In der Entwicklungszusammenarbeit nimmt die Forderungnach guter Regierungsführung eine zunehmendbedeutende Rolle ein. Sie ist auch Kernbestandteildes neuenKriterienkatalogs des BMZ, derseit Januar diesen Jahres die Unterstützung für Entwicklungs-und Schwellenländer künftig stärker ander Einhaltung dieser Kriterien orientiert. Die Sicherungguter Regierungsführung ist aus meiner Sichtohne die Etablierung demokratischer Rahmenbedingungennachhaltig nicht möglich. Deshalb mussDemokratieförderung ein integraler Bestandteil desKonzepts von Good Governance sein.

by Gerhard Wahlers

Early in March of this year, Ghana celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of its independence, pleased with the pioneering role it had taken up among the sub-Saharan states in the fight against colonial rule. Much has happened since then. When, early in the 1990s, the country set out on the path towards democratisation, the former opposition party NPP became the strongest force, and its candidate, John Agyekum Kufuor, prevailed over the former dictator, Jerry John Rawlings.

by Anja Osei

Die Entwicklung in Kenia vor den Wahlen im Dezember 2007

Im Vorfeld der für Ende 2007 geplanten Präsidentschafts- und Parlamentswahlen stehen sich in Kenia zwei politische Kräftegruppen, NARC-K und ODM-K, gegenüber, hinter denen sich jedoch eine vielfältigere Landschaft von Parteien verbirgt, die in ihrer Gesamtheit keinen ideengeschichtlichen Hintergrund haben, schwach institutionalisiert sind und kaum eigene inhaltliche Positionen zu erkennen geben.

by Wolfgang Ahner-Tönnis

When, one and a half decades ago, shortly after the end of the Cold War, the Democrazia Cristiana made its exit from Italy's political stage, a period of transition began for the country. Now, under Romano Prodi, Italy seems to return to a state of chronic instability which recalls exactly those old days. Is the country lost to progress?

by Stefan von Kempis

The 'Wai-di-ren', the migrant workers of which there are five million in Shanghai alone, are not least among those to whom China's soaring megacities owe thanks for their palaces made of glass and steel. For 30 to 100 Euros a month, they cook, wash, clean, repair, and build. The jobs they do are called '3-d jobs' – dirty, dangerous, and demanding. When the migration to the cities began in 1989, the People's Republic of China saw itself confronted with its greatest social challenge ever: Adding to the already-large army of migrants who have no permanent home, 200 million of so-called vagrants go on moving from place to place, working for a meagre wage which has to feed the entire family. Social distortions are increasing; the income gap is widening.

by Thomas Awe

Entwicklungen und Beispiele aus Lateinamerika

Gone are the times when rankings and ratings were used as tools of measurement and identification only in the world of sports and business. Today, there are many walks of life in which we meet multifarious phenomena that call for systematic quantitative and differentiated identification and categorisation. Democratisation is one of these phenomena. Constant attempts are made to identify differences in its level and 'measure' its quality by diverse criteria, such as corruption, the freedom of the press, and governance.

by Emily Calaminus