The Cultural Dimensions of Governance

Abstract

Good governance cannot be based on precisely the same foundations in all societies. It must be based on the distinctive local culture and the unique history of “modern” state institutions. A careful study of both factors is a prerequisite to any investigation into the possibilities of making governance more effective. Investigations of cultural and governance questions may be complicated by the “moral pluralism” typical of many developing societies, particularly in Africa. Nonetheless, inquiry into the core ethical values of local cultures may help to relate matters of the state's accountability more closely to the locally predominant idea of “good.” This paper suggests five questions relating to the cultural and ethical dimensions of governance that may help in assessing such core values.

Cite this work

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 18 citations exist upstream.