Good Governance: A brief introduction and Criticism

Nowadays, the question of "good governance" is the special concern of scientific circles. This issue was introduced for the first time by the World Bank by the end of the year 1980. Having failed to implement in some countries the reform policies or Washington Consensus, the World Bank realized that since the governments of the mentioned countries had not enjoyed necessary qualifications, they did not succeed in implementing the prescriptions of the World Bank and liberating the prices. In other words, the acceptance and implementation of the reform policies and the prescriptions of the World Bank needs a government which does not exist in these countries. In fact, this was the first stage of the development of the idea of "good governance". This question was discussed in 1996 in "The World Development Report" in a chapter entitled "From Plan to Market". Then, in 1997, the question how to achieve a "good state" was discussed in a report entitled" the Role of Government in the Changing World". Hence, although the economic factor was very influential in the development of this idea, the close relationship of this idea with the issues related to government management should not be ignored due to the important role played by the government in this respect. In fact, the main features of what is today called "good governance" are: accountability and the right of thought, political stability and absence of violence, effectiveness of government, the regulatory nature, rule of law, and controlling corruption.