9.7 Meeting Governance Requirements

(The latest version of this page is at Pattern Descriptions. An archived copy of this page is held at https://www.patternsofpower.org/edition02/97.htm)

In this book the term €˜acceptability€™ (2.3.3) has been used to define people's satisfaction with their governance and as what gives a State legitimacy (6.3.5.1). As Michael Oakeshott wrote:

€œThe authority of the state is not mere government and law, nor is it founded upon a contract or any other form of the consent of the people, but resides solely in the completeness of the satisfaction which the state itself affords to the needs of concrete persons.€ [1]

There is no 'contract' as such with the State, but there is a set of mutual expectations that amounts to one. The State expects people to comply with its governance and the population expects the governance to be acceptable. Some, necessarily subjective, criteria for good governance were suggested at the start of this book (2.1) and some of the patterns of power can be used to satisfy these requirements:

1. National law protects people from physical threats within most countries (5.2.5); and depoliticised international law would improve security between countries (9.5.4). Collaborative action is needed to counter environmental threats (3.5.7) €“ and some political action is already being taken (6.7.5).

2. People€™s opportunity to flourish depends upon them being able to meet their basic needs (4.2.4.3) €“ including food, shelter, health and education €“ and having economic freedom (3.5.9).

3. A society can be cohesive if measures are taken to increase economic inclusiveness (6.7.2.4), if interpersonal relationships are respectful and supportive (4.3.2), and if peaceful pluralism (9.3) prevails. Everyone can feel that they have a stake in society, and that it is in their interests to support it, if they can have citizenship that is of value to them (6.7.3.3).

4. Any level of government can provide public services and infrastructure if it is able to use money raised from taxation (6.7.1). If services are provided by private companies (3.5.3.3), politicians can ensure that they are competently managed (6.6.2).

5. The acceptability of economic governance depends upon a combination of regulation (3.3.1), which has an increasingly global aspect (3.5.5), and competent macro-economic management (3.3.8). Political competence, on both public services and the economy, can be encouraged by providing transparency (6.8.5.1) and accountability (6.8.5.2).

6. It is within the scope of the Legal Dimension to define the rules, such as a Constitution, which control the behaviour of those who are appointed to positions of authority (5.2.3). Such rules can be enforced if there is a clear separation of legal powers (5.2.8). The public would withdraw support (6.4.2) from leaders who have been found to be untrustworthy.

7. It is possible to allow meaningful negotiation in any political system (6.8.4).

8. Politicians are more likely to act in the public interest if they can be held to account for their performance (9.4).

9. Some checks and balances are needed in the processes for appointing politicians (6.8.2). It is also necessary to have processes for the dismissal of unsatisfactory leaders (6.8.5.2) €“ and limits to tenure are a safeguard in any political system (6.3.4.3).

10. There are ways of enabling people to make choices within a framework of governance and avoiding placing undue restrictions on them:

· Consumers can spend their disposable income as they choose (3.2.2).

· A choice of public services can be offered by using civil society (3.5.3.2) or if private competition can be introduced (3.5.3.3).

· The law can avoid unnecessarily constraining moral choices (5.4.4).

· Politicians can be elected in a democratic political system (6.3.2.1).

· Freedom of belief can be guaranteed (6.7.4.8).

· All governance places some constraints on individual liberty, but its scope should be limited (9.2.2); it can protect people€™s freedom (9.2.3) if everyone meets their obligations to others (9.2.4).

11. A policy of inclusivity can ensure that everyone is treated equally in all four dimensions of governance, regardless of race, creed, gender, sexual orientation, age, wealth or education:

· All ethnic groups can be given equal treatment within peaceful pluralism (9.3).

· Human rights (4.2.4) can provide a safeguard against the unjust treatment of any individual.

· It is possible, though politically contentious, to take measures to increase economic inclusiveness (6.7.2.4).

12. Human rights are an explicit agreement on standards of behaviour and on the entitlements that a society wishes to grant to its citizens (4.2.4). These rights can be guaranteed to everyone in the society to some extent:

· The law can be used to enforce human rights (5.4.7) €“ and in many countries it is possible for people to appeal to multinational or global jurisdiction on human rights, to protect themselves against politicians who abuse their powers (5.4.7.5).

· Socio-economic rights can be politically guaranteed (6.7.1).

· The freedom to influence political governance is itself a right; it consists of having ways to communicate with politicians (6.8.3.1) and having freedom of speech (6.8.3.2). The negotiability of governance is a safeguard to protect other rights (6.8.4).

This summary indicates that it is possible to meet all the criteria for good governance which were suggested at the start of this book (2.1) but, of course, there can be no guarantee that these things will happen

Countries vary in whether they include all these criteria, in how they define them and what weighting to give them €“ there is no universal €˜right answer€™ for any aspect of governance. Readers of this book will similarly vary. This book€™s method of assessing the acceptability of governance is offered as a contribution towards the negotiations required to improve it.