Role of the Government

Good Governance is characterized by Participation, Transparency, Responsiveness, Accountability, Legitimacy, Partnership, Rule of Law, Equity, Effectiveness and Efficiency, Strategic Vision, Resource Prudence, Ecological Soundness and Empowering. Governments need to play an enabling role in promoting and nurturing active citizenship. Over and above involving citizens in making decisions and exacting accountability, governments have the responsibility to create opportunities for citizens to continuously engage with them in an inclusionary and participatory manner. If governance is all about the relationship between the rulers and the ruled, then the quality of governance is defined by the constancy of engagement between citizens and their governments, as well as between governments and their citizens. Governments can strive for flexibility and innovation in the way they engender citizen participation in governance. They can create various channels for citizens to engage in governance processes. These would include such things as task forces, joint committees, public assemblies, consultative meetings and feedback sessions, and ombudspersons. This necessarily implies that governments make available to citizens the information they need to meaningfully participate in these forums.