I NTRODUCTION : o What is Governance and what is (or what should be) its purpose? “the exercise of economic, political and administrative authority to manage a country’s affairs at all levels”. - UNDP, Governance for Sustainable Human Development – A UNDP Policy Document, New York, 1997 “the method through which power is exercised in the management of a country’s political, economic and social resources for development”. - World Bank, Governance, Washington DC, 1993

The Social Contract Theory Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau maintained that: “... all men are made by nature to be equals, therefore no one has a natural right to govern others, and therefore the only justified authority is the authority that is generated out of agreements or covenants”. - Celeste Friend, “Social Contract Theory” IEP “Where-ever law ends, tyranny begins” - John Locke, Second Treatise of Government, 1690, § 202. o Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948, Preamble, para.3. “... it is essential if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human right should be protected by the rule of law.”

o 3 Main Functions of Government: 1. Conduct public affairs 2. Manage public resources 3. Respect fundamental human rights and freedoms o 2 Main Processes of Governance: 1. Decision-making process 2. Decision-implementation process. o 3 Key Organs of Governance 1. The Executive 2. The Legislature 3. The Judiciary

o The Rule of Law “Absolute arbitrary power and governing without settled standing laws are both inconsistent with the purposes of society and government. Men wouldn’t quit the freedom of the state of nature for a governed society, and tie themselves up under it, if it weren’t to preserve their lives, liberties and fortunes with help from stated rules of right and property. It can’t be thought that they should intend to give to anyone an absolute arbitrary power over their persons and estates, and strengthen the law-officer’s hand so that he could do anything he liked with them therefore, whatever the form of the commonwealth, its ruling power ought to govern by laws that have been published and taken in, and not by spur-of-the-moment dictates and frivolous decisions.... This achieves two things. (1) The people know their duty, and are safe and secure within the limits of the law. (2) The rulers are kept within their bounds, and are not tempted by their power to misuse it, using it for purposes and by means that they don’t want the public to know and wouldn’t willingly own up to” - John Locke, Second Treatise of Government, 1690, § 137. “The ideal of ‘the rule of law, not of men’ calls upon us to strive to ensure that our law itself will rule (govern) us, not the wishes of powerful individuals. According to this traditional ideal, government must be by ‘settled, standing Laws’ not by ‘Absolute Arbitrary Power’”. - M.J. Radin, “Reconsidering the Rule of Law” (1989) 69 Boston University Law Review, No.4, p.781.

o Main Elements of the Rule of Law 1. Instrumental or Procedural Element - The rule of doing things with rules 2. Substantive Element - The rule of law as a law of fair and reasonable rules. o Fundamental Characteristics of the Rule of Law (Dicey) 1. Supremacy of the Law 2. Equality of All before the Law 3. Constitutionalism

o Constitutionalism 1.Government does not derive its power from itself but from a set of laws 2.The laws give the government certain powers and also limits those powers 3.Government must preserve human rights, individual freedoms and liberties 4.Institutionalised mechanisms of power control for the protection of the interests and liberties of the citizenry. o Human Rights 1. Intrinsic value for good governance 2. Instrumental value for good governance  Categorisation 1.Civil and Political Rights 2.Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 3.Right to Development

o Possible Flaws to the Rule of Law (O’Donnell) 1. Flaws in existing law 2. Flaws in the application of the law 3. Flaws in relations between state organs and citizens 4. Flaws in access to justice and to due process 5. Flaws due to lawlessness 6. Any more ???

Conclusion “Although control of executive power is at the core of the value and meaning of the rule of law, the meaning of the rule of law involves more than just the control of arbitrary governmental power. The rule of law maintains that no one is above the dictates of the law and no one is below or outside the protection of the law. Under the rule of law, executive power is under justice and thus it is obedient to the law. While being subject to law and justice, executive power is also its protector”. - A. H. Garrison, “The Rule of Law and the Rise of Control of Executive Power” (2014) 18 Texas Review of Law and Politics, No.2, pp , at 351.