ABSTRACT
Scholars and political activists have attributed the lack of substantial development, if not all, countries of the Middle East and North Africa to bad governance, a concept which because it focuses on such issues as civil society, decentralization, human rights and accountability, has been associated with the notion of democratic governance. In order to highlight Algeria's willingness to set out the dynamic leading to good governance, the authorities have not only funded—through the national budget—but they have also integrated the National Programme of Action on Governance modelled after the African review process into national development plans. Algerians addressed the four categories retained by the African Peer Review Mechanism, namely democracy and political governance, economic governance and management, corporate governance, and socio-economic development. Algerian authorities have paid close attention to the question of human rights, not only because of internal pressure—numerous non-governmental organizations and the media play the role of watchdogs on the question—but also because of international attention.
