The publicity of the government, the press, and a host of private organisations constantly assures the public that New Zealand leads the world in this, that, and the other. So often is the point repeated and asserted about so many features of the Dominion’s life that it is now earnestly believed by the majority. It is held as a faith which few call in question ... Under its worst forms it can degenerate into smugness and complacency, the national delusion of the self- satisfied.
– Leslie Lipson (2011) The Politics of Equality: New Zealand’s adventures in democracy, pp.459-60

What is 'good governance'?

The idea of governance – as distinct from government – has become intellectually fashionable in academic circles over the past decade or so, constituting a new conceptual paradigm that embodies ideas about the dispersal and fragmentation of formerly centralised state authority, the increasing involvement of civil society in the delivery of public goods and services, and the networked collaboration of a wide range of governmental and non- governmental bodies in the pursuit of public purposes and the public interest