Since the 1990s, good governance has emerged as a new strategy for development because international society perceived that poor governance hampered sustainable growth. Good governance requires proper government role and its ultimate goal is human-centered development through economic liberalization and political democratization. The basic assumption of good governance is that democracy is a prerequisite for development.
For the last 60 years, international society has continuously discussed the proper role of government. From the 1950s to the 1970s, government's active intervention in development process was recommended. However since the 1980s, neoliberalism prevails in development discourse. Good governance pursues ambivalent values at the same time. Humanitarian development requires the active role of government but economic liberalization and political democratization denotes the negative view on government intervention.
Good governance particularly concentrates on democratization regarding anti-corruption and political participation. Historically, many authoritarian governments branded as corrupt by good governance performed better in development. Excessive political participation in early stage of development can impede the government's coherent implementation of policies. Democratization works as a conditionality to the recipient countries for the sake of constant assistance from donors. Historical evidence shows us that democracy is not a prerequisite but a by-product after achieving economic growth. Good governance is an impractical frame but forces conditionalities on poor countries. It implies that the cause of reduced development in developing world is not poor governance but good governance itself.