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The operationalization of governance reforms cannot be implemented as a blueprint or as a standardized package. Inherent in this stubborn fact is implicit recognition that providing a strong sense of direction to governance always requires a set of context-sensitive reforms that comply with the challenges of today and prepare for those of tomorrow. Otherwise said, the focus of these reforms goes well beyond the ability to describe the characteristics of well-functioning institutions and/or organizations.
What else? People’s expectations must find a voice within the policy- and decision-making processes. Consequently, citizens all over the world are becoming more vocal about governance as an integral part of how they go about their everyday lives.
In practical terms, the necessary reorientation of governance in a given country has to be based on sound scientific evidence and on rational management of uncertainty. This always requires delicate trade-offs and negotiation with multiple stakeholders that imply a stark departure from the linear, top-down and bottom-up models of the past.
For the most part, ultimately, I agree with the assumption that politics inevitably shapes the dynamics of governance reforms. However, I would go further to say that I invite comment on the following: That governance reforms are neither primarily defined by the component elements they address, nor merely by the choice of specific actions and interventions, but by the global dynamics that shapes societies and economies…

Doctor Michel ODIKA (Congo-Brazzaville)