The Hegemonic Construction of the “Good Governance” Discourse in World Bank and UNDP Documents (1989–2020) and a Critique of Its Institutional Reductionism

Fazli, Sodeh; Ahmadi Tabatabaei, Seyed Mohammad Reza; Mirabedini, Mehdi

doi:10.30465/cps.2026.54642.3677

The Hegemonic Construction of the “Good Governance” Discourse in World Bank and UNDP Documents (1989–2020) and a Critique of Its Institutional Reductionism

Articles in Press

Document Type : .

Authors

Sodeh Fazli ¹

Seyed Mohammad Reza Ahmadi Tabatabaei ²

Mehdi Mirabedini ³

¹ Department of Theology and Political Science, Tehran Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

² Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Imam Sadiq University, Tehran, Iran

³ Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

10.30465/cps.2026.54642.3677

Abstract

Since the late 1980s, the discourse of “Good Governance,” promoted predominantly by international institutions such as the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), has emerged as the hegemonic paradigm in global development and public administration. Employing Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe’s post-structuralist discourse theory, this study interrogates the hegemonic construction of this concept in international policy documents (1989–2020) and the marginalization of rival paradigms. The central problem is critiquing the supposed technical neutrality of governance metrics and unveiling their entanglement with power relations. Findings reveal that by articulating floating signifiers—such as transparency, accountability, rule of law, and anti-corruption—around the nodal point of “Good Governance,” and antagonistically constructing the “interventionist/redistributive state” as an impediment to growth, international institutions have marginalized alternative concepts of the “developmental state” and “social justice.” Ultimately, through “depoliticization,” this discourse reduces political contestation to technocratic management aligned with free-market imperatives, underscoring the urgent need for a critical reappraisal of state institutional capacity.

Keywords

Good Governance

World Bank

UNDP

Hegemony

Discourse Analysis

Depoliticization

Subjects