[OPE-L] Wolfowitz's world: easy easy money not so easy, chicks not for free

[Jurriaan Bendien <adsl675281@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Patrick,

As regards the concept of "governance". Why for example wouldn't they simply
talk about "government" ? There is a substantive issue at stake here.

The term "governance" comes into play, because the accountability of
institutional entities of any kind has become problematic, due to e.g.:

- increasing separation of the ownership and the control of enterprises or
institutions that may operate globally.
- the enormous growth of financial intermediation
- the gross output of corporate entities is often larger than that of
national economies, giving the corporates big political influence.
- fusions of government organisations with business organisations
- it is no longer clear that national governments really can, or do, govern
important areas of society, and corporates + NGO's effectively begin to
perform a governing role.

There are all sorts of more or less waffly definitions of "governance", but
the essence of "governance" is, that you have to police the managerial
leadership of an organisation, so that they do what they are mandated to do,
and not something else.

Why would you talk about "good governance" rather than "good management" -
well, basically, because the concept of governance applies both to state,
para-state and non-state organisations, and they way they operate together
as a bloc. In other words, it applies both to elected staff and appointed
staff, both to staff that works by a legal mandate and staff that works
according to a business plan or an advocacy role. In addition, governance
suggests not so much the task of management itself, but the overseeing
(supervision) of management, to ensure it does its job properly.

Fighting corruption is fine, but if the very structure of your institutions
makes genuine accountability practically impossible anyway, then your fight
against corruption is rather futile.

Jurriaan