DailyPost 166
GOVERNANCE AS AN ACADEMIC DISCIPLINE
The present academic disciplines of Political Science, Public Administration, Management at the one end and some adhoc courses and certifications programs at the other end in governance have not been able to do justice, to the whole gamut of governance focused necessary education, training & research, which is the core for propelling our country’s to the next level; a professional one with the ideal mix of academic regimen and the practitioners competence.
Management as a discipline developed in a similar manner and later developed into a full fledged, doing yeomen service to mainly businesses and industry though it started with the concept of managed institutions as enunciated by the father of modern management Peter Drucker. Though efforts have been made to make the best out of the present management thought & practices, yet it has not delivered tangible results. The gaps are too glaring, bridging it by this methodology does not seem probable.
Governance as a discipline would be the glue to all existing thought and practices and can be termed as the software to the already in place hardware by way of laws / policies / projects and also the Human Resources. It will provide the wherewithal for the governmental machinery and mechanisms to work in a seamless manner, which is a must for project delivery, program implementation & services delivery. It would provide its own standards, validation and correctional mechanism, a necessity in the present day real time and dynamic governance.
Governance as an academic discipline would create an awareness about this field which every citizen ought to know on account of lifelong interface with governance. It would also throw up mechanisms of interface between the academia & the governance mechanism and can also be used as an excellent tool for research & development in this area in facilitating our goal of good governance.
GOVERNANCE AS A DISCIPLINE CAN BE THE DRIVER FOR GOOD GOVERNANCE
Sanjay Sahay