ABSTRACT
The ‘Good Governance’ agenda introduced by international financial and aid institutions according to the Washington Consensus is a result of the conventional developmental theories, which represents the contemporary kernel of truth on how to develop from an Eurocentric perspective (Mehmet, 1995: 127). It was thus promoted within the spirit of the emergence of neo-liberal discourse during the 1990s as the major prerequisite of development according to its proponents. ‘Good Governance’ usually, therefore, refers to a political regime based on the model of liberal-democratic polity, which protects human and civil rights, combined with a non-corrupt and accountable public administration (Neumayer, 2003), and is expected to be the outcome of the economic and financial liberalization policies. Despite its fervent promotion as the primary idea in determining the ideal way to develop with the objective of ensuring the well-being of the people, it also faced criticism from various parties for some of its shortcomings. Good Governance as a concept or agenda was exported from the developed Western countries to the ‘Third World’ after the World Bank’s Sub-Saharan Report in 1989, which is considered by some as the enforcement of a neo-liberalism idea on the world (Mehmet, 1995: 126). While some scrutinize it as neo-colonialism by developed countries (Pagden, 1995; Moore, 1996; Anghie, 2000), others believe it to be a part of a Western project to undermine the ‘other’ way of life (Rahnema, 1997: 384). On the other hand, many researchers launched their criticism of the concept from its technical failure based on the empirical results of its operation in Latin America, Africa and the Balkans (George and Sabelli, 1994: 142-61; CAFOD, 1998; Goldstein, 2000; Stewart, 2000; Harrigan and El-Said, 2009; Stiglitz, 2002).
