Towards the proposal of a managerial definition of the concept of good public governance

Abstract

The importance of the subject of good public governance lies in its great usefulness for the establishment of an efficient system allowing the proper deployment of public policies, the achievement of expected objectives and, consequently, improving the living conditions of citizens. Drawing on multiple disciplines, good governance is treated from different points of view based on various research fields relating to economics, social sciences, law, politics, etc. In this article, we treat good governance in the public sector from a managerial point of view relating to management sciences. Our objective in this article is to propose a definition of good public governance that highlights its managerial aspects essential to its deployment on the ground. Since there is no consensus on the definition of good public governance, we seek to contribute to elucidating this concept by proposing a managerial definition.

In terms of methodology, this article is presented in the form of a scoping review conducted through the production of a breve synthesis of the evolution of public governance over time. This article presents a literature review on definitions of public governance while aiming to clarify this concept in the literature and identify the key characteristics and factors related to public governance in order to suggest a managerial definition of this concept. To this end, we try to put forward a historical overview of governance, then present the fundamental concepts of governance, draw up a state of the art that highlights different definitions issued by both international organizations and researchers, before proposing a definition of good public governance that further emphasizes its managerial aspect. Thus, we try to process the different definitions, classify and analyze them in order to detect the different managerial characteristics of good public governance and to highlight the managerial properties that relate to good governance and which bring added value in achieving good governance, particularly in the public sector.

Keywords: Governance; good governance; public governance; management; public management; public sector.

Classification JEL:  H00, O16.

Paper type: Theoretical Research.