Nosael S.

Manisan

220372

Topic 1: Is good governance realistic? Why or why not?

Good Governance Is Nonexistent

Should good governance exist? Above anything else, have you ever wondered why
good governance even exists in the first place? Aren’t governance supposed to be inherently
good? We are so conditioned to having poor governance that we put good governance on a
pedestal when in reality, governance should all be good.

What exactly is governance and good governance? Broadly defined, "governance"

refers to the processes of decision-making and implementation. Corporate governance,
international governance, state governance, and provincial governance are all examples of
governance. On the other hand, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia
and the Pacific tells us that good governance has eight major characteristics: participatory,
consensus oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and
inclusive and follows the rule of law. It ensures that corruption is reduced, the problems of the
minorities are addressed, and the voices of society's most marginalized are represented in
decision-making. Essentially this tells us that good governance is an empathetic version of
governance alone.

We now go down to the question, ‘is good governance realistic?’ What is realistic? Does
something become realistic once it is seen? Does something become realistic just by existing?
By definition, realistic means possessing or displaying a reasonable and practical sense of what
may be accomplished or anticipated. We now understand that realistic means that something
has to be practical. Something becomes realistic if it has the possibility of being achieved in the
status quo. Now, is good governance realistic? Certainly not. Not in the Philippines and not in
any other country. Good governance is not realistic because of three reasons. One, corruption
is a systematic problem that is yet to be solved. Two, the narrative of politics for people on the
ground is too damaged. And lastly, good governance is nonexistent.

Before I talk about my stance, let us first acknowledge the counterarguments present in
this issue. What makes good governance realistic? Absent the technicality, good governance is
having a better quality of life in a certain country. Good governance looks like no violation of
human rights. If the rights of the people are respected and no violations are committed against
them, we understand that the officials governing these constituents are good and that they
laude the most basic thing a government should do to its people. Good governance looks like
reduced crime rates. In the 2022 adaptation of Darna, Regina whose role is played by Janella
Salvador said in the series that, “Ang ating siyudad ay pugad ng mga kriminal dala ng
kahirapan. Bunga ito ng kurapsyon ng mga nasa matataas na posisyon. Sila ang tunay na
kriminal.” Crimes committed by the poor are rooted in poverty and corruption. If crime rates are
reduced, we also understand that poverty is minimized and corruption within government
officials is decreased. These three linking problems, when solved, show good governance
essentially because it offers a more quality life to people within a certain country. Another trait of
good governance is proper access to education. Does it not anger you that the youth have to
work hard to access a basic human right which is education? Students are subjected to a very
high competitive environment within public institutions and underprivileged do not have the
liberty to access private ones. Scholarships are not centralized to students who financially need
it and middle class students cannot ask for financial assistance because they are not poor
enough to be granted one but also not rich enough to pay full tuition. The system of education
needs a reform that makes education accessible for all individuals that it’s only by choice to
refuse education. Another trait is better healthcare facilities having healthcare workers properly
compensated for their hard work and people having access to health care despite their social
status. And the list just goes on. These are all achievable under two simple conditions: (1) good
government officials, and (2) people’s trust within politics.

Before we talk about how good governance is not realistic, we engage in a what if
analysis and acknowledge the idea upon how good governance is realistic. Like the
aforementioned, good governance is realistic under two conditions. One is good government
officials and the other is the people's trust in politics. Good government officials look like men
doing the bare minimum. Essentially, if you are a government official, you ought to be in the
service of the state and its people. However in the status quo, corrupt and incompetent
governement officials are so high in ratio of competent and decent officials that we put the latter
on a high pedestal just because they are rare. Having good government officials means people
on the ground are represented and heard. This will then do its domino effect to provide a better
standard of life for minorities and lift up the economic value of a state. Without corrupt
government officials, poverty will be reduced and violations against human rights will be
lessened. People will be more compliant and disciplined if they are provided with opportunities
the government is supposed to provide for them. The other condition to good governance is the
narrative of people on politics. Oftentimes we are given bad politicians that taint the reputation
of politics itself. Politics has always been dirty in the eyes of the people because they are
conditioned to be seen that way. Regardless of that, people turn a blind eye and are used to it
because for so many years nothing has ever changed in the system of politics. Politics was
never seen in a good light that people reject the idea of having decent politicians work in office.
This is a systematic problem because for as long as people do not hope for a better government
and continue to settle for a bad office, nothing in politics will change and decent politicians will
always be painted as bad because that is the narrative that majority of the people accept and is
normalized to do so. This is a condition to good governance because only then can we achieve
it if people on the ground agree to demand for transparency, competence, and accountability.
Only then will they start to ask for good governance rather than just settle for a lesser evil kind
of governance.

Let us now talk about why essentially I stand with the statement, “good governance is
not realistic.” First of all, corruption is a systematic problem that is yet to be solved. Corruption is
defined as the misuse of a valued authority in one of the branches of government (executive,
legislative, or judicial) or in political or other organizations in order to achieve material profit that
is not legally justified for themselves or others. This basically tells us how officials tend to abuse
their power for personal gain regardless if it will badly affect the people on the ground. They do
not care about the people. This hinders good governance to be realistic because corruption
essentially makes it hard for people to live a decent life because their needs are not met by the
government. Criminals will continue to commit crimes due to poverty and it will ripple down to
the rise of criminal rates and people will constantly feel unsafe and the cycle will just continue.
Secondly, the narrative of politics for people on the ground is too damaged. People have grown
so accustomed to crooked leaders that they no longer perceive the good in genuine politicians.
They have been starved of excellent politicians to the point that they will only embrace the
lesser evil. People have grown so accustomed to crooked leaders that they no longer perceive
the good in genuine politicians. They have been starved of excellent politicians to the point that
they will only embrace the lesser evil. This is an issue because the concept of politics is bad in
and of itself, and if this story becomes accepted, people will forget that we should not have to
accept a system that only provides us the option of bad and worse bad. People's willingness to
suffer is so strong that they reject the idea of good politicians, such as Leody de Guzman and
Leni Robredo, initiating a difference and pushing for appropriate and decent government. As
long as the people do not see the need to push for a systematic reform within the government,
this will continue to stay as a problem and obstruct good governance. Lastly, good governance
is nonexistent. This is an argument both on technicality and reality. On technicality, “good”
governance should be nonexistent because on a bare minimum, all governance should be
good. In reality, good governance is nonexistent because in ratio, bad governance is higher.
Therefore, even if good governance can exist, it is not realistic mainly because people are still
oppressed and deprived of assistance for a quality life.

To recapitulate, while we cannot reject the reality of good governance, we cannot ignore
the atrocities underlying society that prevent us from obtaining a better state. I hope that in the
future, a generation of individuals overcomes the misguided majority and prove this viewpoint
false. But for now, the case stands and good governance is not realistic.

REFERENCES

Bolledo, J. (2021, October 23). Ka Leody-Bello platform: Higher wages, billionaire’s tax, mass

murderers behind bars. Retrieved from Rappler:

https://www.rappler.com/nation/elections/ka-leody-de-guzman-walden-bello-tandem-
plans-economy-politics-social-development-elections-2022/

Chetwynd, E. e. (2003, January ). Corruption and Poverty: A Review of Recent Literature.

Retrieved from

https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/Pnacw645.pdf

Šumah, Š. ( 2018, February 21). Corruption, Causes and Consequences. Retrieved from

IntechOpen - Open Science Open Minds:

https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/58969

What is Good Governance? (n.d.). Retrieved from United Nations Economic and Social

Commission for Asia and the Pacific:

https://www.unescap.org/sites/default/files/good-governance.pdf