ABSTRACT
At the launch of the newly established European External Action Service, the service’s Chief Operating Officer indicated that ‘promoting human rights and good governance’ would be ‘the silver thread running through everything we do’ (O’Sullivan, 2011: 7). ‘Good governance’ has been part of the vocabulary of the European Union since, roughly, the turn of the century.1 The term was adopted by the EU in the wake of more general attention for governance among international aid agencies. Following the World Bank, many donors embraced the idea that the quality of governance is an important determinant of the success of aid programs (see World Bank, 1998).
