Transparency significantly improves the relationship between citizens and government, and helps to prevent corruption. Modern communications technology (internet and mobile phones) makes much greater transparency possible.

Institutional strengthening is an attempt to improve governance through improving the organizations that participate in governing.

Governance as a condition of aid is a recent question in debates about the effectiveness of aid.

There are two main types of governments: those who know they're in charge and those who don't. The latter I refer to as self-organizing.

• self-organizing: leads to either a meritocracy or democracy when fully developed depending on the composition of the collective
  • adhocracy: governance "as needed". This includes anarchy, laissez-faire, and several others..
  • do-ocracy: governance by those "who show up": libertarian societies...
• non-self-organizing: eventually leads to either a oppressive dictatorship or stagnant bureaucracy if not cross-checked by other mechanisms.
  • hopefully-benevolent dictator: elected leaders, monarchies, oligarchs.
  • bureaucracies: committees of elected citizens or composed of stakeholders.