M3: Learner Manual

5. Cultural Context of Governance and Constitutions

Effective self-governance means not only having genuine decision-making power, but also being able to practically exercise that authority and take the responsibility for it (i.e. being accountable).

To exercise power effectively and legitimately, people need agreed rules and ways of enforcing them. Rules are the organising tools of governance. They tell us:

• How to behave towards each other and what to expect when we don’t.
• How power is shared.
• Who has the authority to make the important decisions.
• How decisions should be enforced.
• How the people who make decisions will be held accountable.

Governance rules can be the unwritten laws, traditions and ways of behaving that people live by. They can also be written down in documents such as constitutions, by-laws, policies, regulations, business and strategic plans, and company rules.

If your governing rules are poorly understood, easily sabotaged by selfish interests or erratically enforced, the legitimacy of your governing power and authority will be severely undermined.

The Indigenous Community Governance Research Project in Australia has identified several basic conditions which, in combination, help to produce effective Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander governance:

• Governing institutions (rules).
• Leadership.
• Genuine decision-making power.
• Practical capacity.
• Cultural legitimacy.
• Resources.
• Accountability.
• Participation.

Not surprisingly, to be effective and legitimate, these governance solutions need to be tailored to suit the local environment.

For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, achieving effective and legitimate governance can be particularly challenging because it involves working across Indigenous and western ways of governing, and trying to negotiate the demands of both.