Social Accountability

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Social Accountability
Enhancing citizen voice and client focus in
governance and service delivery

• Reiner Forster, SDV
• January 25th, 2005

Note This interactive learning module, designed
by Social Impact, was commissioned by the World
Banks PREM Poverty Group and developed in
collaboration with SDV, WBI and the PREM Public
Sector Group. Supported by a concept paper, it
is a generic introductory-level module which may
be adapted to suit different target audiences and
time frames.
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What is Accountability?

• Accountability is the obligation of power-holders
  to account for or take responsibility for their
  actions.
• Power-holders holding political, financial or
  other forms of power, e.g. public officials,
  private employers, donors, service providers,
  traditional leaders, NGOs.
• Key area government or public accountability
• builds on the implicit social contract between
  citizens and public officials.
• obligation of public officials and the right/
  entitlement of citizens

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What are public officials responsible for?

• Their conductthey must obey the law, rules,
  procedures and not abuse their powers.
• Their performancethey must serve the public
  interest in an efficient, effective and fair
  manner.
• All states have some form of mechanisms to
  promote or ensure accountability of public actors.

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How can accountability be ensured ?

• Rules and Regulations administrative
  procedures, audits, code of conduct
• 2. Bring in Market Principles privatization or
  contracting out to private sector and NGOs
• 3. Independent Agencies ombudsman, vigilance
  committees

There has been vary-ing success with these. What
has been learnt is that suc-cess often depends on
direct parti-cipation of the people
4. Social Accountability
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What is Social Accountability?

• SAc is an approach towards building
  accountability
• that relies on civic engagement,
• where ordinary citizens and/or their
  organizations participate directly or indirectly
  in exacting accountability
• SAc mechanisms can be initiated and supported by
  the state, citizens or both, but very often they
  are demand-driven and operate from the bottom up.
• SAc mechanisms include many actions and tools
  that citizens, NGOs and media can use to hold
  public authorities accountable.

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Social Accountability Mechanisms include...

• Social audits
• Independent budget analysis by CSOs/ Think
  Tanks
• Public budget hearings
• Citizen juries
• Civil society monitoring of performance of
  public agencies
• Investigative journalism
• Right to information movements
• Election Watch

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Why is Social Accountabilityimportant ?
Social Accountability
Good Governance
Empower-ment
Development Effectiveness
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WDR 2004 Making Services Workfor the Poor
A framework of accountability relationships
Voice
Service Compact
Client Power
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Social accountability
Related Concepts in Democracy and Governance
Democracy citizenship
Participatory development
Civil society
Transparency/ Anti-corruption
Rights
Decentralization public sector reform
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Participatory Public Expenditure Management Cycle
Budget Formulation Porto Alegre, Brazil
Performance Monitoring Citizen Report
Cards India and Philippines
Budget Review Analysis Gujarat,
India
Civic Engagement
Expenditure Tracking Uganda
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Community Scorecards Process
Preparatory Groundwork
Community Gathering
Performance Scorecard
Self-Evaluation Health Staff
Interface Meeting
Feedback and Dialogue
Better Services
Accountability
Immediate Improvements Issues for Follow-up
Transparency
More drugs available
Instit. Reforms
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Building Blocks of SAc
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SAc Critical Success Factors
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Potential Benefits and Risks of SAc

• Benefits
• Improved governance
• Poverty reduction
• Citizen voice and empowerment at the macro level,
  especially for the poor
• Enhanced transparency
• Reduced corruption
• Strengthened social capital
• Strengthened public sector reforms and
  decentralization

• Risks
• Raised citizen expectations
• Lack of sustainability or institutionalization
• Mechanisms may not result in service improvements
• Depth of citizen involvement may be superficial
• May involve a small group of well behaved NGOs,
  professionals and centrist politicians

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Final Thoughts

• Social accountability has potential to improve
  the responsiveness of governments and other power
  holders to the needs of local people especially
  those with less voice.
• There is a wide range of social accountability
  mechanisms arising from specific needs, power
  relations and a desire for improving services.
  All sectors/regions have some relevant
  experience.
• Each social accountability mechanism has a
  specific social, political and economic context
  with attendant benefits and risks. The success
  of one mechanism in a local context in no way
  guarantees success in another.