16 The Key to Good Governance

Good governance rests not only on appropriate rules but also on their implementation. In modern democracy good governance thus presupposes a broad consensus of political actors and citizens on rules allowing for stable processes of problem resolution in political, legal, economic and social terms. To ensure the implementation of decisions and the respect for the rule of law, procedures of accountability and responsibility as well as organs of assessment and control are needed. Moreover, good governance is a matter of public and private institutions as well as of their interaction. Among others this holds particularly true for the organisation of public and private activities in modern welfare systems.