Opening the black box : the contextual drivers of social accountability / Helene Grandvoinnet, Ghazia Aslam, and Shomikho Raha.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Grandvoinnet, Hélène, author.

Aslam, Ghazia, author.

Raha, Shomikho, author.

Contributor:

World Bank.

Series:

New frontiers of social policy

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Social accounting.

Physical Description:

xxx, 317 pages ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Washington, DC : World Bank Group, [2015]

Summary:

Citizens across the world are calling for greater citizen-state engagement. Social accountability (SA) has steadily gained prominence for its intrinsic value as well as for its potential to bring about a range of development outcomes. But how and when does social accountability support service delivery as well as institutional outcomes such as state legitimacy and citizen trust? This book provides a framework to assess the contextual drivers of social accountability effectiveness based on a definition of SA as the interplay of citizen action and state action, supported by civic mobilization, interface, and information. The proposed framework provides practitioners with a systematic way to assess context for SA in order to design, Implement, and monitor SA approaches tailored to a specific context and issue. The book also applies the framework to challenging country contexts. In doing so, it addresses key knowledge gaps on how policy makers, practitioners, and development institutions can best support development outcomes through social accountability and citizen engagement. Book jacket.

Contents:

Overview 1

Origin of SA and Common Biases 1

SA as the Interplay of Five Constitutive Elements 3

Neither State Nor Citizens Are Homogenous or Exclusive Categories 6

The Iterative Nature of the SA Process 7

The Puzzling Evidence 7

SA and a Country's Social and Political Characteristics 9

The Analytical Framework: Contextual Drivers of SA Effectiveness 11

SA in Countries Where Space for Citizen-State Engagement Is Formally Constrained 12

SA in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Situations 14

Application of the Framework to Concrete Cases: Sierra Leone, Pakistan, the Republic of Yemen, and the Kyrgyz Republic 16

Conclusion 18

References 19

Chapter 1 Social Accountability: A Popular yet Fuzzy Concept 21

Diverse Intellectual Roots 23

Common Biases in Current Interpretations of SA 30

SA as the Interplay of Five Constitutive Elements: A Conceptual Framework 34

Notes 49

References 50

Chapter 2 The Puzzling Evidence 55

Mapping Potential Outcomes of SA 57

Range of Impacts of SA with Examples 59

Challenges to SA Evaluation and Methodological Issues 62

Some Overall Findings 70

Notes 75

References 76

Chapter 3 Social Accountability and a Country's Social and Political Characteristics 83

Actors and Dynamics in Political Society: Important Factors in Explaining the Form and Effectiveness of SA 85

Influence of Civil Society 90

Influence of Intra-Society Relations 96

State-Society Relations: A Determinant and a Goal of SA 98

Importance of Cultural Norms 101

Importance of Global Factors 103

Conclusion 105

Notes 107

References 108

Chapter 4 Contextual Drivers of Social Accountability: An Analytical Framework 115

From Causal Chains to Drivers to the Analytical Framework 116

The Analytical Framework 118

SA in a Connected World: Leveraging ICTs 123

Guiding Tables 131

Conclusion 146

Notes 147

References 148

Chapter 5 Social Accountability in Countries Where Space for Citizen-State Engagement Is Formally Constrained 153

Common Social and Political Features That Constrain Citizen and State Action for SA 154

Operational Implications: Finding the Right State Partner, at a Cost 172

Conclusion 185

Notes 188

References 188

Chapter 6 Social Accountability in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Situations 193

Relevance of SA in FCS 194

Common Social and Political Features of FCSs and Constraints on Citizen Action and State Action 200

Overcoming Constraints to Information, Interface, and Civic Mobilization in FCSs 207

Implications for Support 211

Conclusions 219

Notes 221

References 223

Chapter 7 Using the Analytical Framework to Address Specific Issues: Four Examples 229

Supporting the Free Health Care Initiative in Sierra Leone 230

Building Citizens' Trust in the Government through SA: The Governance Support Project in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province 246

Supporting State Legitimacy through SA: Local Governance Reforms in the Republic of Yemen 259

Designing an SA Intervention Strategy for the Village Investment Project: The Case of the Kyrgyz Republic 271

Notes 284

References 285.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

Other Format:

Electronic version: Opening the black box.

ISBN:

9781464804816

1464804818

OCLC:

898926574