Governance Challenges that Poor Countries Face and How They Can Be Addressed - Coursework Example

Governance challenges that poor countries face and how they can be addressed Introduction Countries vary in terms of their levels of social and economic development as well as governance structures. Because of their relatively high levels of social and economic development, rich countries are more likely to have governance structures that are more stable and improved than the poor countries. On the other hand, because of their low socioeconomic status, poor countries are likely to face governance challenges. The aim of this essay is to address the governance challenges that poor countries face and to evaluate how those challenges can be dealt with. The essay will use Kenya as one example of the poor countries. The categorisation of Kenya as a poor country is based on the Human Development Index developed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which in a recent report, ranks Kenya as one of the countries with low human development. The essay will evaluate some of the challenges that poor countries and Kenya in particular face in regard to governance. Overview of and the link between governance and human development index Governance is a concept that has been defined differently by different people and organisations. For instance, based on the UNDP’s policy paper of 1997, governance is defined as the exercise of political, economic and executive power to manage the affairs of a country at all levels (United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) 2006, p. 3). This includes the processes, mechanisms as well as institutions that enable citizens and various groups in the country to express their interests, make use of their legal rights, fulfil the obligations that are placed on them, and reconcile their differences (ECOSOC 2006, p. 3). Another definition of governance is that the term implies the sustaining coordination and rationality amongst a wide array of actors who have different objectives and purposes (Pierre 2000, p. 3). Such actors may comprise institutions and political actors, civil societies, interest groups, transnational organisations and non-governmental organisations. The definition by Pierre shows that whereas governments of the traditional States have to contend with external and internal challenges from the aforementioned actors, some of the roles that were formerly reserved for the government may be taken over by a number of the same actors. This denotes that governance is not primarily about the role of the government of the country but involved a multiplicity of actors (Koechlin 2015, p. 5). Human development index (HDI) on the other hand refers to a summary measure of the factors that characterise human development. It is based on the definition of human development, which is defined as the process of widening people’s choices in terms of expanding what people can do with their lives (UNDP 1999, p. 16). HDI is a measure of the average achievements that a country makes in three fundamental dimensions of human development, namely longevity of the country’s population, level of education of the country’s population, and the population’s standard of living (Joshi 2008, p. 1; UNDP 2004, p. 137; McGillivray, M & Carpenter 2013, p. 79). The use HDI is regarded as a substitute to income-based measures of welfare, since the measure appreciates that human development is not merely concerned with increasing levels of income (Joshi 2008, p. 1). The UNDP HDI index groups countries into various categories, namely those with “very high human development”, those with “high human development”, those with “medium human development” and those with “low human development” (UNDP n.d.). Countries that have low values of HDI also exhibit high levels of poverty (Fosu 2007) and are therefore referred to as poor countries. Kenya is among these poor countries, having been classified a “low human development” with a score of 0.535 and lying at position 147 out of 186 countries in the 2014 UNDP HDI (UNDP n.d.). The connection between governance and HDI is based on the point that a country’s HDI can be used as an indicator of the country’s success in removing deprivation as well as establishing conditions that are appropriate for meeting and improving its basic social needs (Planning Commission of the Government of India 2007, p. 258; Khan 2015, p. xvi). As well, is has been asserted that “good governance puts people into the centre of development” (Planning Commission of the Government of India 2007, p. 258). This roughly suggests that countries that have good governance have a high HDI. Put the other way round, this can be interpreted to imply that countries that have high HDI have good governance. The opposite of this is that low coutry HDIs are indicative of poor governance in the countries that are affected. Thus, it is imperative to investigate the governance challenges that poor countries have, which, among other effects, make these countries have low HDIs. Governance challenges that poor countries face A good governance system can be said to be one that has the following characteristics: a competent public service; a judicial system that is independent and a sound legal framework to implement contracts; a systems that facilitates accountable management of public funds; an autonomous public auditor that is accountable to a representative legislative assembly; an independent press; compliance with the law as well as human rights at every level of government; and a pluralistic institutional structure (Mudacumura 2014, p. 2). Ritzen (2005, p. 25) also notes that there are eight major characteristics of governance: it is democratic, premised on consensus, transparent, accountable, effective and efficient, responsive, unbiased and inclusive, and abides by the set laws. The characteristics of governance as presented by Mudacumura (2014) and Ritzen (2005) are undoubtedly aligned with the definition of human development, which as mentioned above is concerned with the process of increasing people’s choices by expanding the scope of what people can do with their lives. For instance, it is expected that aggrieved parties can go to court and get a fair hearing. Similarly, it can be expected that the funds that are collected by a government from its citizens in terms of taxes are used with high levels of accountability to meet and improve the people’s basic social needs and put the people and the centre of development. Governments would also be expected to abide by the set laws when dealing with any issues that concern their people. Many poor countries however fail to meet the ideals of good governance because of a number of challenges. Some of the challenges include issues to do with leadership succession, poor outcomes of developmental strategies, as well as deficiencies in terms of enforceable legal rights of the citizenry in the context of a civil society (p. 2) How the challenges can be addressed 466 Conclusion 175 Create 1. What governance challenges do poor countries face? How can those challenges be addressed?  To answer this question you will need to choose one poor country, classified as Medium or Low in the UNDP Human Development Index Report 2014. The report can be accessed at the following site: http://hdr.undp.org/en https://books.google.co.ke/books?id=_fxWCgAAQBAJ&pg=PR16&dq=human+development+index+and+country+governance+success&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=human%20development%20index%20and%20country%20governance%20success&f=false https://books.google.co.ke/books?id=6ohvu8D3LbgC&pg=PA258&dq=human+development+index+and+country+governance&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CDYQ6AEwBWoVChMI3rb01_LEyAIVzHM-Ch1AJQQM#v=onepage&q=human%20development%20index%20and%20country%20governance&f=false References Pierre, J 2000, Debating governance: authority, steering, and democracy, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Koechlin, L 2015, ‘Introduction: the conceptual polysemy of governance’, in L Koechlin & T Förster (eds), The politics of governance: actors and articulations in Africa and beyond, Routledge, New York, pp. 1-24. United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) 2006, ‘Definition of basic concepts and terminologies in governance and public administration’, Paper no. E/C.16/2006/4, viewed 15 October, 2015, . UNDP n.d., Human development reports: Table 1: Human Development Index and its components, viewed 14 October, . Fosu, AK 2007, ‘Poverty and development’, Bulletin of the World Health Organization, viewed 14 October, . UNDP 1999, Human development report 1999, UNDP, New York. Joshi, HL 2008, Human development index, Concept Publishing Company, New Delhi. UNDP 2004, Human development report 2004: cultural liberty in today's diverse world, UNDP, New York. McGillivray, M & Carpenter, D 2013, Narrowing the development gap in ASEAN: drivers and policy options, Routledge, Abingdon, Oxon. Planning Commission of the Government of India 2007, Maharashtra, development report, Academic Foundation, New Delhi. Khan, HA 2015, The idea of good governance and the politics of the global south: an analysis of its effects, Routledge, New York. Mudacumura, GM 2014, ‘Multiple dimensions of governance’, in GM Mudacumura & G Morçöl (eds), Challenges to democratic governance in developing countries, Springer International Publishing Switzerland, Geneva, pp. 1-18. Ritzen, J 2005, A chance for the World Bank, Anthem Press, London. Read More