How should we govern ourselves?
Whenever an institution is set up to oversee the activities of a group, the issue of governance arises. This may concern the running of a firm (corporate governance), a neighbourhood or city (local governance), a country (national governance), or an international body (global governance). In all these cases, a good grasp of the key elements of effective governance would appear to be a prerequisite for anyone involved – not just for those tasked with the overseeing, but everyone affected so they understand what should or should not be changed.
Unless people learn enough about governance, they are unlikely to develop an informed interest in, let alone the capability to question how management decisions are structured by their employer, how policies are set by organisations they rely on (e.g., schools, shops, hospitals, care homes), how their political representatives are chosen, or how power is distributed by their country’s constitution.
