ABSTRACT
Good government constantly regulates, maintains and improves the conditions under which we live, but government itself needs constantly to be improved, in order to boost public confidence and political trust. The concluding chapter looks at some recent, but not altogether successful, efforts to change systems of government (Iran, Chile, Italy, the USA, the UK, Russia, China) and asks how it could be done better. It takes a closer look at matters needing urgent attention: leadership, ecological economics and new media. Leaders need to pay heed to people locally but also increasingly to think and operate globally; they need to embrace diversity in their own societies as well as diverse forms of government between societies. We conclude with basic principles and achievable aims for improving government and public administration. Given the existing diversity of forms of government in the world, there can be no uniform prescription. Historical experiences and unprecedented challenges make a compelling case, however, for reflective political effort to reform and improve government itself.
