Democracy and Governance: A conceptual analysis of a contested relation

In recent years a rapidly growing body of research has explored the causes, the consequences, and the correlates of good governance. While some studies have attempted to investigate the relationship between good governance and democracy, the evidence that this body of scholarship has generated is mixed at best. Upon reviewing the relevant literature the present chapter advances three claims: that the nature of the relationship between governance and democracy varies depending on how the two terms are defined; that when the definition of one term encompasses distinctive features of the other we find that governance and democracy are not just mutually reinforcing but even overlapping; and that only when we distinguish governance from democracy on theoretical grounds can we, as Fukuyama suggests, analyse their relationship on empirical grounds.