example, the United
    Kingdom's ODA) prefer the terms good governance
    or good government. These terms emphasize
    governances normative aspects and facilitate its
    use as a guide to aid allocation using criteria
    drawn from the political as well as economic
    dimensions of governance.
  • BMZ (2001) Poverty Reduction Programme of
    Action 2015 One key factor for successful
    poverty reduction is good governance which
    guarantees human rights, democracy, and
    participation.
  • WSSD (2002) Good governance within each country
    and at the international level is essential for
    sustainable development.

60
  • The OECD's Development Assistance Committee uses
    the World Banks definition of governance and
    links it with participatory development, human
    rights, and democratization.
  • It sees an overall agenda emerging in the aid
    policies of its member states, with the following
    links
  • legitimacy of government (degree of
    democratization)
  • accountability of political and official elements
    of government (media freedom, transparent
    decision-making, accountability mechanisms),
  • competence of governments to formulate policies
    and deliver services
  • respect for human rights and rule of law
    (individual and group rights and security,
    framework for economic and social activity, and
    participation).

61
  • Governments are one of the actors in governance.
  • At the national level, in addition to the
    governments, media, lobbyists, international
    donors, multi-national corporations, etc. may
    play a role in decision-making or in influencing
    the decision-making process.
  • All actors other than government and the military
    are grouped together as part of the civil
    society.
  • In some countries in addition to the civil
    society, organized crime syndicates also
    influence decision-making, particularly in urban
    areas and at the national level.

62
  • Good governance has eight major characteristics.
    http//www.unescap.org/huset/gg/governance.htm
  • It is participatory, consensus oriented,
    accountable, transparent, responsive, effective
    and efficient, equitable and inclusive and
    follows the rule of law.
  • It assures that corruption is minimized, the
    views of minorities are taken into account and
    that the voices of the most vulnerable in society
    are heard in decision-making.
  • It is also responsive to all stakeholders as well
    as to the present and future needs of society.

63
The eight major characteristics Source
http//www.unescap.org/huset/gg/governance.htm
64
HDR 2002
  • Human development must also be concerned with
    whether institutions and rules are fair - and
    whether all people have a say in how they
    operate
  • Participating in the rules and institutions
    that shape ones community is a basic human right
    and part of human development.
  • More inclusive governance can be more
    effective. When local people are consulted about
    the location of a new health clinic, for example,
    there is a better chance it will be built in the
    right place.
  • More participatory governance also can be more
    equitable. Much is known about the economic and
    social policies that help eradicate poverty and
    promote more inclusive growth.

65
  • Democratic governance is valuable in its own
    right. But it can also advance human development,
    for three reasons.
  • First, enjoying political freedom and
    participating in the decisions that shape ones
    life are fundamental human rights they are part
    of human development in their own right.
  • Democracy helps protect people from economic and
    political catastrophes such as famines and
    descents into chaos. ...
  • Democratic governance can trigger a virtuous
    cycle of development - as political freedom
    empowers people to press for policies that expand
    social and economic opportunities, and as open
    debates help communities shape their priorities.
  • The most benign dictatorship imaginable would
    not be compatible with human development because
    human development has to be fully owned.

66
DECLARATION OF SANTIAGO ON DEMOCRACY AND PUBLIC
TRUSTA NEW COMMITMENT TO GOOD GOVERNANCE FOR
THE AMERICASThe Ministers of Foreign Affairs and
Heads of Delegation of the member countries of
the organization of American States, assembled in
Santiago (2003)
  • DECLARE
  • The need to define an agenda for good governance
    for the Hemisphere that addresses political,
    economic, and social challenges and fosters
    credibility and public trust in democratic
    institutions.
  • Strengthening political parties as intermediaries
    for citizen demands, in a system of
    representative democracy, is essential to the
    functioning of the democratic political system.
  • The firm intention to promote full participation
    by citizens in the political system, in order to
    increase credibility and public trust in
    democratic institutions, including support for
    civil society organizations.

67
ACP-EU Partnership Agreement, signed in Cotonou,
23 June 2000
  • One of the most controversial issues during the
    EU-ACP negotiations was the debate on good
    governance.
  • In Brussels, both sides agreed on a common
    approach aimed at promoting good governance and
    fighting corruption.
  • Foreseen is a new procedure for consultation and
    adoption of measures in cases where human rights,
    democratic principles and the rule of law were
    violated as well as a specific procedure for
    application in serious cases of corruption
    (including the suspension of aid), placing the
    emphasis on the primary responsibility of the
    state concerned to take measures to rectify the
    situation.

68
  • Theses innovative steps can indeed be considered
    as proof of the vitality of the political
    dialogue between the ACP states and the European
    Union and their shared determination to tackle
    these problems frankly and find effective
    solutions.
  • However, the consensus on good governance was
    interpreted by the ACP Secretariat in a quite
    different way On the political and
    institutional issues in particular, the ACP has
    managed to ensure the wider political
    preoccupations of the EU do not lead to
    unmanageable, though fashionable,
    conditionalities being imposed on the 71 states
    of the Group.
  • It is irritating that the ACP side is using the
    word fashionable in this important context. For
    years, it has been the common understanding in EU
    national parliaments as well as in the broad
    public and in the international community that it
    cannot be tolerated that official development
    assistance - tax payers money - should be used to
    keep undemocratic governments or dictators in
    power and to give them respectability.

69
BMZ, 1991 and 2001
  • To determine the nature and volume of its
    development cooperation with each partner
    country, the German government applies the
    following criteria
  • respect for human rights,
  • the rule of law and certainty of the law,
  • popular participation in the political process,
  • creation of a social and ecological market
    economy,
  • development-oriented state action.
  • In all criteria, attention is also given to the
    extent to which the partner government focuses
    its policy on poverty reduction. The German
    government will reinforce its cooperation with
    countries that are clearly striving for pro-poor
    and pro-development reforms.

70
  • Aid policies, just like domestic policies, are
    motivated by a mixture of political and
    commercial pressures, national interests,
    idealism and human solidarity. Military security,
    altruistic and Machiavellian motives and
    profit-seeking export interests inspire foreign
    assistance policies.
  • To technical, economic and environmental
    conditionality has been added political
    conditionality about good governance
  • Combining development aid not only with the
    conventional conditions for policy reform (reduce
    budget deficits, reduce inflation, raise interest
    rates, devalue), but also environmental
    protection, poverty reduction, social objectives,
    political freedom, human rights and good
    governance has become popular among bilateral and
    multilateral donors.
  • Streeten

71
  • It is important for conditionality on governance
    and human rights to distinguish between three
    types of negative human rights leaving aside such
    positive, important rights as the right to
    education, health, food, etc
  • First, human rights in the narrow sense not to
    be tortured imprisoned without trial, etc.
  • Second, civil rights, such as access to an
    independent judiciary the rule of law. In Tudor
    England there was no democracy, but these rights
    were respected.
  • Third, political rights, multi-party system, free
    elections, etc. The status of these three kinds
    is quite different. In the third, there is a
    danger that only Parliamentary or Presidential
    democracy is accepted, which may be inappropriate
    for some cultures.
  • Another question is whether the conditionality
    referring to governance and human rights is
    additional in two senses (1) are the conditions
    added to other conditions? (2) are additional
    funds available if the conditions are met? Robert
    McNamaras Redistribution with Growth and Basic
    Needs approaches in the 1970s were accompanied by
    additional money.

72
  • 4. Development

73
  • Development
  • There is no single definition universally
    accepted. Values, political convictions,
    scientific findings, practical experiences drawn
    from various backgrounds are coming in.

74
The Challenge to the South. The Report of the
South Commission, Oxford 1990
  • The South and Its Tasks
  • In our view, development is
  • a process which enables human beings to realize
    their potential, build self-confidence, and lead
    lives of dignity and fulfilment.
  • It is a process which frees people from the fear
    of want and exploitation.
  • It is a movement away from political, economic,
    or social oppression.
  • Through development, political independence
    acquires its true significance.
  • And it is a process of growth, a movement
    essentially springing from within the society
    that is developing.

75
  • Development is based on self-reliance and is
    self-directed without these characteristics
    there can be no genuine development. But a nation
    is its people. Development has therefore to be an
    effort of, by, and for the people. True
    development has to be people-centred. It has to
    be directed at the fulfilment of human potential
    and the improvement of the social and economic
    well-being of the people.
  • The base for a nations development must be its
    own resources, both human and material, fully
    used to meet / its own needs. External assistance
    can promote development. But to have this effect,
    this assistance has to be integrated into the
    national effort and applied to the purposes of
    those it is meant to benefit.

76
New Partnership for Africas Development / NEPAD,
October 2001
  • 27. the challenge is for the peoples and
    governments of Africa to understand that
    development is a process of empowerment and
    self-reliance.
  • 18. The impoverishment of the African continent
    was accentuated primarily by the legacy of
    colonialism, the Cold War, the workings of the
    international economic system and the
    inadequacies of and shortcomings in the policies
    pursued by many countries in the
    post-independence era.
  • 22. Post-colonial Africa inherited weak states
    and dysfunctional economies that were further
    aggravated by poor leadership, corruption and bad
    governance in many countries.

77
NEPAD
  • 71. African leaders have learnt from their own
    experiences that peace, security, democracy, good
    governance, human rights and sound economic
    management are conditions for sustainable
    development.
  • They are making a pledge to work, both
    individually and collectively, to promote these
    principles in their countries, sub-regions and
    the continent.

78
  • In the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable
    Development Political Declaration, the
    government representatives
  • reaffirmed the commitment to sustainable
    development,
  • pledged to build a humane, equitable and caring
    global society, united by a common determination
    to save our planet, and to
  • promote human development and achieve universal
    prosperity and peace.
  • They assumed a collective responsibility to
    advance and strengthen the interdependent and
    mutually reinforcing pillars of sustainable
    development economic development, social
    development and environmental protection at
    local, national, regional and global levels
  • They welcomed the Johannesburg Summit focus on
    the indivisibility of human dignity, while
    remaining committed to the indivisibility of
    human dignity and to democratic systems.

79
  • Holtz
  • For development to be human and sustainable it
    must be centered on the human beings and has to
    integrate
  • economic development,
  • social development,
  • environmental stewardship,
  • political stability (democracy, human rights,
    rule of law, gender equality)
  • - not just for today but for the generations
    to come.
  • This is the challenge facing parliaments and
    governments, non-governmental organizations,
    private enterprises, research and teaching
    institutions, communities and individuals.

80
  • UNDP advocates the realization of human rights
    as part of sustainable human development, an
    approach that places people at the centre of all
    development activities.
  • For UNDP sustainable human development provides
    a unique and holistic paradigm.

81
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82
5. Relationship between democracy and
development
83
  • Is there a cruel choice between freedom and
    economic growth? The relationship between
    democracy or political progress and development
    or economic progress is very complex a large
    and growing academic literature with a variety of
    conclusions
  • Only authoritarian governments can provide the
    tough measures necessary for successful
    development.
  • Historically, economic progress has occurred in
    non-dictatorial societies.
  • Civil and political freedoms promote development
    and growth.
  • Property rights, a necessary condition for
    economic growth, are securer in democracies.
  • A country does not have to be deemed fit for
    democracy rather, it has to become fit through
    democracy. Political and civil rights can be seen
    as constitutive of the process of development (A.
    Sen).

84
The international community about the links
  • WORLD CONFERENCE ON HUMAN RIGHTS, Vienna, June
    1993Democracy, development and respect for
    human rights and fundamental freedoms are
    interdependent and mutually reinforcing.
  • UNDPs HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2002
  • The links between democracy and human
    development are not automatic. Political freedom
    and participation are part of human development,
    both as development goals in their own right and
    as means for advancing human development.
  • COTONOU AGREEMENT, 2000
  • The partnership shall actively support the
    promotion of human rights, processes of
    democratisation, consolidation of the rule of
    law, and good governance.
  • NEPAD, 2001
  • African leaders have learnt from their own
    experiences that peace, security, democracy, good
    governance, human rights and sound economic
    management are conditions for sustainable
    development. (Art. 71)

85
WORLD CONFERENCE ON HUMAN RIGHTSVienna, 14-25
June 1993VIENNA DECLARATION AND PROGRAMME OF
ACTION
  • 8. The international community should support
    the strengthening and promoting of democracy,
    development and respect for human rights and
    fundamental freedoms in the entire world.
  • 9. The World Conference on Human Rights reaffirms
    that least developed countries committed to the
    process of democratization and economic reforms,
    many of which are in Africa, should be supported
    by the international community in order to
    succeed in their transition to democracy and
    economic development.

86
  • 10. The World Conference on Human Rights
    reaffirms the right to development, as
    established in the Declaration on the Right to
    Development, as a universal and inalienable right
    and an integral part of fundamental human
    rights.As stated in the Declaration on the
    Right to Development, the human person is the
    central subject of development.While
    development facilitates the enjoyment of all
    human rights, the lack of development may not be
    invoked to justify the abridgement of
    internationally recognized human rights.States
    should cooperate with each other in ensuring
    development and eliminating obstacles to
    development. The international community should
    promote an effective international cooperation
    for the realization of the right to development
    and the elimination of obstacles to development.

87
UNDP
88
ACP-EU Partnership Agreement, signed in Cotonou,
23 June 2000
  • Article 9 Essential Elements and Fundamental
    Element
  • Co-operation shall be directed towards
    sustainable development centred on the human
    person, who is the main protagonist and
    beneficiary of development this entails respect
    for and promotion of all human rights.
  • Respect for all human rights and fundamental
    freedoms, including respect for fundamental
    social rights, democracy based on the rule of law
    and transparent and accountable governance are an
    integral part of sustainable development.
  • The Parties reaffirm that democratisation,
    development and the protection of fundamental
    freedoms and human rights are interrelated and
    mutually reinforcing.

89
NEPAD, 2001
  • 45. Across the continent, democracy is spreading,
    backed by the African Union (AU), which has shown
    a new resolve to deal with conflicts and censure
    deviation from the norm.
  • These efforts are reinforced by voices in civil
    society, including associations of women, youth
    and the independent media. In addition, African
    governments are much more resolute about regional
    and continental goals of economic cooperation and
    integration.
  • This serves both to consolidate the gains of the
    economic turnaround and to reinforce the
    advantages of mutual interdependence.

90
  • 46. The United Nations Millennium Declaration,
    adopted in September 2000, confirms the global
    communitys readiness to support Africas efforts
    to address the continents underdevelopment and
    marginalisation.
  • The Declaration emphasises support for the
    prevention of conflict and the establishment of
    conditions of stability and democracy on the
    continent, as well as for the key challenges of
    eradicating poverty and disease.
  • The Declaration further points to the global
    communitys commitment to enhance resource flows
    to Africa, by improving aid, trade and debt
    relationships between Africa and the rest of the
    world, and by increasing private capital flows to
    the continent.

91
Human Rights-Based Approach to Development
Policy Annette Windmeisser, BMZ, 2003
92
6. Practical Experiences poverty reduction
and environmental protection / desertification
UNCCDparliamentary involvement
93
United Nations Convention to Combat
Desertification (UNCCD)
  • Drought and desertification threaten the
    livelihood of over 1 billion people in more than
    110 countries around the world.
  • Desertification means degradation of land and
    vegetation, soil erosion and the loss of topsoil
    and fertile land in arid, semi-arid and dry
    sub-humid areas, caused primarily by human
    activities and climatic variations. Drought can
    trigger or aggravate desertification. The term
    desertification (somewhat misleadingly) does
    not apply to hyper-arid zones (deserts).
  • UNCCD was adopted on 17 June 1994 and entered
    into force in 1996. There are currently 190
    Parties to the Convention - 189 States and the
    European Community.

94
  • 2002, the Johannesburg Summit acknowledged the
    UNCCD as an important tool for poverty
    eradication it also stressed the need to
    mobilize adequate and predictable financial
    resources for the implementation of the UNCCD.
  • Parliaments can contribute to providing for
    effective policy formulation, coordination,
    implementation and monitoring of the processes of
    sustainable human development including of the
    UNCCD process.
  • The UNCCD implementation process will contribute
    to realising the Millennium Development Goals
    (MDGs), in particular the following ensure
    environmental sustainability, eradicate extreme
    poverty and hunger, promote gender equality and
    empower women.

95
Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs)
  • After the Cologne G7/G8 Summit in June 1999, the
    World Bank Group and the IMF agreed at the Annual
    Meeting of September 1999 that nationally-owned
    participatory poverty reduction strategies should
    provide the basis for all World Bank and IMF
    concessional lending, and for debt relief under
    the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries
    Initiative.
  • The shift to PRSPs and the loss of confidence in
    the previous policy of economic reform,
    structural adjustment programmes (SAPs), has
    occurred since the World Bank and other advocates
    of adjustment policies have come to acknowledge
    that many adjustment measures generated losses
    among the poor, and that there was a connection
    between adjustment programmes and growing poverty
    and inequality

96
  • The second generation of reforms now advocated,
    rather than revising and improving the economic
    policy framework so far pursued, principally adds
    new elements, emphasising the importance of
    getting institutions right or simply good
    governance.
  • PRSPs describe a country's macroeconomic,
    structural and social policies and programmes
    that aimed at promoting growth and reducing
    poverty, as well as associated external financing
    needs and major sources of financing. PRSPs may
    include core techniques (poverty diagnostics,
    monitoring and evaluation, etc.), sectoral issues
    (health, education, infrastructure, macroeconomic
    policy), and cross-cutting issues (gender,
    environment, etc.).
  • PRSPs are prepared by governments through a
    participatory process involving civil society and
    development partners, including the World Bank
    and the IMF.

97
  • There are seven core process and content
    principles underlying the drafting and
    implementation of poverty reduction strategies.
    The strategies should be
  • Country-driven.
  • Participatory.
  • Partnership-oriented.
  • Comprehensive.
  • Results-oriented.
  • Prioritized.
  • Based on a long-term perspective for poverty
    reduction.
  • As of April 2003, 26 countries had presented
    PRSPs and 45 countries had presented I-PRPSs to
    the World Bank and IMF Boards.

98
Desertification, land degradation and
parliaments involvement in PRSPs in selected
countries
  • Analysis. PRSPs do not consider land
    degradation, soil erosion and desertification to
    be main factors for poverty.
  • Poverty-environment links. The picture is mixed.
    Some PRSPs recognize the links between poverty
    alleviation and the restoration or sound
    management of natural resources while others do
    not. Neither the economic significance of
    desertification and its impact on the poor
    population, nor the poverty/land degradation
    downward spiral are mentioned.
  • Planning / environmental management responses.
    Not a single PRSP regarded the combat against
    desertification as a priority area. While the
    PRSPs represent a significant effort to bring
    together the full set of public actions that
    countries intend to pursue to reduce poverty,
    they generally are weak regarding the
    prioritisation and specificity of these actions.
  • Participatory process. In all analysed countries
    more or less satisfactory and broad participation
    processes took place. However, parliaments were
    not really involved in the consultation,
    elaboration and decision-making process of the
    PRSPs. Their role was too often the traditional
    role of formal approval (rubberstamp).
    Political parties were rarely invited to
    participate at the process.

99
  • In a joint declaration in Dakar in September
    2001, African members of parliament involved in
    the PRSP forum, stressed that parliament must
    not be marginalized in the formulation and
    implementation of poverty reduction strategies.
    Examples of this marginalization are common.
  • Uganda, for instance, has been especially
    energetic in assuring civil society participation
    in PRSP development and monitoring, but formal
    parliamentary review of plans and progress has
    been neglected.
  • In contrast, the Burkina Faso PRSP was presented
    to parliament for ratification prior to its
    official transmission to the Bank and the Fund.
  • In Mauritania, parliamentarians were members of
    the PRSP working parties and of the committee
    monitoring the PRSP process a debate was held in
    parliament with NGOs, other civil society
    organizations and development partners, and
    parliament approved the PRSP.
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