La capacidad para gobernar : retrocediendo hacia el centro

Abstract

The capacity to govern reflects the ability of the public sector, increasingly in conjunction with the private sector, to set collective goals for the society and to use a variety of instruments to reach those goals. This steering capacity reflects not only the capabilities of the public sector itself but also the governability of the society and the presence of effective civil society actors which can assist in governance.

This paper first develops a model of governance involving some essential elements of governing. These include the ability to set goals, to create coherent goals, to implement programs designed to reach goals, and then to have effective means of monitoring and feedback. The paper then proceeds to examine changes in the governing capacities across time. In particular, the author is concerned with the shift first to a highly decentralized, fragmented form of governing using instruments such as privatization and the creation of agencies and then a reassertion of the need for some governing capacity in the center of government, and some strategic planning if governance is to be successful.

The arguments presented here are both empirical and normative. There is an examination of changes in the nature of governance in a range of countries, as well as the development of some standards for effective and democratic governance.