Good Governance in Sri Lanka Challenges and Prospects A Case of Navithanveli Predhesiya Shaba

Abstract

Good governance has become a serious concern in developing countries. In SriLanka, a number of initiatives have been introduced to build good governance in localgovernment level. Some provincial governments have passed regulations that supportthe local government to build good governance. It is expected that this will facilitatecitizens‟ involvement in the public policy processes. This paper examines the level ofgood governance and discusses the initiatives taken by Navithanveli Predhesiya Shaba,to build good governance. Further to identify the challenges and future prospects inbuilding good governance in the institution. This study is a critical one based oninterpretative analysis which has used quantitative and qualitative data. The statedpurpose is examined by studying both primary and secondary materials. The primarydata has been collected through key informants by interviews and focus groupdiscussion. Four persons have been interviewed as key informants and five focus groupshave been discussed. The Secondary data has been collected from books, officialdocuments, reports, journals and news paper articles. The major finding of the study isthat the above institution is ineffective in building good governance due to thechallenges which have been faced by the institution owing to various reasons includinglack of knowledge of good governance, desperate and frustration of involving inpolitical activities of the people, etc.

Key words: Good governance, Local government, Political participation