Week 3

Good governance needs to be implemented on the federal, state, and local level in any governing system. Federal and state governing is not able to be as personal as local governing, but all three have their strengths and weaknesses. When I think about the strength of good governance, my first thought is local governments. Counties are very dependant on their local governments in regards to their relationship with the police, relationship with their voted in candidate, and general community atmosphere. Council meetings, or town hall meetings can exist in the community that point the area towards a certain direction, and they can perform essentially like a larger scale homeowners association for the community.

Taxes and efficient use of funds are all important factors in any type of good governance, and it was very interesting to have a distinction made between good governance and just governance. I think that out of all eight concepts listed in the reading that the most lacking in federal and local governments are their lack accountability and transparency. Open budgets, accountability from people that will help encourage anyone needing advice or help in a situation seem to not really be present in our federal government, but more present in our local government. This was a good article to read about this topic, but I think that the whole article can be summed up in a this paragraph in the article.

"Good governance means that processes and institutions produce results that meet the needs of society while making the best use of resources at their disposal. The concept of efficiency in the context of good governance also covers the sustainable use of natural resources and the protection of the

environment. "

I think that if all federal and local governments governed themselves by this paragraph they would be able to keep everything where they should be. 

UN ESCAP. (2009, July 10). What is Good Governance? Retrieved March 19, 2014, from           http://www.unescap.org/resources/what-good-governance