Building Sustainability:

Governance, Economic Development, and Peace

Government and Governance

Government – the official organization that has the power to make and enforce laws in a particular region. An entity

Governance – the exercise of authority in a region’s economic, political, and administrative affairs. A process

Good Governance

Democracy – where the people have a say in their government’s affairs and actions

Involvement – all three parts of governance get involved State (government) Civic organizations (the people) Private Sector (business)

Responsiveness – All three parts acknowledging and responding to each others’ needs

Ineffective Governance

There can be many sources ineffective governance, but two major ones are:

Colonialism Former colonies have trouble making the

transition from colonial rule to democracies. They’ve often inherited many structural issues, leading to civil war and corrupted government officials.

Lack of Government Funds Without a reliable tax base, the income of a

government, it does not have the funds to pay for essential services such as water and sewer treatment, maintenance of roads, public education, health care, etc.

Impact of Ineffective Governance

Lack of Essential Services and Basic Needs As listed on the previous slide

Resource Depletion Without asking its citizens a corrupt government

can let businesses exploit the environment in unsustainable ways for short-term profits

Limited Government Oversight Corrupt businesses can take advantage of a lack of

government oversight and deplete the resources without permission

Human Rights Abuses The repression of people’s basic rights and

freedoms Conflict

Community violence due to a lack of police, and civil wars from militias trying to take control

International Governance

The United Nations Founded in 1945 to promote

international cooperation in an attempt to settle crisis peacefully, to prevent future wars.

They now focus on many global issues including the eradication of extreme hunger and poverty, promoting gender equality, combating disease, and ensuring environment sustainability.

Economy, Inequality and Poverty

There is a growing economic disparity between the rich and poor countries of the world. There is also disparity within the countries,

such as in the United States where the richest 10% of the population earned more than 30% of the national income, and the poorest 10% earned only 1.8% of the income.

Structural poverty is when the people don’t have an opportunity to get themselves out of poverty. They are never given the resources, and the cycle won’t break generation to generation.

Globalization

The integration of the countries of the world (usually connected to multinational corporations and business)

There are cases both for and against globalization: For: Free trade and economic freedom can

stimulate the economy of the developing nation, leading to more wealth and stability

Against: It can lead to businesses exploiting the local people and resources, as they can find both more cheaply in developing countries than in their own developed home countries.