Making Sense of the Seal of Good Local Governance: Policy Design Layering and Implications for Shaping Local Government Performance

The Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) is considered as the country's most comprehensive assessment of local governance performance. Launched in 2014 and enacted into law in 2019, the SGLG aims to continuously enhance the performance of local government units (LGUs). However, questions about...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of Philippine development Vol. 48; no. 1; pp. 87 - 112
Main Authors Medina-Guce, Czarina, Sanders, Robert
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Makati City Philippine Institute for Development Studies 01.01.2024
Subjects
Design
Local government
Performance evaluation
Performance management
Politics
Trends
Philippines
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Summary:The Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) is considered as the country's most comprehensive assessment of local governance performance. Launched in 2014 and enacted into law in 2019, the SGLG aims to continuously enhance the performance of local government units (LGUs). However, questions about its effectiveness and evaluative usefulness arise due to its evolving design, which includes changes in measures and indicators alongside a declining trend in passing rates from 2014 to 2023. This paper uses an abductive research approach to fill the research gap, focusing on understanding the SGLG's "policy layering," where new goals accumulate in its design while retaining previous ones. The discussion traces nearly a decade of SGLG policy history to explore how it frames good local governance amid changes in national priorities, policy shifts (e.g., SGLG law, Mandanas-Garcia ruling), and maturity in its performance metrics and indicators. It highlights two learning assumptions-learning through time and learning by complying with the instrument-and explores associated challenges. While the SGLG was not initially conceived as a comprehensive local government performance management system, its iterative approach to meet rising performance expectations reflects the evolving landscape of local governance standards. Recommendations are provided to enhance the SGLG's design (e.g., address resource implications for LGUs struggling to meet higher performance standards, strategically manage the timing of SGLG iterations, and decentralize evaluative processes to ensure rigorous problem analysis and innovative solutions for nonpassing LGUs). These steps aim to enhance the SGLG's effectiveness in promoting improvements in local governance across the Philippines.
ISSN:2508-0954
2508-0849