Xenophon Paper No.6

Author: Stella Ladi

Preface by: Dimitrios Triantaphyllou

The capacity of a state to deliver public goods and services in an effective and reliable way constitutes one of the key variables for distinguishing between “successful” and “unsuccessful” societies. The countries of the wider Black Sea area, through their cooperation in the context of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organisation (BSEC), are struggling to build public institutions needed to achieve “successful” societies. Following the paradigms of international organisations such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the European Union, the BSEC has undertaken action to address issues of good governance and institutional renewal that are of paramount importance in the region by acting – as the author of this Xenophon Paper suggests – as an agent for “soft” policy transfer of good governance practices.

In this contribution, Stella Ladi elaborates on the concept of good governance, highlighting the fact that governance issues differ from place to place and therefore no one-size-fits-all solution exists. Nevertheless, there are clear priority areas – such as the reform of the civil service, the improvement of policymaking procedures, the endorsement of transparency and decentralisation – where the BSEC member states can and have already started to foster good governance.

The edition is available here.