Crisis of Good Governance in Pakistan: need for reforms and institution building.

A.Introduction:

All is well that ends well. Although it started as a hope on 14th August 1947, we still have time before it ends; the hope of people to be facilitated with basic necessities and a progressive future. Such an ending is only possible through good governance.

B. Establishing the crisis: a snapshot of current governance

1. The value of life: state of health sector and events like Drought in Thar and Flash floods in Punjab

2. Young population and massive unemployment

3. Inefficient judicial system

4. Insecurity from security agencies itself

C. The need for reform: stakes of continuing with the same

1. Democracy is in danger of losing confidence of the people

2. Extremist ideologies make space for demanding alternative system

3. Soft image of the country tarnished among coming of nations with reports of bad governance

4. Future generations suffer as current generation falls in social ills.

D. The way forward for reform

1. Good governance requires statistics: population census the need of the hour

2. National consensus on policy for any sector possible including health, education, food security and energy.

3. Policies lead to programs hence mechanism of inclusiveness for local population in these projects.

E. Drafters, approves and implementers of policies: The institutions and their capacity building

1. It takes two to make a quarrel. Hence both bureaucracy and lawmakers to be trained in aspects of good governance.

2. Inter - institutional interference to be checked through mechanisms of accountability.

3. Prescribed institutional limits and authorities should be continuously evolving to meet new challenges.

4. Mechanism to gauge institutional and individual performance with attractive rewards.

5. Strengthening and resourcing local governments.

F.Conclusion

The dire need for reforms exists with a need for considerable time to absorb and implement these reforms. The institutional building that will be the bearing fruit of these reforms will surely lead to efficiently governed country. The hopes of 1947 will surely turn to an unwavering reality.

Corruption?overall, i am impressed.

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The pessimist complains about the wind,the optimist expects it to change,the realist adjusts the sails.

Thank you for pointing out the missed point of corruption. Could you please suggest ways of eliminating corruption other than empowering national institutions of accountability and judiciary and evolving internal systems of accountability within the respective organisations themselves.

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It is a logical and well structured outline.In the intro,you may define good governance briefly.Also try to include the UN model on good governance in the essay.It has 8 basic characteristics.

Incentivise whistle blowing in departments.

Create public awareness on how not to be exploited by corrupt officers.

And long term planning should include demonizing corruption in text book.

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The pessimist complains about the wind,the optimist expects it to change,the realist adjusts the sails.

AbuTurab this is a good outline. It's different. Each and every single person will view or analyse it differently. People may agree or disagree with my viewpoint.

As I said the outline has points that are different. However, the intro talks about the end. The intro shouldn't talk about the end or conclusion. It should have the points you want to elaborate in the next pages or paragraphs. The first line of your essay and obviously the intro should be unique. The first para is of great significance since the examiner decides here what kind of an essayist is he going to evaluate now.

The outline shouldn't have long sentences. People might disagree to this! However, I strongly believe and practice the same, that an essay outline should have short and crisp statements than long sentences.

A little practice will make you perfect at the outline making art. This will also enable you to learn how to write unique headings for all other subjects... the art of clearing this exam is none other than being unique in your approachi towards all the papers and the way you attempt the same.

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It is not the ability but desire that creates success....!!

Firstly, thank you for your constructive criticism. Don't you think that opening the essay containing all that you are going to discuss is a very tasteless and clichéd way of starting an essay? I did try to set the tone of the essay by agreeing to the need of good governance(sort of a thesis statement) and gave an emotional reason, just to rouse the readers interest to read further which was purely technical.
This intro has helped me to connect with the conclusion as well where I finally discuss the outcome of good governance: the realization of the 'hope' that was discussed in the opening paragraph.

Is this approach right? Please opine and criticize because that's how I will learn.

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Thanks for taking the criticism positive and constructive.

Your intro is a glimpse of the direction you'll take your essay towards. You should not show all your cards in it surely.
As for your view of connecting your intro with conclusion is concerned, I have never read an essay where the end is alluded to in the beginning. It's a risk in my opinion! The same sentence can be written with some other collection or selection of words where the examiner doesn't take it wrong. I can just give an example...

'Good Governance is considered a sine qua non for a nation's progression towards economic and social development in the present era. In spite of worldwide fanfare of the trite, Pakistan has been unable to achieve laudable milestones in this regard...'

Again I'd say that picking out mistakes in essay and giving an opinion in this regard is a very tricky thing. Something that worked for me may or may not work for you. You may agree or disagree!

And yes your setting of the tone to the agreement that G.G. is critical to the achievement of progress is good.

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It is not the ability but desire that creates success....!!

"Pakistan is experiencing a critical phase of its existence" is the cliche doing the rounds on talk shows, drawing room discussions and even tea bars. What started as a hope of a better life and a new beginning on 14th August 1946 remains such- hope. All is well that ends well, they say, and we still have time to improve the system of governance that truly facilitates the people. A system which delivers the bare necessities of life and promises a good future for Pakistan.

Some may argue that this 'critical phase' is just a trumped up version to spread disillusion among the masses. However, a snapshot of the prevailing situation points the other way.

Governance was found in crisis during the continual droughts in Thar. Hundreds died without a cause. It was also lacking during the continuous flash floods in sind and Punjab. The first instance of floods can be excusable but the floods continue to appear every subsequent year and the administration is found lacking in planning, resources and ,therefore, execution.

This inherently points to the value of life the governance mechanism places on its beneficiaries. The state of government hospitals is an open secret where either doctors are on strike or not on duty. Where they are, they are under resources. Hence there is a crisis of governance that can be visit extended to all walks of life.

It's a pity that with a huge percentage of young population, Pakistan is not translating the numbers into accelerating it's growth rate. What rather results is massive unemployment and brain drain coupled with alarming rates of suicides.

As a religious man rightly said " A government of disbelievers can flourish but a government of injustice cannot". His religious inclinations aside, what we see is a disintegrating yet stalled society, partly due to an inefficient judicial system. It takes years to decide the simplest of cases, and that too with numerous hiccups of corruption and nepotism." Why pay the lawyer when you can buy the judge" is a dangerous notion that a crisis in governance has produced.
Let alone the judicial system, the law enforcement agencies fare no better. Regarded as the pillars of an efficient judiciary, the law enforcers still cling to the principle of colonial era: master not servants. It is this lack of professionalism that ironically makes ordinary citizens insecure amidst the security agencies themselves.

All of these snapshots are a blatant indication of our low standards in governance and public welfare. Even more alarming is the increasing decline in these standards, and it's not long before a state of emergency is reached whereby adhoc systems replace the failed institutions, and that too, "until further notice".

This scenario points to the stakes of continuing with the current system and feeling no need for reform. A trailer of ad hoc systems can be traced in the history of dictatorial rules in Pakistan. Though they were rejected by the populace in the long run, but their resurgence is what should be pertinent to note.Not once were dictators unwelcome, rather they were celebrated by the same general public. The locals want a system to deliver. Their constant turning in favor of dictatorship is what is at stake if the current system is not reformed.

Dictatorship can be seen as an ad hoc replacement for democracy but a bleak scenario awaits if this ad hoc system is other than dictatorship. Extremist ideologies gain ground in weak governance and service delivery systems. Adherents to these ideologies view all opposing forces as scavengers to the lands resources and hence, a reason for their social backwardness. Therefore, a demand for an all together system arises based on their concocted ideology creating confusion, anarchy and , possibly, civil war.

This tipping point will surely be a setback for Pakistan in the international arena but even if such a scenario does not arise, the country's social performance will surely bring embarrassment. Images of malnutrition in children, reports of high infant mortality rate and prevalence of curable diseases like polio hurt the soft image of the country. Add to them the additional scrutiny of citizens at international airports and we have another image problem in the making. All of these may culminate into a negative perception of the country with the likes of poor African nations; perceptions that take ages to remove and affect generations to come.

The future generations, nonetheless, are also directly affected by the crisis of Good Governance today. As the current generation falls into social ills like drugs, crime and unemployment, the rot in society will be smelt by incoming generations also.

To save the future and adorn the present, a dire need for reforms is the need of the hour.

For a starter, there should be a reform in attitudes towards governance. It has been over fifteen years since the most important statistical pillar of good governance, the census, remains absent. All exercises from elections to resource allocations are conducted on statistics that have long become obsolete. The security situation situation in the country has improved and Pakistan also conducted it's largest election in terms of turnaround. The census should be conducted to save the nation from being governed on mere guesswork.


(Will continue typing further, but please do provide a critique on this essay up till now)



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I cant check it in toto. However, ill mention some mistakes that I observed.

1. There needs to be coherence between paragraphs. Each and every single paragraph needs to be coherent; each and every single line within a para should be in continuity with the last. The last line of a para should close the point that it meant to elaborate from the outline.
e.g. the fourth para and its thesis statement dont make sense to me!

2. There are some grammatical mistakes. Plus the usage of colons, semicolons would add to the beauty of an essay. You havent used any I think.

3. The last line of the first para doesnt make sense. Such mistakes in the first 3 pages of your essay would turn out to be fatal.

4. The fourth line of your third para is too long. Long sentences without proper punctuation result in unforgivable mistakes that the examiner takes serious offence to! Write small sentences preferably; clauses in long sentences should be properly separated by appropriate punctuation.

5. Altogether new system or all together new system?

6. A dire need for reforms is the need of the hour? Using need two times is unnecessary. Work on the form of sentences.

I hope this helps in improvement.

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It is not the ability but desire that creates success....!!