"GOVERNMENT EFFECTIVENESS"
Remarks by Deputy Chief of Mission Robert P. Jackson
at Ecole Nationale d’Administration (ENA)
Rabat
Thank you, Professor Agueznay Haddy,
Ladies and Gentlemen, Good morning.
This is the second time that I have been invited to speak at the Ecole Nationale d’Administration, and I feel honored to be with you today.
When I was 14 years old, I read a book called The Ugly American by Eugene Burdick and William Lederer. It offers a fictional portrayal of some of the United States’ missteps in Asia in the 1950s. The book inspired me to join the U.S. Foreign Service, and a few years after graduating from university I did so. Throughout my career, I have been guided by the desire to serve my country honorably and well, and I feel certain that you share that desire to serve your countries.
Government service depends upon government effectiveness -- or good governance. These concepts are especially timely as governments cope with the world financial crisis and citizens’ growing demands for transparency and accountability.
What Is Good Governance?
Wikipedia states, “Governance describes the process of decision-making and the process by which decisions are implemented (or not implemented). Hereby, public institutions conduct public affairs, manage public resources, and guarantee the realization of human rights. Good governance accomplishes this in a manner essentially free of abuse and corruption, and with due regard for the rule of law. … Good governance defines an ideal which is difficult to achieve in its totality. However, to ensure sustainable human development, actions must be taken to work towards this ideal.”
The World Bank Institute, a leading authority on governance and combating corruption, notes, “Better governance helps in the fight against poverty and improves living standards. Research over the past decade shows that improved governance raises development, and not the other way around. When governance is improved by one standard deviation, infant mortality declines by two-thirds and incomes rise about three-fold in the long run. Such an improvement in governance is within reach, since it is a fraction of the difference between the worst and best performers. … Good governance has also been found to significantly enhance the effectiveness of development assistance in general and of World Bank-funded projects in particular.”
Democracy
Democratic governments are more likely to
· secure peace and deter aggression,
· uphold human rights,
· expand open markets,
· promote economic development,
· combat international terrorism and crime,
· avoid humanitarian crises, and
· protect the environment and human health.
I do not think it is an accident that when one looks around today’s world, the 120 members of the Community of Democracies (CD) are generally more prosperous than the 75 partly-free and not-free states. Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Brunei are the only prosperous authoritarian states that come to mind. Yet, there are many models of democracy and each must incorporate a country’s history and culture.
Moreover, democracy is not a panacea. Elections alone cannot guarantee accountability or good governance. Nigeria and Guinea-Bissau have had free and fair elections in years past that brought leaders into office who were subsequently ousted by the military due to perceived corruption and mismanagement. Other countries moved too quickly in the 1990s to have elections with disastrous results. Burundi may be the best example of that, but I wonder if sustained international support for Burundian democracy could have avoided the ensuing years of civil war. More recently, Ukraine and Georgia shook off corrupt, authoritarian regimes, but the democratic governments’ weaknesses have caused popular discontent. In fact, in many nations, reality has not matched people’s expectations about the benefits of democracy. Political parties must, therefore, reach out to populations that feel disenfranchised, and no donor can perform that task.
Economic Prosperity
Elections do not create economic prosperity. Genuine democracy affords people not only political but also economic choices. Wise policy choices and wise leadership make it possible for citizens to create prosperity. Cote d’Ivoire was and remains a prosperous country with the third largest economy in Sub-Saharan Africa. For 39 years Cote d’Ivoire was a model of stability and prosperity that attracted immigrants from across West Africa. Today, it is a country divided. The promotion of “Ivoirité” – Ivoirianness,” poor governance, and putting selfish pursuit of power ahead of selfless pursuit of national interests contributed to the present state of affairs. No amount of effort by or support from the UN, ECOWAS, the EU, France, the United States, or other international actors can solve Cote d’Ivoire’s problems. Only Ivoirians can do that. At the same time, we must acknowledge that the Ivoirian crisis is one of the greatest facing West Africa today.
Power is a responsibility; good governance consolidates authority; and government actions and corruption can sometimes threaten stability. Former USAID Administrator Andrew Natsios declared, “Transformational change in a poor country cannot be imposed from the outside, not by the UN, not by the Banks, and not by donor governments. There must be national leadership and local support for transformational change to remove the impediments to microeconomic reform, to clean up corruption in the political system, and to make public management more accountable and transparent." Traditional and modern democratic institutions must ally themselves to work as partners, mutually reinforcing fundamental values and implementing needed reforms.
Good Governance and the Millennium Challenge Account
The United States has utilized this model with the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA). In 2002, President Bush launched the MCA to reward those nations that rule justly, foster economic freedom, and invest in their people. This approach to development assistance rewards past performance rather than promises of reform that may or may not be fulfilled. The MCA embodies the principle of recipient-country ownership, which is to say that key decisions are made by or with the recipient country in pursuit of the goals it identified. Activities to be financed are proposed by the countries themselves, must accelerate economic growth and must reduce poverty. Implementation/execution is entirely the recipient country’s responsibility, and the speed with which compacts and projects advance is determined by the eligible countries.
For government to be effective, people in and out of government need to be familiar with their roles and responsibilities. Having local, regional, and national elected bodies to provide input and demand accountability is equally important. For local, regional and national executive and legislative bodies to play their parts, citizens must play theirs, with civil society organizations participating, consulting, and otherwise playing a supporting role. Highly centralized systems that do not solicit input or consider local and regional variations are not only less responsive but also less stable in the long term.
Effectiveness and accountability often go hand in hand. Effectiveness demands vision, strategic planning and marshalling of both human and material resources. Effectiveness and accountability also require oversight, empowerment and deconcentration to the appropriate level. Democratic accountability and deconcentration require governments to respond to new and emerging needs.
Government itself needs to use and share best practices. Government also needs to be vertically and horizontally integrated. It is not enough to have one very strong minister or ministry if all the others are weak or are perceived as providing poor or inadequate service. Coordination and information exchange are important.
Many governments suffer due to over-centralization and inflexibility. These faults may have nothing to do with the quality of their civil servants. Rather, they may stem from an inefficient budget process or organizational structures that are outdated or inflexible. Moreover, a centralized, inflexible human resources system that does not reward good performance and initiative and that does not punish laziness or misdeeds leads to reduced motivation. Having a system of remuneration and promotion that gives civil servants incentives to work hard is vital. And giving managers control over hiring, firing, performance evaluation, awards and promotions enhances performance and accountability.
Corruption
The single greatest impediment to good, effective governance is corruption. A corrupt judiciary that allows or encourages impunity and bribery undermines citizens’ confidence in and respect for government. Selective punishment, few fines or jail terms, and little restitution are symptomatic of impunity. Weak oversight by legislatures, inspectors general, audit courts, or political parties and weak civil society all contribute to poor governance. We know that His Majesty King Mohammed VI has made combating corruption a priority, and international experience suggests that such leadership, along with the willingness of both workers and consumers to speak out, is crucial to confronting the problems.
What Can be Done?
Having outlined some of the challenges, let’s focus on some possible solutions. Good governance may be enhanced by parliamentary and judicial oversight, especially by audit courts (cours de comptes). Freedom of information laws that give political parties and civil society access to information are important. One mechanism that Morocco has begun to embrace is asset declarations, which highlight potential conflicts of interest and alert authorities to ill-gotten gains. Organizations like Transparency International and its Moroccan chapter, Transparency Maroc, can also highlight real and potential problems. Codes of conduct, professional standards and rigorous inspections are useful tools.
Management of public procurement through procurement codes that are in keeping with international norms and standards, including fair and open competition, and training in bidding and awards, is essential. So is fair compensation for public servants.
In Senegal, which was my last assignment, many people criticized President Abdoulaye Wade for giving legislators, judges, mayors and other civil servants significant wage increases and vehicles. However, President Wade correctly saw that an excellent means to attack corruption was to raise incomes and standards of living, thereby reducing the necessity for supplemental income.
Finally, having good laws is not enough. One must enforce the laws, and one must acknowledge that transparent enforcement of both laws and standards based on public demand is ultimately the foundation upon which good, effective government is built and survives. This requires a professional and independent judiciary, a cornerstone for any truly democratic system of good governance, as well as an independent legislature and representative consultative bodies at the regional and local levels. The last requirement is a dedicated civil service – people like ourselves.
Thank you very much.
