Benedictine Tradition and Good Governance

Abstract

Governance is the set of processes, customs, policies, laws, and institutions affecting the way an organization is directed and controlled. In the past few years, with the world economic crisis, and the huge scandals related to excessive manager compensation and fraudulent bookkeeping, the discussion over the need for good governance has become a hot topic. Many political and economic leaders recommend an accentuation and extension of external control mechanisms, such as a tightening of the law or new monitoring measures. This original and unconventional paper shows that alternative solutions can be found in an unexpected place, namely in the ancient governance structures of religious orders like the Benedictines. With their governance, tested in practice over more than 1000 years, the Benedictine monasteries are a call to give weight to internal governance as well. It is interesting to note, among other aspects, that in order to reduce misbehavior, monastic governance involves broad participation rights of the members or an emphasis on implementing values and norms.