The Principle of “Good Governance”. The Experience of Business and Its Applications in Public Affairs
“The functioning of companies on the stock market imitates to a great extent that of a parliamentary democracy; it would be wise, in return, to use these companies’ experience in order to achieve democratic progress”. This is, in substance, Yves Cannac and Michel Godet’s argument, as they attempt to demonstrate in which ways the principles of ‘good governance’ developed for the sake of business could be applied in the field of public institutions.
The authors first explain the notion of ‘governance’ and show how it has increasingly taken hold in business, with the ultimate aim of increasing the shareholders’ trust in the managers they have chosen. They specify its prerequisites -responsibility, readability, transparency, coherence, efficacy and effectiveness- and underline its usefulness from the standpoint of democracy and the good functioning of organisations.
In spite of the obvious difference that public institutions must serve the interests of the people and not those of shareholders, the authors consider nonetheless that the same principles could be useful in the public sector which all too often suffers from an excess of opacity, inefficiency and ultimately, a lack of legitimacy.
This is why Yves Cannac and Michel Godet are intent on showing how the principles of good governance could be applied to national or international public institutions and particularly French institutions.
