211. Good Governance Improving Quality of Life
- Author:
- Fikret Toksöz
- Publication Date:
- 06-2008
- Content Type:
- Book
- Institution:
- Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
- Abstract:
- The word ‘governance’ became common currency everywhere including Turkey. This concept which entered our vocabulary with 1996 İstanbul Habitat II Conference, encountered great resistance. Certain people claim it was unnecessary to create a new term such as governance where there is already a corresponding word for that concept, that is government. Etymological reasons are put forward to support these claims. Others claim that ideologically speaking, governance is the imposition of the forces of globalization. It is normal for such new terms to encounter great objections. If, on top of that, the meaning and content of the term is not clearly understood, these objections prove even more resilient. Good governance is a new approach that includes all the principles necessary for the consolidation of democratic management. These principles can be stated as participation, transparency, accountability, effectiveness, consistency, fairness and rule of law. Lately, many segments of society including public managers and intellectuals and even political representatives suggested using the principles of governance for solving problems encountered in public administration. Besides them, individuals and civil society organizations try to get information from public authorities and try to hold them accountable. For them, good governance is the ultimate principle that will make these organizations more important actors in social life. Seeing the common usage of good governance, TESEV decided to change the content of the book prepared initially to publicize the results of our project “Good Governance: Improving Quality of Life”. Consequently, there emerged this study which comprises of two books. The first part of the book is made up of three parts. In the first part, the meaning of governance is explained. In the second part, the transition from government to governance in Turkey is depicted. In this section, the modern government is assumed to have emerged with Tanzimat and the passage to governance is explained in two stages. The first stage is the period from Tanzimat to the Republic. In this stage, the formation process of civil society is evaluated as well as the consolidation of public authority. With the same method, the period from the Republic to the present day is also evaluated. At the end of the first book, problem areas related to governance and new developments are mentioned. The second book comprises of the explanation and the results of TESEV’s “Good Governance: Improving Quality of Life” project. The details related to the development of project tools namely “Socio-economic Development Maps, Public Spending Analysis and Social Satisfaction Surveys” are shared. This study was prepared as a manual for local authorities, civil society organizations and citizens interested in the topic with an aim to make the term clearer and to facilitate the debate on the concept. For this reason, the methodology developed for scientific studies were not employed in this book. To facilitate an easy reading of the book, extensive bibliographies and footnotes were evaded. While preparing the book, all the relevant literature in Turkish was surveyed. There are many valuable studies on the historical development pattern. The sources and the internet sites used were mentioned at the end of the book.
- Topic:
- Governance, Reform, Accountability, Transparency, and Sustainability
- Political Geography:
- Turkey, Middle East, and Mediterranean