Good governance continues to be central concern in Public Administration. Since the
term first came to the fore about 25 years ago, it has developed and become ever
more inclusive - to the level of steering of societal developments. It has also become,
sometimes controversially, a driver in international cooperation. Originally, it was seen a
kind of surrogate for government. It was – according to the scholars of that time – the
recognition of the limits of government in the sense that society cannot be hierarchically
steered or controlled. The steering of development involved societal actors and had to
be accomplished through networks in which hierarchy hardly played a role. It is only
recently that the role of government and the creation of good institutions by government
are deemed important again. The concept of good governance among academicians has
evolved likewise and nowadays stresses process and the normative framework of actions
by public institutions, such as the degree of voice and accountability, the absence of
violence, rule of law, regulatory quality, transparency and control of corruption. However,
we as citizens, academics, civil servants, consultants etc. are not just affected by how the
public sector and related institutions do things, but also and crucially by what all those
institutions related to the public sector are actually doing. In this respect, in too many
countries, something has gone terribly wrong. All over the world, an increasing number of
people seem to be angry about and distrustful of public institutions for what they are doing
and the negative effects thereof.
Thus, the question arises as to whether the emphasis on characteristics of the process
(how things are done), is still the most important, or whether we should shift our attention
to “what is actually done and what the effects thereof are”. If that is the case, the 2014
IASIA Conference in Port Elizabeth can perhaps suggest standards to judge the quality
of the outcomes of public decision-making. If the criteria for good governance are to
be adapted, this could also have consequences for capacity building and training and
education. As these are key foci of IASIA, special attention to these points will be given.
In its plenary sessions, the 2014 Conference will focus on this crucial issue and IASIA
invites papers presented in the working groups also to address this issue through case
studies, comparative research and theoretical reflections. The subtitle suggests that we
welcome views of students and scholars as well as of practitioners on the state of the art
or science in their respective domains.
The nine permanent working groups of IASIA:
I: Education and Training Programme: aligning missions and quality
II: Public Sector Ethics
III: Public Sector Reform
IV: Local Governance and Development
V: Accountability, Culture and Trust
VI: Public Sector Management
VII: Leadership, Governance and Public Policy
VIII: Management of Energy, Environment, Food Security and Welfare
IX: Diversity and Gender in the Public Service