In a democratic nation state, citizens rely on their elected representatives, together with many public institutions, to help ensure a good quality of life. But when our individual aspirations rise higher than their collective capability, we sense a crisis of governance. Yet governance, no matter how you define it, is about more than government and its institutions. As citizens, we have to co-create good governance, we cannot outsource it and hope to be passively happy consumers. Like everything worth its while, good governance must be earned.