Democracy and good governance –not obvious partners

Abstract

This paper tries to answer a question that has been haunting historians, policy leaders, NGO activists, and academics for decades: "What is the relationship between governance and democracy?". The answer, though striking, is quite simple: there is no relationship between governance and democracy. A state might have democracy or not and it might have good governance or not, however, the probabilities of a state having one is independent from the probability of it having the other. This paper is structured in the following manner. First, a description of the concepts used is presented. What do we mean when we say a state is democratic? Similarly, how can we decide if a country has good or bad governance? Second, a literature review on the relationship between good governance and democracy follows, before the best arguments are chosen and supported by relevant examples. Lastly, an overall conclusion is enunciated and its wide implications discussed.