I do believe that transparency is a key component of good governance. Absence of transparency introduces issues of corruption, which then results to mismanagement of public funds. The issue of transparency makes a great link to responsibility and accountability. The public administrators need to be accountable for their actions. Denhardt(2011, p.119) seems to support the idea of transparency by indicating that the public administrators need to be held accountable to various standards such as statutory law, professional standards and community values. The public may easily lose confidence in a government where there is no transparency. A common challenge to transparency and accountability is bureaucracy. As Barzelay and Armanjani note that bureaucracy has led to different institutions initiating reforms in their means of operations. This can help increase transparency and reduce corruption (2008, p.522).
Good governance needs to have participation of the public. Public participation ensures that the needs of the people are addressed. Participation of the public is at different levels. However, an important point raised in the UNESCAP (2013) article is the issue of representative democracy being not similar to public participation. Most public administrators may be of the view that the sentiments of a representative of the people accounts for participation by the public. Public participation may help in promoting good governance. This is because when the public feels excluded from the administration, tensions may arise, and conflict develops. This has been witnessed in several countries where uprisings have erupted. Denhardt (2011, p.30) supports this be indicating that the public spirit is nourished through participation.
References
Denhardt, J. V., & Denhardt, R. B. (2011). The new public service: Serving, not steering. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.
Shafritz, J. M., & Hyde, A. (2008). Classics of Public Administration, (7th Ed.). Boston, MA. Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
UNESCAP. (2013). UNESCAP: What is good governance? Retrieved from http://www.unescap.org/pdd/prs/ProjectActivities/Ongoing/gg/governance.asp
