Qualifying Governance towards a New Development Consensus:

The Imperative of Accountability, Transparency, Participation and Inclusion

Abstract

Economic and political reforms of the 80s and 90s in developing countries were predicated on the crisis in the political economy of largely Latin America, Africa, and Asia to reverse the evisceration of state led capitalism that was characterized by inefficiencies. The evolution of the new development consensus for governance therefore targeted economic growth through the imperatives of accountability, transparency, participation and inclusion. Qualitative content analysis was used as a methodological approach to generate and analyze data from documentary evidence. It has been established that democratic practices have since the turn of the twentieth century evolved into principles as the corner stones of governance where democratic governments are necessarily required to incorporate accountability, transparency, participation and inclusion into all facets of governance. Elections have also been accepted as a mechanism for legitimation of democratic government that can propel governance to deliver public goods. For democratic governments to achieve meaningful governance, effective citizen voice and accountability as measures of empowerment are critical to be leveraged on access to information about decisions on public affairs by the electorate. The civil society must see to this for a development consensus to have effective impact on the delivery of governance