Popal Sameem
Popal Sameem
Abstract
This research will attempt to discover what is the Monarchy system and Good Governance: can they be reconciled? The research I believe is important because we want to know that the good governance really depends on the types of government or it can be exist only in a particular type of government.
Over the past decades, number of very important and related ideas and policies were developed under the concept of good governance to overcome the political, economic, and social situations in the developing countries. The efforts were made to make a range of policies for the developing countries to guarantee developments in all aspects of life in the country. It means that, the concept of good governance conclude or consist of to ensure the political and economic liberalization in general, political stability and accountability in the region, the removal of corruption, safeguarding human rights, the development of civil society, freedom of expression, the promotion of International trade, providing education, health and peaceful environment for the citizens. The primary purpose of this research is to know that the concept of good governance can be applied in the monarchy system or it is possible to reconcile the concept of good governance and the monarchy system. It is believed that the concept of good governance is related with to the concept of globalization. On the other hand, others believe that the concept of good governance cannot be applied in the Monarchy system due to limitations in regional and international circumstances. It is argued that good governance is strongly associated with globalization and developments are driven with international procedures. We will also look at how the concept of good governance applied in the Islamic countries especially in Golf countries. What are the changes in the Golf countries in the line with good governance?
We will also look at the definition of good governance and how it can be applied in the developing countries and how it worked in the developed countries. What are the forces and circumstances behind the adoption of good governance policies?
I will also look at the conceptual definition of monarchy system and policies. Good governance can be applied in Monarchy system? What are the initiatives that can be taken to apply the concept of good governance in the monarchy system?
Good Governance
The concepts of governance and good governance have become extensively used in academic and donor communities in the last three decades. These two concepts have different definitions, dissimilarities and both of them used for different purposes. From the academic approach, it focuses specifically on the study of power and authority relations that are structured in different ways in a given society. And from the donor communities approach, it more emphasizes on the state structures that play important role to ensure social, economic and equity and accountability through open policy processes. However, there is a huge difference between governance and good governance.
The concept of governance is not the new phenomenon but it is old concept to govern the state and people. This concept was developed since people were settled in communities or societies to ensure the harmony of the societies. The societies and communities were getting larger and the conflicts and problems among the people were increasing. So there was need for the governance to control these crowed societies and communities. To control and ensure the harmony of the society the concept of governance was developed. The concept of “governance” is not new. It is as old as human civilization (Muhammad Ali). Some political thinkers say that roots of governance lay in the Greek societies. The term governance is etymologically connected to the Greek verb Kubernan which means ‘to pilot or steer’. Plato used the verb regarding how to design a system of rule. The Greek term gave rise to the Medieval Latin gubernare, which bears the same connotation of piloting, rulemaking or steering (Maszlee Malik, 2015). However, there no unified agreement on the definition of government but some political thinkers and philosophers define as “governance” means: the process of decision-making and the process by which decisions are implemented (or not implemented) (Rao, – 2008). According to the academic approach, the term of governance is the management of resources and policy making by means of exercising authority or power. It means that the purpose of governance is to control the resources and to make policies through the use of authority or power. It includes all the instruments through different policy makers to exercise the legal rights with the purpose to achieve political, economic cultural and social objectives (Our Global Neighborhood, 1995). Furthermore, in this sense the term governance is used in order to denote a complex set of structures and processes both at public and private level which are generally associated with the national administration. Governance is the stewardship of formal and informal political rules of the game (which) refer to those measures that involve setting the rules for the exercise of power and settling conflicts over such rules (Hyeden, 2001).
The definitions of governance even offer a wide range of interpretation. According to the Report of the Commission on Global Governance “Our Global Neighborhood” (1995) “The sum of the many ways individuals and institutions, public and private, manage their common affairs. It is a continuing process through which conflicting or divers interests may be accommodated and co-operative action may be taken. It includes formal institutions and regimes empowered to enforce compliance, as well as informal arrangements that people and institutions either have agreed to or perceive to be their interest. Tahir Naveed, 1998, he define the governance as the management of resources, and organization of individuals and groups into formal and informal bodies and institutions and businesses, through social, political, administrative and economic mechanisms. The World Bank defined governance as the manner in which power is exercised in the management of a country’s economic and social resources for development.
Bad governance is one of the main reasons for all problems in our societies. There are many countries around the world which suffer from the bad governance. However, the concept of good governance was emerged because of the practices of bad governance which is characterized by corruption, unaccountable governments the lack of respect for the human rights (Global Governance). The practice of bad governance has become dangerous and was making a lot of problems in the societies. The concept of good governance plays very important role in political, economic, and social aspects of the country. Good governance is the concept in which the act of governance is realized and it is the method in which the social actors interact in a certain social context. There are few principles of good governance to ensure and strengthen good governance in any society around the world. These principles of good governance include participation, rule of law, transparency of decision-making or openness, accountability, predictability or coherence, and effectiveness (Global Governance).
According to the international donor community, these principles stand at the foundation of sustainable development. The first principle of good governance is about all society individuals’ participation in decision-making. Everyone has the right to participate in decision-making in the societies. The second principle of good governance is to maintain the rule of law on everyone and effectively through the legal system. In addition to that, the rule of law means that the rights of everyone in the societies are protected especially those of minorities in the society. The rule of law is for everyone. Furthermore, the rule of law has variety of conditions, being strongly connected to good administration of justice, good legal framework, verified dispute mechanisms, equal access to justice, and the independence of judiciary workers (lawyers, judges). Thirdly, another principle of good governance is the transparency of decision-making process in which it ensures that information is freely available and accessible to those involved or affected by the decisions taken. According to some political thinkers and philosopher that governance refers to two of the most basic questions, who governs and how well? The first question that is who governs focuses on the issues of distribution of power or authority and resources in the society. The second question is concerned with the concept of good governance which is based on effective institutions, efficient methods of operation and equitable policy outcomes (Jreisat, 2004). The concept of good governance is a general term that encompasses a wide range of things such as different political, economic and social ideas and policies.
According to the World Bank that good governance is a new approach for the development of countries and societies. The concept of good governance found an important role since 1989 with the advocacy by the World Bank (Najem and Hetherington, 2003). The World Bank and other international organization help the developing countries in the form of economic reforms based on good governance. The World Bank considered the concept of good governance as sound development management. It is based on four dimension, public sector management, and accountability, legal framework for development, transparency and information accessibility. The idea was that the sound economic policies will help to promote the appropriate political environment for sustainable economic growth. They wanted to encourage the developing countries to design their own political and social mechanisms to pave the way for development in the societies. The concept of good governance as used by the World Bank and other donor organizations includes many conditions such economic liberalization and the creation of market friendly environments, transparency and accountability with respect to both economic and political decision-making, political liberalization, especially democratic reforms, rule of law and the elimination of corruption, the promotion of civil society, the introduction of fundamental human rights guarantees, particularly with respect to political rights such as freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and freedom from arbitrary imprisonment, and the adoption of policies designed to safeguard long-term global interests like education, health and the environment (Najem and Hetherington, 2003). Many political thinkers and scholars believe that good governance is the best way for sustainable long-term development and prosperity. This is the only way that can ensure development in developing countries. Furthermore, for the developing countries, the demonstration of a willingness to adopt good governance practices became the basic precondition for financial assistance and increased trade relations (Najem and Hetherington, 2003).
Monarch System
The term monarchy has been and still is used in the world. When people use the word monarchy, one thing comes to mind, a state that is ruled by a single individual. The word monarchy is translated in Greek into two words; the first one means “single” or “alone” and the second meaning is “rule” (Kostiner, 2000). So it means that the rule of one person or one-man personal rule. Basically, it can be translated into the power of one person who rules the state and holds all the power in his or her hand. Monarchy means “hereditary” that is, dynastic rule, in which the headship of the state is transformed from one member to another of the same family (Kostiner, 2000). The monarchy system is based on hereditary when the head or the king of the state dies; the power is transformed or move to his family members. In the Arabic term “Malik” has been used to convey both meanings of a monarch. If you consult an English-Arabic or Arabic-English dictionary, you will be told with the laconic and sometimes specious certitude of lexicographers that malik equals “king” and “king” equals malik. The term malik was thus used in the early Islamic centuries to denote rulers whose authority was primarily military and political (Kostiner, 2000).
There are different types of government systems around the world such as monarchy, anarchy, authoritarian, democracy and so on. However, monarchy system is the oldest form of government in the history. In the monarchy system the supreme power lays in the hand of one person which is the monarch. In this system the monarch is the one who controls the sovereignty of the state. Monarchy is a type of government that gives the rulers unique cultural and institutional tools for holding on to power (Gause III, 2013). There are various definitions given to the term Monarchy by various scholars. As we know that, monarchy is the oldest form of government in the world. In the past, most of the countries had the monarchy system of government. However, today few countries around the world have the monarchy system of government. In monarchy the state is ruled by a single person. In other words, monarchy is based on undivided sovereignty or rule of a single person (Merriam-Webster). The term monarchy applies to states in which the supreme authority is vested in the monarch. Monarch is a person or an individual ruler who functions as the head of the state of a particular country or state and who achieves his position through heredity.
The monarchy systems vary from the Authoritarian regimes. There are a little bit difference between the monarchy and authoritarian regime. The Authoritarian regimes work and hold power to ensure their own survival. However, some monarchy systems around the globe perform some special tasks to avoid challenges to the system (Gause III, 2013). For example, the Arab monarchies have deployed their ample wealth to avoid the public and other major powers around the world demand for the reform. Also these Arab monarchies tied their relationships with domestic interest groups and regional allies and foreign patrons to ensure the stability of the regime (Gause III, 2013). However, in the Arab world the monarchies vary and the strategy differ by country. In addition to that, monarchies in the Arab countries can be understood in two ways. In some Arab countries like Morocco and Jordan, kings are ruling as individuals. In other Golf countries the state are governed by the families. It is based on the dynasty and the rulers or monarchs are part of the larger corporate ruling body (Gause III, 2013). In both case the system is based on hereditary. In the monarchy system the leadership is inherited from family to family. Throughout, all of Islamic history, Muslim rulers practiced at least two fundamentals of monarchic rule: individual-absolutist and dynastic-hereditary (Kostiner, 2000).
According to Ghehabi and Linz, they define the sultanistic regime as a regime that is characterized by personal rule unchecked by restraints, norms, or ideology. They further insisted that, corruption reigns supreme at all levels of society under a sultanistic ruler and the distinction between the stat and the regime becomes blurred. In a sultanistic regime, thus, the ruler has an enormous degree of discretionary power, despite the narrow social base of the regime (Russell E. Lucas, 2004). There are huge difference between the authoritarianism and sultanism according to Lucas. He differentiated the both system based on four issues. The first issues are that, the authoritarian regime permits or allow pluralism among the social groups. This will lead to have some impact on government policies. However, in the sultanistic regime, corruption and personalism atomize social groups in the regime. The second issue is that, in both regimes, the legitimacy and motivation cannot be derived from the ideological sources, while mentality may drive an authoritarian regime’s policies. Thirdly, as we know that both regimes do not afraid of repress dissent, but in the authoritarian regime aims for general political apathy that may be selectively mobilized from time to time. In contrast, if there is any attempt in the sultanistic regime to mobilize the society, it only is for the satisfaction of the ruler ego or his personality cult. Last but not least; an authoritarian regime has predictable boundaries to the power of the government. However, a sultanistic regime offers near-complete discretion to the leader on the limits of his power (Russell E. Lucas, 2004).
Good Governance and the Monarchy system
The concept of good governance has become an important part of the development of institutions and other international actors in the world. All the major development institutions around the globe insist on promoting good governance and it is the crucial part of their agendas. The aim of the good governance is to ensure accountability, transparency, follow the rule of law, responsive to the public, ensure that everyone’s rights in decision-making is preserved, and to ensure that entities act in the public interest in all the time. However, now the question is that, is it possible to implement the concept of good governance in the monarchy system? As we know that in the monarchy system the power is monopolized and serves only the monarch interest. In the monarchy system, there is not right for the public to participate in the decision-making process, the government is not accountable to the public, only the monarch interest is being served in the government and every decision is made by the king or the monarch.
First of all, it is very important to know some general points and recognize the implementation of good governance in different countries. Furthermore, as we know that good governance is a multifaceted ideal and it is impossible to implement all the characteristics of good governance. Even the most developed countries around the world have some shortcomings of good governance and did not achieve all the characteristics of good governance. Also, there is no global identified order of development priorities has emerged as the theory and application of good governance has developed. With reference to the theory of good governance originally articulated by the World Bank, it seems clear that the liberalization of economic and the adjustment of a structure are supposed to pave the way for the social and political changes (Najem and Hetherington, 2003). According to some scholars, it is very important to implement some basic political reforms to facilitate and ensure economic reforms, human rights, and accountability.
The characteristics of good governance are limited in the Monarchy system because there is no pressure from the international aid donors, NGOs, and other major power. The role of the international organizations and the influence of major power around the world are limited in the monarchy system of government. In addition to that, in the monarchy system, the public is not allowed and given the right to own property and participate in the decision-making process. Also, the monarchy systems are lacking the rule of law and people are not free and allowed to express their ideas in the media and in the public. In the monarchy system, only one person can rule and the power is vesting in one person and his or her view is respected in all aspects of life. There are no checks and balance of power and this leads to great corruption. In the monarchy system, societies suffer from low educational and developmental levels and serious outside threats.
References:
- Kings for All Seasons: How the Middle East’s Monarchies Survived the Arab Spring, By, F. Gregory Gause, III, and September 2013.
- Middle East Monarchies, The challenge of Modernity, Edited by Joseph Kostiner, Published in the United States of America in 2000 by Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc.
- Monarchical Authoritarianism: Survival and Political Liberalization in a Middle Eastern Regime Type, by Russell E. Lucas, 2004.
- IFAD, International Fund For Agricultural Development, Executive Board- Sixty-Seventh Session, Rome, 8-9 September 1999, Good Governance: An Overview.
- Corruption and Good Governance in Asia, Edited by Nicholas Tarling.
- Governance and Development, The World Bank, Washington, D.C. 1992.
