Beyond the Basics-States Need Not Be the Sole Provider Many countries now recognize that when governments are the monopoly providers of infrastructure, social services, and other goods, they are unlikely to do a good job. At the same time, technological and organizational innovations have created new opportunities for private companies to provide services once confined to the public sector. To take advantage of these new opportunities, and to conserve scarce public resources, governments are beginning to focus more on financing the cost of infrastructure and services, and less on delivering them, as well as releasing competitive sections of the utility market from monopoly control. Reformers are also trying to move social insurance programs, designed to provide health and employment security for everyone, from social assistance, which is intended to help only the poor. Bringing the State Closer to People Governments are more effective when they listen to, and work with, citizens and businesses.
Partnership involves bringing poor and marginalized groups into the very center of policy-making.
Greater information and transparency are vital for informed public debate and to increase popular trust and confidence in the state. Decentralization is bringing many benefits to China, India, much of Latin America, and other parts of the world. It can improve the quality of government and the representation of local business and citizens' interests. And competition among provinces, cities, and localities can spur the development of more-effective policies and programs. But it also opens the way for effective, disciplined states to foster development and economic well-being, and it sharpens the need for international cooperation in pursuit of global public goods.