For democratic governance

Governance is a variant of government of states, corporations and “public assets” that addresses globalisation. It is also a method, as described in this policy steering document.

Governance, however - a term initially translated into French as “management of public affairs” - is not an ideologically neutral concept. After having embodied a purely managerial vision of the economy, the notion of good governance has evolved, and has been inflected and enhanced through experience in the field. From a purely normative standard of “good governance”, this concept is growing into a rich compendium of practices serving democracy.

Democratic governance is a proposal for the renewal of French development cooperation policy. With this position we participate actively in the international debate that has followed the International Conference on Financing for Development (Monterrey, March 2002) and the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg, August 2002), which placed governance at the core of development strategies. We offer this steering document with a title that expresses our commitment, “For democratic governance”. This document will necessarily evolve, in its analyses and its proposals, notably in the light of future assessments. It affirms the general observation that as globalisation progresses, our policies must be adjusted in order to keep pace.

These adjustments must be conceived on the basis of the common values that we share with our partners in South countries, and which are proclaimed in the Cotonou agreement and in the Bamako Declaration. Our action must take its impetus from the ambition to promote these values and the concrete measures they imply.

To foster the process of rethinking and elaborating a new approach, the Foreign Affairs Ministry, through its General Directorate for International Cooperation and Development (DGCID), has consulted the actors involved in French development cooperation, to determine how we can contribute to a policy of governance serving development. Our partners in the countries of the South (political leaders, academics and researchers) have responded enthusiastically to our invitation to join in the task of renewing French development cooperation.

DGCID presented the work it has undertaken on this theme in different working groups, and sought observations and criticism from all its partners, at the roundtable discussion on governance that DGCID convened in March 2002, attended by representatives of multilateral institutions (World Bank, UNDP, OECD). Organisations representing civil society, notably the High Council for International Cooperation (HCCI) and academia were consulted, as well as African regional organisations, including the Municipal Development Programme (PDM) and the African Civil Services Observatory (OFPA).

Since that time, work has continued and progressed.  [1] Our South partners and our technical assistants have also been actively involved.

This steering document has incorporated all the views that address the new challenges facing international cooperation, namely the requirement that aid be effective, and the goal of human development. It inaugurates an empirical approach that espouses a process : our commitment to democratic governance. It was important that France draw up and elaborate its own approach to this concept which is henceforth a fundamental principle, unanimously recognised as an essential condition for development. With this in mind I would hereby like to thank to all those who kindly took part in this work and shared their contributions with us.

For democratic governance (PDF, 766.9 ko)