Paradoxes around good governance

Abstract

Good governance is not a new concept Ambrogio Lorenzetti made his frescoes on good and bad governance already in the years 1338-1340 They can be viewed in the Palazzo Publicco on one of the most beautiful squares of the world, the Piazza del Campo in Siena, Italy I assume many of you have been there Good governance is represented by a king on his throne surrounded by many virtues Bad governance is represented by the devil, and justice has been bound The fresco depicting the conse - quences of good governance shows an orderly and happy life People pay taxes, and many people are engaged in productive and cultural activities The city state of Siena itself served as model for this condition of good governance, and Siena can be rec - ognized on the fresco The frescoes on the consequences of bad governance are less well remained But the overwhelming image is one of death and destruction Houses are burning, nobody is working on the land Lorenzetti’s frescoes were innovative in his time, especially for painting a humanistic and not religious topic (Korsten, 2010