Governance as a Global Development Goal? Setting, Measuring and Monitoring the Post‐2015 Development Agenda
| Author | David Hulme,Kunal Sen,Antonio Savoia |
| Published date | 01 May 2015 |
| Date | 01 May 2015 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/1758-5899.12181 |
Governance as a Global Development Goal?
Setting, Measuring and Monitoring the Post-
2015 Development Agenda
David Hulme, Antonio Savoia and Kunal Sen
Institute for Development Policy and Management, University of Manchester
Abstract
The increasing realisation that governance quality is a fundamental element of long-run development has led to its con-
sideration as a desirable development goal in its own right. To contribute to such a process, this article provides a
framework to set, measure and monitor governance goals in the post-2015 development agenda. First, we assess
whether existing cross-national measures on governance quality can be exploited to measure and monitor aspects of
legal, bureaucratic and administrative quality. Such a ‘quick fix’approach to measuring governance quality is fraught
with challenges. The current practice of measurement is still subject to the short country coverage of most available
measures, issues of comparability and legitimacy, as well as methodological shortcomings. Second, we argue that, in
the long run, measuring and monitoring governance quality may require reconceptualising ‘good governance’and
designing internationally shared measures that are routinely provided by national statistical offices (but, international
groups should also continue to make their independent measures). Finally, we consider the different approaches to set-
ting governance goals, arguing in favour of a combination of national target setting and minimum standard with con-
tinuous improvement.
Policy Implications
•Short-term, the task of measuring and monitoring governance goals is quite challenging and one should be mind-
ful that existing indices are subject to short country coverage, issues of comparability and legitimacy, as well as
methodological shortcomings. Hence, the interpretation of changes in governance in the future may be challenged
both technically and politically.
•Longer-term, since the idea of ‘good governance’can be highly controversial, one should reflect on which dimen-
sions and measures should be included. One approach is to consider the intrinsic value of good governance, which
would give precedence to measures capturing state-society relations and accountability. The alternative is consider-
ing the instrumental value of governance. In this case, the focus should be on state capacity; and measures of state
administrative and legal capability would be a desirable starting point.
•For setting governance goals, we recommend minimum global standards set for fixed dates, but all countries also
to pursue improved measures on an annual basis line of argument.
•Policy makers should be aware of the two main tasks involved in this exercise. Short-term, the setting of credible
international targets that can contribute to improved governance. Longer-term, the setting in motion of processes
that will create governance measurement as a routinised function in all national statistical offices (the creation of a
professional cadre, the setting of international standards for example).
Most scholars and policy makers would agree that the
design of rules and regulations, the effectiveness of poli-
cies and the competence of public bodies play a crucial
role in the functioning of economies. In short, gover-
nance matters. Since the early 1990s, an increasing
amount of research focused on the quality of governance
as a determinant of national income levels and economic
growth rates. Although its effects on other important
development outcomes –such as inequality, health and
education –have received less attention, the current
consensus is that ‘good governance’, or perhaps more
accurately ‘good enough governance’(Grindle, 2004), is a
prerequisite for development (e.g., Baland, Moene and
Robinson, 2010, Cingolani et al., 2013).
The findings of this research have led to increasing
recognition of the importance of its role to the point of
considering governance a desirable global development
goal in its own right (see United Nations, 2013 and
Global Policy (2015) 6:2 doi: 10.1111/1758-5899.12181 ©2014 University of Durham and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Global Policy Volume 6 . Issue 2 . May 2015 85
Research Article
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