6. Conclusions

for citizens is discussed. The last chapter of Part I concerns the theoretical position of good governance as a principle, a fundamental right, or a value.

The second part of the book further examines the individual elements of good governance, the principles of good governance. The six principles are discussed: properness, transparency, participation, effectiveness, accountability, and human rights. On a very abstract level these principles can be seen as six individual elements of the same general and abstract principle, on a more concrete level there are six distinct principles of law. In this second part, each chapter on good governance follows a comparable structure. This structure facilitates the comparison between the different principles and contributes to a better insight. The first point of interest is why a certain principle has been developed and what the underlying concept of the principle is. Then we look at the way each principle has taken on different forms in different countries. Then which institutions are involved in the development of the principles is outlined. The different sources of the principles are described as well. Whenever possible, concrete legislation and policy rules are brought into the discussion. Finally, how the controlling institution contributes to the further development of the principles of good governance is elaborated upon.

The third part deals with the application of the principles of good governance on a national level in the member states of the European Union but also in states of other continents in the world. In this part we give a description of the application region wise and country by country and according to the same structure. We start with Europe with a strong focus on the countries of the European Union. We give an explanation on the research questions, the normative framework, and the used methodology. Then we will give an overview of the results of the study by distinguishing the following regions of Europe: Northern, Western, Southern, Central, and the United Kingdom and Ireland. Similarly, we are doing it for three countries in other regions of the world: Australia, Canada, and South Africa.

6. Conclusions

In this introduction chapter, we started to position the concept of good governance in relation to the developments of a modern state. In the first phase of the development, the rule of law concept has been developed, in the second phase this concept has been deepened in relation to the concept of democracy. The third phase shows a deepening of the concepts of the rule of law and of democracy in relation to the concept of good governance. That process of deepening the concepts of the rule of law and of democracy takes place in close connection to the concept of good governance. We concluded that good governance can be seen as the third cornerstone of the modern democratic rule of law.

Principles of good governance can only be legal principles when they have been integrated in the legal system and there is legal effect of the application of these principles. That process takes place in three phases of the legal process: in the process of making regulation, the process of implementing regulation, and in the process of controlling and enforcing the regulation by the different controlling institutions. In each of these phases we see the legal consequences of the principles of good governance. These principles are norms which are used by the legislator, the administration, and the controlling institutions like the judiciary. The principles sometimes function as norms for the administration and in other situations as protecting norms for the citizens.

The protection of good governance principles has, in effect, already taken place in the context of human rights. These were mostly not recognized as principles of good governance but as the implementation of social, cultural, and political rights of citizens. We find these principles of good governance in different international human rights treaties and regulations. The conclusion is that the field of human rights already has operationalized the principles of good governance in regulations and in the human rights case law.

In a short description of the main developments of principles of good governance, we see already a broad scale of national, European, and international principles of good governance. In constitutions, laws, regulations, and policy rules we find these principles already specified. Also, from the European level there is a strong influence on the national level for the development of the principles of good governance. We concluded with the importance of the recommendations of the Council of Europe and the specification of principles of good governance on the European Union level. Finally, the international level is also an important source of principles of good governance.