ADF IV ACADEMIA FOCUS GROUP

ISSUES PAPER

Introduction

Good governance is arguably the most important challenge facing African countries. The need for better governance is no longer in any doubt, and African governments and civil society are engaged, to varying degrees, in trying to improve governance as much and as swiftly as possible. Given the great importance of the challenge, and the stakes involved, a wide variety of actors, internal and external, official and private, have had plenty to say about it, African academics being prominent amongst them. The debate has exhibited not only disagreements but also a degree of confusion about the subject. There is thus a crucial need for efforts to promote a consensus on such matters as what constitutes good governance, the present state of governance in Africa, strategies for bringing about good governance as quickly and cost-effectively as possible, and what should be done to ensure that the process as a whole is African-owned. In these efforts, African academics naturally have a significant role to play.

Objective of the Focus Group

The purpose of the focus group is to examine the existing contributions of academia on questions relevant to the pursuit of good governance in Africa, and to consider on which broad topics the further intensification and/or dissemination of research would be most likely to have beneficial results.

Key Issues

1) What is governance?

Although the word itself is an old one, the prominence it has today in the discussion of public affairs is something comparatively new. One idea that fuelled this new usage was that the `governing' that national governments engage in constitutes only one part of a more general phenomenon, and should not be studied and evaluated in isolation. It is often suggested that recent debates under the heading of good governance suffer from conflicting or excessively vague notions of just what governance comprises. It is clearly of great practical importance to consider whether this is true, and, if so, how the problem can best be remedied. Some questions to consider:

• Is there some single minimal definition of governance in general that adequately captures the usage of all parties to the debates? For instance, would "the exercise of authority in society" be adequate?

• If there is such a definition, which sorts of activity and institution are covered by it? And just how significant is what all of these have in common?

• If not, and there are really several meanings in play, what is the best way of defining these?

2) Models of good governance

The models of good governance that are most influential in the world today derive mainly from the experience and reflections of people in a limited range of countries, notably in Western Europe and North America. These models, and the policy prescriptions that go naturally with them, are as dominant in discussions about Africa as anywhere else, particularly because of the prominent role played by the Bretton Woods institutions and major bilateral donors in orienting the political and economic structures of African countries.

Many African academics have contended that while there are indeed certain general principles and structures that are essential to good governance anywhere, the appropriateness of more specific forms and processes depends on historical, social and cultural factors in respect of which different countries may vary a good deal. There is a further reason why it is desirable that externally derived models be subjected to critical assessment, even if the resulting judgement is entirely in favour of them: it helps to make the pursuit of good governance in Africa an African-owned process. Questions about models of good governance for Africa inlcude:

• How has the concept of governance evolved and what are its key features and measures? To what extent is the prevailing model of governance a result of the specific historical, political, social and cultural setting in which it emerged and the forces that determined its evolution?

• Since measures of quality of governance will give weight to a plurality of different factors, such that progress in respect of one might be accompanied by some regression in respect of another, what can be said in general about the relative importance of the various factors that together determine a country's quality of governance?

3) The current state of governance in African countries

An essential element in the serious and realistic pursuit of good governance in Africa is the mapping out of the existing state of governance. But the present can hardly be properly understood, especially in respect of the trends that are at work in it, without a grasp of the past. This exercise is thus not merely academic; it can help to reveal possibilities and difficulties latent in the present situation of individual countries or of the continent as a whole. It is thus of value to consider:

• What accounts for the those features of the state of governance that appear to be characteristic, to a greater or lesser extent, of African countries? What accounts for those features in respect of which different countries are markedly unlike one another?

• What can be said about the distinctive potentials of different African countries for improved governance, and about the distinctive obstacles that different countries face?

4) Strategies for improved governance

There are at least two ways in which the actual pursuit of good governance in Africa can be enlightened by taking account of academics' work. First, historical awareness of some of the means by which systems of governance have been improved in different parts of the world can help, at least to some extent, in judging different strategies' chances of success. Secondly, African academics have paid careful attention to the arguable costs, in terms of political stability, effectiveness of the executive, cultural autonomy, and economic development and poverty alleviation in the short, medium and long term. While one might think that such costs can be avoided by suitably chosen strategies, the following questions are open and pressing:

• What strategies have African countries been pursuing in trying to achieve good governance and how successful have these strategies been? What are the limitations and shortcomings in these strategies?

• What lessons could African countries learn from each other and from other regions on this subject?

• How do the efforts at achieving good governance impact on other important challenges, such as building an effective state, strengthening national integration, ensuring rapid and sustainable economic development, reducing poverty and economic inequality, and enhancing the capacity to act in an autonomous, united and effective manner in the global system?

• What are the appropriate methods for arriving at a comparative evaluation of the various potential costs and benefits?

• What constraints upon the means, sequencing and timescale of designed changes follow from the need to minimise such costs?

5) The roles of stakeholders in promoting good governance

Better governance is not likely to be achieved by the sole agency of national governments. It is very widely recognised among academics that civil society must play an important role in the process. The question of how to foster and increase this involvement may be broken down into several others:

• What can be learnt from a critical assessment of the role that civil society has up to now played in the evolution of governance? What are the strengths and weaknesses of civil society organisations, formal and informal, as regards the promotion of good governance? How could they be strengthened so that they could play a more effective role in this process?

• How are partnerships to be cultivated among civil society organisations and between them and the various branches of government?

• How has globalization been affecting the process of governance in Africa? Who are the major external actors whose activities impact on governance in Africa and how and why have they affected the evolution of governance in Africa the way they have? How could their contribution to good governance be enhanced?

• How can African academics maintain an appropriate objectivity and detachment in their work but at the same time enter into cooperation with each other and with other groups in society, so that their understandings of governance issues can bear fruit in practice?

Conclusion

These are some of the issues that the Academia and Governance Focus Group will need to consider before the ADF IV in October 2004. The group's agreement on key areas of concern, and consensus on recommended actions, is intended to guide the plenary deliberations, with other stakeholders and selected heads of State, at the Forum itself.