Description
Book SynopsisPolitical leaders and institutions across the Global South are continually failing to respond to the needs of their citizens. This incisive book sets out to establish the pathways to and outcomes of accountability in a development context, as well as to investigate the ways in which people can seek redress and hold their public officials to account.
Providing a timely complement to the current literature on accountability, the book features contributions from a diverse range of experienced and up-and-coming scholars and practitioners across the globe. Chapters explore questions of how improved accountability relations emerge, under what conditions they can be maintained, and what role civil-society actors, donors, and new ICT tools can and should play in developing countries. Integrating empirical case studies from Brazil, Egypt, India, Kenya, Uganda, and Zambia with a strong theoretical framework on accountability relations, the book delivers a comprehensive analysis of accountability initiatives across the Global South and ultimately reflects on how they contribute to reaching the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16.
This insightful book will be an essential resource for academics, policymakers, and practitioners worldwide who are engaged in enhancing public sector accountability and implementing SDG 16. It will also help to guide social movements and citizen-led action.
Trade Review‘This insightful and comprehensive overview of diverse accountability efforts underscores persistent gaps between policy discourse, practices and outcomes. All routes to accountability turn out to be long routes. The rich case studies remind us that accountability – as both a big idea and practical goal – remains ambiguous, malleable and contested.’ -- Jonathan Fox, American University, US
‘In recent years, accountability has become a popular buzzword in development. With clear and compelling cases, this important book brings empirically grounded substance to the debate, documenting multiple innovations in accountability which use a variety of strategies to contest political orders across the global south. A very useful contribution to our understanding!’ -- John Gaventa, Institute of Development Studies, UK
Table of ContentsContents: Foreword xvii Introduction – public accountability in the global south: approaches and practices 1 Sylvia I. Bergh, Wil Hout, Sony Pellissery and C. Sathyamala PART I SOCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH 1 Enhancing citizen voices in service delivery in India: the role of social accountability tools 23 Samuel Paul and Meena Nair 2 Social accountability initiatives in Egypt: unlocking the ‘black box’ of contextual factors 41 Yasmin Khodary 3 Governance in translation: participatory budgeting across the developing world 60 Brian Wampler and Michael Touchton 4 Making the most of tech moments in accountable governance: identifying suitable entry points, actors and contexts 77 Fletcher Tembo 5 Civil society and state accountability: holding the state accountable in the context of shrinking civic space in Kenya 99 Antony Otieno Ong’ayo 6 Right to public services: reconceptualizing the path to (social) accountability in India 126 Anognya Parthasarathy PART II ACCOUNTABILITY POLITICS FROM THE ‘SUPPLY SIDE’ PERSPECTIVE 7 Frameworks of accountability in healthcare 151 James Warner Björkman 8 Holding the Ugandan police to account: case study of the Police Accountability and Reform Project 165 Wil Hout, Natascha Wagner and Rose Namara 9 The Office of Auditor General Zambia: becoming a professional audit office that empowers the public 182 James Hathaway 10 Accountable to whom? Basic service delivery in India’s urban-development programmes 198 Arvind Balaji Rajasekaran 11 Neoliberal reforms and public accountability in the Western Balkans 221 Rachel Kurian 12 Conclusion: main findings and future challenges to public accountability 245 Sylvia I. Bergh, Wil Hout, Meenal Thakur and C. Sathyamala Index
