Good governance: A new public managerialism

Abstract

This paper is an outcome of extensive reading and discussions on the subject of good governance between the authors. It is not a literature review alone but represents the understandings of the authors about the meaning of governance and good governance. The paper searches the background and current use of the concept and tries to give a complete picture as much as possible to comprehend how long it can be stretched to explain current problems of governing. It also discusses to what extent, the concept has a theoretical value and whether this is desirable or not. In the end, we suggest that the concept is a sign of an emerging political and administrative theory that relies on multiple sources of social sciences. That means this emerging theory has both normative and pragmatic characteristics, yet incomplete.