Introduction

Governance and institutions have been among the focal themes of planning for the post-2015 global agenda. The High Level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda named building “peace and effective, open and accountable institutions for all” as one of “five big, transformative shifts” that its members saw as necessary for a new global development agenda (United Nations, 2013). The Secretary- General's report on the post-2015 agenda laid out six “essential elements” for integrating the numerous potential goals and targets: dignity (ending poverty and fighting inequalities); people (human development); prosperity (economic development); planet (environmental protection and climate change); partnership (global solidarity); and justice (promoting “safe and peaceful societies, and strong institutions”; United Nations, 2014b, italics mine). Thus, in contrast with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the quality of governance and institutions is given a prominent place on the new global agenda.

The focus on governance comes from two different perspectives. Some assessments of performance on the existing goals have blamed poor governance when results were disappointing, suggesting that improving governance is essential for making further progress (or sustaining progress) in areas such as poverty reduction, health, education, and water and sanitation. This view, then, sees governance and institutions as necessary means to get results on other development goals. Another perspective is that “good governance,” especially components such as participation, transparency, inclusiveness, and access to justice, is a part of development itself; thus, good governance is seen as a development goal to be pursued for its own sake, not just as a means to enable economic development. Both perspectives are reflected in the United Nations (UN) statements on the post-2015 agenda.

Setting goals and targets for governance and institutions is difficult, and there are many problems and challenges associated with doing so. Whereas there is broad agreement that “good governance” (however that is defined) is preferable to poor governance, there is considerable disagreement over whether establishing specific goals and targets will lead to meaningful improvements in governance. If the motivation is based on the argument that governance is necessary to reach other goals, what do we actually know about the relationship between governance and development? If improving governance is important – whether as ends or means – is including it in the development goals likely to elicit the desired improvements? Setting targets implies being able to measure progress. Can we do that?