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Governance Theories and Models

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G
Governance Theories and Models
Mohammed Asaduzzaman1 and Petri Virtanen2
1
Department of Public Administration, Islamic
University, Kushtia, Bangladesh
2
School of Health Sciences, University of
Tampere, Tampere, Finland
Synonyms
Administrative theories; Governance philoso-
phies; Principles of governance; Theoretical anal-
ysis of governance and good governance
Introduction
Pollitt (2005) has – somewhat ironically – argued
that there are certain “hardy perennials” of con-
temporary public policy and public management.
According to our reading, these “hardy peren-
nials” include conceptual entities such as bureau-
cracy, network, decentralization, power, and
governance. The last one of these,
governance – profoundly anchored in the New
Public Management and New Public Governance
doctrines – has virtually been an unassailable
concept in the management and public policy
sciences for decades now. Governance definitely
has a kind of pivotal place in recent public man-
agement and public policy discourses. Gover-
nance has a long conceptual history, to include
# Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016
A. Farazmand (ed.), Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_2612-1
multifaceted meanings and to act as counterpart of
(often unspoken) alternative for “public sector
management” and “public sector leadership.”
Governance has gained popularity in management
sciences and in academic public policy discourse
because of its multivalency – its ability to link up
with many other arguments and theoretical
concepts.
Although interest for the concept governance
has increased tremendously during the last two
decades, the term is not new, but rather as old as
the civilization or the human history (Farazmand
2013, p. 349). As a concept, governance incorpo-
rates with the very long history of governing, rule,
authority structures, and domination (Tiihonen
2004). Currently, it not only occupies the central
stage of development discourse but it is also con-
sidered as the fundamental component to be incor-
porated in the development policy of both
developed and developing nations (Hye 2000).
Despite its growing importance to the researchers,
development practitioners, policy makers, and
international aid agencies, governance is far
from a “finished product.” Rather it is a dynamic
concept and worth examining analytically and
systematically (Farazmand 2012, p. 351). Pierre
and Peters (2000, p. 7) have claimed that the term
governance is notoriously slippery, and for good
reason. Schneider (2004, p. 25) then has put for-
ward the idea that the conceptual vagueness of the
term “governance” is actually the “secret of its
success.” Farazmand (2012) highlighted gover-
nance from three faces, for example, the good,
2 Governance Theories and Models
the bad, and the ugly, and concluded that none of
these offers a full-scale and comprehensive per-
spective of the concept. Similarly, Kohler-Koch
and Rittberger (2006) have argued that despite
decades of huge efforts there is still confusion
about the conceptualization of the concept.
The last decades have brought about tremen-
dous changes in global politics and the emergence
of service space, constituting of various institu-
tions from public, private, and the third sector
(e.g., Virtanen et al. 2016). Moreover, the rise of
third sector organizations in developing countries,
the changing role of the international aid agencies
towards the aid receiving countries, and the sig-
nificance of people’s participation in development
projects and action enforce to retheorize the role
of public administration. Similarly, excessive
political influence and bureaucratic control over
central and local governance have been blamed
for conditions of massive poverty, corruption,
economic stagnation, political instability, con-
fused priorities, chaos, and violation of human
rights of citizens and noncitizens alike (Jreisat
2004). It is also evident that the wealth or poverty
of any nation goes hand in hand with the state of
governance and not merely with, e.g., the natural
resources (Werlin 2003). On the other hand, it is
clear that the ground realities or country specific
contextual realities play vital role in order to the-
orizing governance, which has always been
overlooked.
As a result, despite its colossal recognition and
importance, a universal or acceptable theory of
governance has not yet been emerged. Debates
prevail and conceptual differences exist in respect
of its theoretical formulations, policy prescription,
and conceptualization across the world (Hye
2000). Adding “good” with governance has paid
much attention to the international aid agencies
since 1990s. Good governance becomes an offi-
cial aid agenda for the aid recipient countries of
Africa and Asia. In fact, it has become a common
phenomenon in the literature of international aid
agencies as a precondition for aid receiving coun-
tries (Rhodes 1997). The truism is that good gov-
ernance is a condition rather than creating better
democracy of the developing nations. As a result,
a common consensus about its theoretical frame-
work does not exist yet.
Terms, theory and model need clarification
here, however. With theory, we refer to Giere
(1998, p. 415), who argues that theories are gen-
eralized theoretical hypothesis. Notable in this
definition is that justifying a theory is actually
about justifying a theoretical hypothesis or a set
of hypothesis. Models, then, in our semantic and
analytical dictionary refers to a kind of conceptual
and partly theoretical frameworks, which helps to
understand conceptually the topic under scrutiny.
Popper (1963) calls this as a discovery of axiom-
atic systems, a model that consists of a set of
things, relations, operations, or functions.
This entry intends to discuss the different the-
ories and models of governance and its conceptual
framework in the light of both developed and
developing nations through interpreting and
reinterpreting the contemporary management
and public policy literature. This entry has three
sections. First, we take an analytical look into the
definitional image and theoretical framework of
the concept of governance. Secondly, we discuss
the dimensions of theories related to governance.
Thirdly, we present our conclusions and discuss
our findings.
Theoretical Framework for Governance
Numerous scholars have come up with definitions
concerning the concept of governance. The uni-
fied interpretation seems to be, despite the multi-
ple perspectives of the definitions, that as a term,
governance refers to the political field and politi-
cal activity as the vital task of every national
government. At the outset, however, we would
like to emphasize that the terms government and
governance are not same. That is, government and
governance are not synonymous terms, although
both share goals-oriented objectives. Government
occurs when those with legally and formally
derived authority and policing power execute
and implement activities; by contrast, governance
refers to the creation, execution, and implementa-
tion of activities backed by the shared goals of
citizens and organizations, who may or may not
Governance Theories and Models
have formal authority or policing power (Rosenau
1992 in Bingham et al. 2005, p. 548). According
to Richards and Smith (2002), government is
bureaucracy, legislation, financial control, regula-
tion, and force. Governance, on the other hand,
refers more like to a growing use of nonregulatory
policy instrument. This policy instrument aspect
focuses the attention towards proposed, designed,
and implemented cooperation by nonstate actors
working together with state actors (Jordan
et al. 2003).
As a whole, governance is a growing phenom-
enon. The literature on governance is definitely
considerable and expanding (Aminuzzaman
2010, p. 19). Back in history, in the fourteenth
century for instance, the term governance referred
to an action, method, or function of governing
(Halfani et al. 1994). For Landell et al. (1991),
governance denotes how people are ruled, how
the affairs of the states are administered and reg-
ulated, as well as a nation’s system of politics, and
how this functions in relation to public adminis-
tration and law. According to Graham
et al. (2003), governance is seen as interaction
among structures, processes, and traditions that
determine how power and responsibilities are
exercised, how decisions are taken, and how citi-
zens and other stakeholders have their say. There-
fore, governance is about power, relationship, and
accountability: it addresses the questions like who
has the influence, who makes the decisions, and
how decision-makers are held accountable.
Halfani and his colleagues (1994) highlight
governance as a system of government concen-
trating on effective and accountable institutions,
democratic principles and electoral process, rep-
resentation and responsible structures of govern-
ment in order to ensure an open and legitimate
relationship between the civil society and the
state. They emphasized on the relationship
between the civil society and the state, which is
very crucial. This is in fact and an important
notion since this differentiates the study of gover-
nance from the study of government. The nature
of the relationship between the civil society and
the state is the most important feature in their
definition. They believe that credibility and legit-
imating of government can be achieved
3
effectively and efficiently through decentraliza-
tion and sharing, people’s participation, account-
ability, transparency, and responsiveness. In the
same way, Organization for Economic
Co-operation and Development’s (OECD)
(1995) definition of governance includes public
administration and the institutions, methods and
instruments of governing and also incorporates
relationship between government and citizen
(including business and other citizen groupings)
and the role of the state. In order to cope with the
challenges of the twenty-first century, to under-
stand the relationship in-between the state and
nonstate agencies is thus important. This is
because of the economic globalization, massive
corruption of state agencies, failure of centrally
planned economy, elitist bureaucracy, remarkable
breakthrough of information technology, and the
rising role of the third sector, popularly known as
the Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs)
across the developing world (e.g., Hossain 2001;
Salomon and Anheier 1996; Anheier and
Seibel 1990).
Interpreting and reinterpreting the contempo-
rary public management and public policy
research literature, we have pinpointed two differ-
ent approaches. According to our analytical
rereading of the existing literature, these two
approaches derive their origins from (1) interna-
tional aid agencies and (2) European scholars.
Both approaches seem to have constituted the
conceptual framework for governance from their
own perspectives.
As an example from the first conceptual
dimension, we take the World Bank (1994) as an
example. The World Bank defines governance as
the manner in which power is exercised in the
management of a country’s economic and social
resources for development. In fact, in its defini-
tion, World Bank highlights the administrative
aspects of governance, which emphasizes the fol-
lowing major issues: civil service reform, public
sector downsizing, service delivery, contracting
out public interventions, as well as institutional
capacity building. Furthermore, the World Bank
affiliated researchers address governance from
three perspectives (e.g., Kaufmann et al. 2000).
They are: the process, by which governments are
4 Governance Theories and Models
selected, held accountable, monitored, and
replaced; the capacity of the governments to man-
age resources efficiently and formulate and imple-
ment and enforce sound policies and regulations;
and the scope of people’s participation in the
affairs of the state and access to the
administration.
Secondly, as an example from the second con-
ceptual dimension, Kooiman (1993) defines gov-
ernance as the forms in which public or private
sectors engage in problem solving, not separately,
but in conjunction with other actors in society.
This approach, therefore, views governance as
forms of multiorganizational action rather than
involving only state institutions. In fact, these
kinds of definitions have redefined the role of the
state and distinguished governance from the tra-
ditional public administration and this is the intel-
lectual and conceptual starting point for the
emergence of the New Public Governance, break-
through public sector management paradigm
since the beginning of the millennium. In the
same vein, March and Olsen (1995) presented a
framework for democratic governance from a
new-institutional perspective of political science.
Their perspective is that the enhancement of
democracy improves political governance. The
task demands developing: democratic identities;
capabilities for appropriate political action among
citizens, groups, and institutions; accounts of
political events; and an adaptive political system,
which copes with changing demands and
environment.
Hyden (1992) has widened discourse of gov-
ernance on the level of theoretical generality. To
him governance concerns mostly the rules of the
game of political rule. Governance, according to
him, is a conscious management of regime struc-
tures with a view to enhancing the legitimacy of
the public realm. He pays attention to the political
legitimacy of governance contrary to economists,
who give emphasize economic factors and effi-
ciency. Hyden’s views are further elaborated by
Bratton and Rotchild (1992) into the following
five interpretations:
• Governance is a conceptual approach that
frames a comparative analysis of
macropolitics.
• Governance concerns big questions of a “con-
stitutional” nature that establish the rules of
political conducts.
• Governance involves creative intervention of
political actors to change structures.
• Governance emphasizes interaction between
state and social actors.
• Governance refers to a particular type of rela-
tionships among political actors, that is, those
which are socially sanctioned rather than
arbitrary.
Rosenau and Czempiel (1992) discussed gov-
ernance in a very comprehensive manner.
According to Rosenau (1992), governance is a
more encompassing phenomenon than govern-
ment. It includes non-governmental institutions
and informal, non-governmental mechanisms
and how they move ahead, satisfy their needs,
and fulfill their wants. He emphasized that gover-
nance is a process whereby an organization or
society steers itself. It includes many channels
through which commands flow in the form of
goals framed, directives issued, and policies pur-
sued. It is a process where communication is
central (Rosenau 1995). In addition, for him
global governance is a sum of myriad – literally
millions of – control mechanisms driven by dif-
ferent histories, goals, structures, and processes.
Rhodes (2001) found different interpretations for
governance though his interpretation is not so
faraway than others. He used governance as:
(1) a minimal state; (2) a corporate governance;
(3) a new public management; (4) good gover-
nance; (5) a sociocybernetic system, and (6) self-
organizing network. The key concern of all these
are the role of the state, not only in political field
but in all policy sectors as well.
To summarize, we can say that the concept of
governance applies to multiple forms of collective
action. However, it is about more strategic aspects
of steering of a society: the larger decisions about
direction and roles. That is, governance is not only
about where to go but also about who should be
Governance Theories and Models
involved in deciding and in what capacity. There-
fore, we found four areas or zones where the
concept is particularly relevant.
• Governance in “global space,” or global gov-
ernance, deals with issues outside the purview
of individual governments.
• Governance in “national space,” i.e., within a
country: this is sometimes understood as the
exclusive preserve of government, of which
there may be several levels: national, provin-
cial or state, indigenous, urban or local. How-
ever, governance is concerned with how other
actors, such as civil society organizations, may
play a role in taking decisions on matters of
public concern.
• Organizational governance (governance in
“organization space”): this comprises the activ-
ities of organizations that are usually account-
able to a board of directors. Some will be
privately owned and operated, e.g., business
corporations. Others may be publicly owned,
e.g., hospitals, schools, government
corporations, etc.
• Service space governance reflecting the idea
of governing local, regional, and national ser-
vice spaces, consisting of various service pro-
viders from private, public, and the third sector.
• Community governance (governance in “com-
munity space”): this includes activities at a
local level where the organizing body may
not assume a legal form and where there may
not be a formally constituted governing board.
Based on our analysis, we feel that the concept
of governance is often referred for more rhetorical
rather than substantive reasons. In early 1990s,
governance appears to be used in place of govern-
ment as if government was a difficult word to sell
in a privatized, market-oriented society. Gover-
nance is about a reinvented form of government,
which is better managed (e.g., Osborne and
Gaebler 1992). In this perspective, governance is
about the potential for contracting, franchising,
and new forms of regulation. Hood (1991) refers
to this kind of governance as the New Public
Management (NPM), and this kind of thinking
5
also applies in the domain of New Public
Governance.
We think governance is a lucrative concept,
since it contains a promise to bring public admin-
istration and public services – and politics for that
matter – “closer to the citizens.” The other side of
this coin is accountability. Governance incorpo-
rated with decentralization of political authority
make politicians and top management at public
administration more visible and thus more
accountable (Bourgon 2011). Governance thus
links with the concept of accountability and thus
sheds light to the accountability processes at pub-
lic service systems level and especially to the
trajectories, differences, and anomalies of vertical
and horizontal accountability dimensions (e.g.,
Schillemans 2011).
From the above discussion, it is clear that all
definitions are closely related and mutually
reinforcing. Despite narrow differences in its
meanings, the proponents of governance empha-
size three important issues. These are decentrali-
zation, a people-oriented governance system, and
enhancement of people’s participation through
networking governance. Therefore, it can be said
that as a system, governance is rarely static and it
should be politically neutral, locally reliable, and
contextually acceptable. The outcomes of gover-
nance cannot be assessed by its theoretical aspects
and romantic assumptions only. As Ahrens (2002,
cited in Jreisat 2004 and Archibugi et al. 1998)
points out, there is no evidence that either demo-
cratic or nondemocratic states are better suited to
initiate and consolidate policy reforms effectively
and to promote sustained economic development.
The outcomes of governance in any country have
to be considered by its results. Good performance
is inescapably related to satisfaction of criteria
such as the participation of people in decisions
affecting them, the capacity to aggregate and
coordinate various interests in order to bring
about consensus on policies, and managing of
institutions and regime structures with efficiency,
accountability, and transparency (Jreisat 2004).
In this entry, we have measured the term gov-
ernance based on the above statement. In addition,
from a broader perspective, it is considered as a
continuous process of the state: a participatory
6 Governance Theories and Models
form of governance whose existence and effec-
tiveness depend on how it perceives the needs and
demands of the locality, promoting people’s par-
ticipation in the decision-making process and
decentralizing power to the local institutions.
The above is comparatively true because the
main concern of public administration is the coop-
erative group behavior of different actors of the
state (Simon et al. 1974).
The term “governance” has been topped with
extra ingredient in the research discourse of devel-
opment in developing countries by having the
term “good” added to it. “Good Governance”
entered the vocabulary of development adminis-
tration and international development cooperation
in the 1990s. Therefore, it is important to discuss
the term, since it has become an important policy
agenda of international aid agencies across the
developing world.
A Normative Dimension of Governance:
What Makes Governance Good?
In this section, we ask what makes governance
good. This question is highly appropriate since the
term “good governance” has apparently become a
strongly desired value (Zafarullah and Huque
2001), driving force of the time (Farazmand
2012) and an obsession of current development
debates in both developed and developing coun-
tries (Williams and Young 1994 cited from Jamil
1998a). It has become a common phenomenon in
the literature of international aid agencies as a
precondition for aid recipients during the last
three decades (Rhodes 1997). An overview of
the research literature provides various interpreta-
tions of the term.
As a concept, “good governance” does not
have a straightforward definition, though it has
been expanding rapidly in the discourse of devel-
opment (Vartola et al. 2010). In general, good
governance is associated with efficient and effec-
tive administration in a democratic framework. It
is equivalent to purposive and development-
oriented administration, which is committed to
improving the quality of life of the people and
enlarging the scope of people’s participation in the
decision-making process of development. In
short, it is a citizen-friendly, citizen-caring,
responsive, decentralized local government sys-
tem; an autonomous political society; an efficient
and accountable bureaucracy; strong civil society;
and a free media (Huque 2001; Minocha 1998;
Stowe 1992). Coproduction of services
in-between public service providers and service
users has been quite often noted as a relevant
newcomer, as an ingredient in the making of
good governance (e.g., Tuurnas 2016).
Conceptually speaking, according to the
Human Development Report of 2002, there is no
single answer to the question of what is good
governance. However, the factors that make insti-
tutions and rules more effective, such as transpar-
ency, participation, responsiveness,
accountability, and the rule of law, may be
regarded as the characteristics of good gover-
nance. The world leading aid institutions such as
the World Bank (1994, 1997), UNDP (1997,
2002), and the OECD (1995) have become the
great proponents and frequent users of this con-
cept, especially for the aid receiving countries, to
promote democracy, decentralization, account-
ability, transparency, rule of law, and people’s
participation in their development.
The World Bank (1997), for instance, from its
lending experience in many developing countries,
has realized that good governance is central in
creating and sustaining an environment, which
fosters strong and equitable development and its
essential complements to sound economic poli-
cies. The World Bank has also identified a number
of aspects of good governance, such as political
accountability, freedom of association and partic-
ipation, rule of law and independence of the judi-
ciary, bureaucratic accountability, freedom of
information, a sound administrative system, part-
nership between the government and the civil
society organizations, and the like (e.g., Blunt
1995). These aspects have been considered as
preconditions in ensuring good governance in
aid receiving countries. The OECD uses the
World Bank’s views of good governance and
defines it similarly.
The UNDP’s apprehension of good gover-
nance is more or less similar to that of the World
Governance Theories and Models
Bank. According to the UNDP (1997), good gov-
ernance means equal participation of all citizens in
decision-making. It is transparent, accountable,
and equitable, and it promotes the rule of law. It
allows the local people and the most affected to be
heard when decisions are being made and when
resources are handed out. In fact, unlike other aid
agencies, the UNDP emphasizes more on identi-
fying the basic characteristics of good gover-
nance. These characteristics include
participation, power decentralization, rule of law,
transparency, responsiveness, consensus orienta-
tion, equity, effectiveness and efficiency, account-
ability, strategic vision, and so on.
Although the UNDP has given the above char-
acteristics of good governance, it believes and
recommends that the societies should determine
which of the core characteristics are important to
them, considering their contemporary (both inter-
nal and external) socioeconomic and political sit-
uations. The UNDP (2002) further argues that
good governance advances sustainable develop-
ment for three reasons. Firstly, enjoying political
freedom and participating in the decisions that
shape one’s life are fundamental human rights.
Secondly, it helps to protect people from eco-
nomic and political catastrophes. And finally,
because it can promote sustainable development
by empowering citizens to influence policies that
promote growth and prosperity and reflect their
priorities (see, e.g., Hope 2005).
It needs to be pointed out from the above
discussion that the notion of good governance is
still developing in terms of its definition, its ethi-
cal connotations, and its usefulness (Kruiter
1996). In addition, critics suggest that the theory
of good governance is often used as a tool – just as
human rights and democracy – to gain advantage
politically rather than to genuinely help the peo-
ple. Farazmand (2013, p. 355) identified the defi-
ciencies of the concept of good governance from
two perspectives. For example, firstly, interaction
of only three forces or elements are considered to
constitute good governance – the interaction
among the state, civil society, and the private
sector. But the governance in developing coun-
tries is more influenced by global and regional
forces rather than domestic forces. Secondly, the
7
term “good governance” is heavily loaded by
normative values – what is good and what is bad
and for whom? – as defined by global power
politics. As a result, in order to meet and manage
the challenges of globalization, Farazmand (2013,
p. 350) proposes the concept of “sound gover-
nance” in the place of “good governan-
ce.”According to him (2013, p. 356) sound
governance means more than the term govern-
ment and governing and good governance.
Sound governance includes the state as an
enabling institution, the constitutional framework,
the civil society, the private sector, the engaged
citizens, and the international/global institutional
structure within limits. He further argues that it is
“inclusive and promotes participation and interac-
tion in an increasingly complex, diverse, and
dynamic national and international environment
(ibid).”
Therefore, the meaning of good governance
cannot be confined in a timeframe. Cultural
heritage, traditional values, environmental
realities, political culture, and economic structure
have to be taken into account in defining and
determining characteristics of good governance
(Asaduzzaman 2011).
The Plethora of Governance Theories
and Models
We think it is evident that the term “governance”
is still far from mature in the domain of public
administration. During the last three decades, it
has been under growing debate as a theory and
practice among the scholars, practitioners, and
especially within the framework of international
aid agencies, and this is because of the concept’s
dynamic, culture-bound, and time-related nature.
We have also found out – echoing Jessop’s (1995)
argumentation – that the academic literature on
governance is very diverse and incoherent. As a
result, its theoretical roots are various such as
institutional economics, international relations,
organizational studies, development studies,
political science, public administration, and
Foucauldian-inspired theorists. In this section,
we highlight the conceptual insights with regard
8 Governance Theories and Models
to governance as a “model” from four
perspectives – that of Stoker (1998), Mintzberg
(1996), Peters (2001), and Heady (2001).
Analyzing and criticizing the role of traditional
public administration, Stoker (1998) discussed the
theory of governance under five broad proposi-
tions, which are complementary rather than con-
tradictory. These five propositions are:
1. Governance refers to a set of institutions and
actors that occupy government bodies and
“beyond” – that is, they are also from the
private and the third sector.
2. Governance identifies the blurring of bound-
aries and responsibilities for tackling social
and economic issues.
3. Governance identifies the power dependence
involved in the relationships between institu-
tions involved in collective actions.
4. Governance is about autonomous self-
governing networks of actors.
5. Governance recognizes the capacity to get
things done which does not rest within the
power of government to command or use its
authority.
Stoker (ibid.) further argues that each proposi-
tion has associated with it a certain dilemma or
critical issues. They are:
1. There is a disparity between the complex real-
ity of decision-making associated with gover-
nance and the normative codes used to explain
and justify government.
2. The blurring of responsibilities can lead to
blame the avoidance or scapegoating.
3. Power dependence exacerbates the problem of
unintended consequences for government.
4. The emergence of self-governing networks
raises difficulties over accountability.
5. Even where government operates in a flexible
way to steer collective action, governance fail-
ure may occur.
These propositions provide a broader canvas to
the changing world of government and emphasize
on power decentralization, as well as on local self-
government and involvement of all sectors in the
governance process.
Henry Mintzberg, one of the leading manage-
ment scholars of the last century, has asked a very
appropriate question. If we acknowledge the
“blurry” conceptual starting point of “gover-
nance,” then we might ask, in order to shed light
to this conceptual confusion by asking, how
should governance be managed and led? In order
to give answer to this question, Mintzberg (1996,
pp. 80–82) critically discusses five models. They
are as follows: the government-as-machine
model, the government-as-network model, the
performance-control model, the virtual-
government model, and finally the normative-
control model.
1. The government-as-machine model:
According to this model, government is
viewed as a machine dominated by rules, reg-
ulations, and standards of all kinds. Although
this model gained popularity earlier in this
century, it lacked flexibility and responsive-
ness to individual initiatives.
2. The government-as-network model: This
model is contrary from the earlier one. This
model suggests government as an intertwined
system, a complex network of temporary rela-
tionships fashioned to work out problems as
they arise and linked by informal channels of
communication. It intends to connect, commu-
nicate, and collaborate. However, this model is
also holographic in that the parts function like
the whole: Individual projects function within
a web of interrelated projects.
3. The performance-control model: According
to this model government is more like busi-
ness. This model assumes that the overall orga-
nization consists of business units, which are
assigned performance targets for which their
managers are held accountable. On the other
hand, performance model decentralizes in
order to centralize; it loosens up in order to
tighten up. This comes at the expense of flex-
ibility, creativity, and individual initiative.
4. The virtual-government model: in order to
overcome the limitations of machine model
and provide better services to the people,
Governance Theories and Models
virtual government model intends to privatize,
contract, and negotiate. According to this
model, the microstructures would no longer
exist within government rather all that kind of
work would take place in the private sector.
5. The normative-control model: Compared to
other models, this model is more values and
norms oriented rather than structure and sys-
tems. This model has five important elements
such as: (1) Selection: people are chosen by
values and attitudes rather than just credentials;
(2) Socialization: this element ensures a mem-
bership dedicated to an integrated social sys-
tem; (3) Guidance: guidance is by accepted
principles rather than by imposed plans, by
visions rather than by targets; (4) Responsibil-
ity: all members share responsibility. They feel
trusted and supported by leaders who practice a
craft style of management that is rooted in
experience; and (5) Judgment: performance is
judged by experienced people, including recip-
ients of the service, some of whom sit on
representative oversight boards.
Our third “governance model” example is pro-
vided by Peters (2001), who has presented four
renowned models of governance in his scholarly
book, The Future of Governing. These models
are:
1. The market model, according to which the
private sector can provide better services than
the traditional public sector.
2. The participatory state model, which is differ-
ent from the market model as it puts more
emphasis on greater individual and collective
participation by segments of government orga-
nizations that have been commonly excluded
from decision-making.
3. The flexible government model, according to
which the government should be contextual
and flexible. In order to face environmental
challenges and changes, and to meet the peo-
ple’s demands, appropriate and suitable poli-
cies should be made by the government.
4. The deregulated government model, which
focuses on less bureaucratic control, more
managerial freedom, and recommendation
9
based on societal needs and collective
decision-making.
Peters’ models of governance have paved the
way for viewing governance from broader per-
spectives. For instance, Farazmand (2012,
p. 227) has claimed that although each Peters’
model has significant structural, managerial, pol-
icy making, and public interest implications dis-
tinct from others, it overlaps on many features.
Finally, we turn to Heady (2001), who
recognizes – as a leading theorist of comparative
public administration – three theories of gover-
nance. Heady’s approach is rather different than
that of Stroker, Mintzberg, and Peters, because
Heady focuses more on theories which help to
understand “governance” as a phenomenon rather
than building a typology – as Stoker, Minzberg,
and Peters have done – of variations of power
structures and institutional settings that embody
governance policies and actions. Heady (ibid.)
underlines the usefulness of three theoretical
approaches which are deployable when assessing
the role and nature of governance. They are as
follows:
1. Organizational theory: this is a finely ordered
system of superordination and subordination,
in which higher offices supervise lower ones.
In fact, this theory grounds heavily on the Max
Weber’s concept of rationality and bureau-
cracy. During the twentieth century, organiza-
tional theory evolved and multiplied to the
extent that from the current perspective the
notion of one single organizational theory
would be a huge oversimplification.
2. Cultural theory: this theory is associated with
the Rigg’s theory of Prismatic Society.
According to Heady, Rigg’s theory of Pris-
matic Society is the most notable single contri-
bution in comparative public administration.
Cultural theory is a particularly prominent
approach to scrutinize semifeudalistic system
of government. This theory is also influenced
by the work of Parsons (1951), who described
a “traditional way of life” as including ethno-
centricity; primordial rather than functional
associations; the sanctification of customs,
10
beliefs, and practices; the discouragement of
individualism; an emphasis on authority by
birth rather than merit; customary rather than
contractual relations; supematuralism; the
unwillingness to accept personal responsibility
for development; and social rather than legal
sanctions. “Until people (particularly leaders)
can escape a traditional way of life, they cannot
substantially improve governance and living
conditions” (in Werlin 2003, p. 331).
3. Structural-functional theory: this theory
argues that the success of political systems in
maintaining political support depends on polit-
ical structures’ capacity to perform various
functions, including interest articulation, inter-
est aggregation, rule making, rule application,
rule adjudication, and communication.
Assessing and criticizing Heady’s perspective
on governance, Werlin (2003) highlights gover-
nance from a different viewpoint and proposes his
own theory, which is known as the “political elas-
ticity theory of governance.” According to Werlin,
this theory attempts not only to reduce the confu-
sion and tension of public administration but also
to link comparative administration to comparative
politics and development studies (Werlin 2003).
He emphasized governance as an integrated sys-
tem between the soft form and the hard form of
political power and decentralization of power by
various methods that affect the behavior of wider
circles of citizens, participants, and subordinates.
We understand from the above that the theories
of governance have been prescribed by the vari-
ous academics and aid agencies from various per-
spectives. Therefore, it is difficult to find a single
ideal model of governance for all seasons, appli-
cable to all nations and communities across the
world (Farazmand 2013, p. 361). It is important to
keep in mind that the condition of any develop-
ment model may remain unrealized given the
social economic, political, and cultural complex-
ities of a particular society. The main challenges
which arise from both the academic and aid agen-
cies’ models of governance is applicability in the
cases of developing countries, where socioeco-
nomic and political features are complex (Haque
2011, p. 62). Farazmand (2013, p. 361) highlights
Governance Theories and Models
that “local regional and cultural distinctiveness
demands application of governance models that
are suitable to local conditions.” For example,
South Asia has a long colonial history and its
administration has therefore been heavily
influenced by the colonial rule. As a result, the
administrative and political systems of South Asia
are incompatible with its indigenous social, eco-
nomic, political, and cultural contexts (Vartola
et al. 2010, p. 7, Haque 1996).
Conclusion
The dynamic nature of society is one of the rea-
sons why the concept of “governance” has
remained blurry. If the context is constantly evolv-
ing and radically changing – global economy,
institutional changes, military status quo, global
trade agreements, societal values, and so on – no
wonder if the theories and models of governance
constantly shape their contents. For instance, the
complexity of society has evolved as a huge topic
within management, political, and social sciences
(to name only few branches of science) but very
little is actually known what actually constitutes
this complexity, how public policies deal with the
complexity issue, and how does the domain of
governance fit into this picture. We feel that the
problem of existing public policy evaluation par-
adigms and program evaluation models in partic-
ular is that they do not fit in with the current
societal challenges, the emergent nexus problems,
and the explicated models and theories for gover-
nance. Therefore, it is easy to foresee that the
academic as well as the practical discussion
around the concept of governance will continue
as a polyphonic exercise.
However, despite interpretational and contex-
tual differences, the above discussed theories and
models of governance are closely related, as they
focus on a more people-oriented, integrated, and
decentralized local governance system as well as
global-level managing of networks. However, it is
quite difficult to judge which theory would
guarantee:
• Development and sustainable development
Governance Theories and Models
• Poverty eradication
• Reducing/combating corruption
• Promotion of people’s participation in
development
• Decentralization and innovative/democratic
local governance
• Democratic governance or good governance
According to White and Killick (2001), there is
no accepted theory of poverty that establishes a
hierarchy of causes, nor is there any widely
adopted model that might serve the same purpose
(cited from Werlin 2003). Jamil Jreisat (2004,
p. 1006) more precisely states that for any national
governance system to succeed in an increasingly
interconnected, rapidly changing world, it needs
to develop a governance system based on a learn-
ing and decision-making process, in order to be
able to grow and adapt to citizens’ expectations,
as well as to operate effectively across shifting
boundaries. He further argues that in fostering
reform activities, public institutions must rely on
their own internal learning process, while
adapting to international standards and practices
(Jreisat 2004, p. 1006). Farazmand (2002) very
succinctly expresses this idea as “thinking glob-
ally and acting locally.”
Research implications of this study are thus
various. They are listed in detail as follows:
• The built-in flexibility and agility of the “gov-
ernance concept” taking into account
(a) political-cultural hierarchies in-between
policy regimes and systems as well as
(b) vertically disperse governance and man-
agement levels of public administration at
local, regional, national, and transnational
levels
• The role of governance “applications” at dif-
ferent levels of government taking place at
various organizational settings and public ser-
vice spaces taking into account the role of
combining theoretical, conceptual, and empir-
ical research agendas
• The leadership paradigms and power structure
hierarchies vis-á-vis network-based institu-
tional settings within the domain of
11
governance as well as the resilience of gover-
nance policies in the current era of complex
nexus problems and severe systemic gover-
nance challenges (such as the Internet
of Things, technology, digitalization, and
robotics) (Virtanen and Kaivo-oja 2015).
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