Subnational Governance and Development

Abstract

This chapter examines how the practice of governance, especially at a subnational level, has been evolving since the 1990s, focusing on the implications for “community governance”. An overview of recent thinking on the nature of governance opens up the question of whether “governance” may be exercised through institutions entirely separate from government. Examples are considered from Australia's experience with “community banking”, and from trusts and foundations that have emerged from major public sector restructuring. The chapter considers the work of the Global Fund for Community Foundations as an important civil society contribution to subnational governance in developing countries, examining the role of foundations in building capacity and capability in disadvantaged communities through a new approach grounded in an understanding of “community governance”. Overall the chapter argues for a broadening in the understanding of governance, from what governments do to encompassing how our communities come together to shape their own futures.