Demand Side of Accountability
Demand Side of Accountability

Author: R.S. Murali

Publisher: Notion Press

Published:

Total Pages: 332

ISBN-13: 9383416122

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In thought-provoking fashion,R. S.Murali contemplates the problems facing the decision makers of India in the twenty first century. Accountability in governance is the key issue today and the world is looking for some approach to understand the same. He examines in detail the demand side of accountability for the first time ever and provides an in-depth analysis, and means, for all the stakeholders, particularly the policy makers and researchers. The ATA© model (the accountability- ansparencyactionability trio) arising out of this research is bound to be a useful tool for those involved in conceptualization, implementation or evaluation of accountability/transparency. This book, the result of his research based on hard urban data, makes compelling reading, and is a must-read for both policy-makers and those affected by such policies. This book is being released at a time when the national debate is dominated by the elections to the 16th Lok Sabha.The UPA which has been ruling the country for nearly a decade after the 2004 elections has left a very poor track record of governance marked by a series of high profile scams and brazen corruption. The three recent agitations led by three charismatic leaders – Anna Hazare, Baba Ramdev and Arvind Kejriwal –have made accountability and good governance especially with the focus on eradicating corruption from public life the key issue. In this context, well conceived ideas for good governance become vital to add depth to the contents of the debates. More importantly they may have an impact in the framing of the public policies of the incoming government. N VITTAL Retd. Chief Vigilance Commissioner This book is an important contribution to the literature on public accountability and transparency, offering valuable conceptual models, grounded in the reality of urban life through a case study of Chennai. Samuel Paul Founder, Public Affairs Centre and former Director, IIMA A must-read for anyone interested in the challenges of fixing our cities, and the role played by systemic reforms related to information, accountability and participation in improving urban services. The book ‘Demand side of Accountability’ brings much-needed rigour to the critical element in a ‘city-systems’ framework, and holds much value for practitioners as well as policy makers. It deserves wide dissemination and discussion. Ramesh Ramanathan Convener, Janaagraha A major effort in understanding the theoretical underpinnings of governance in civic bodies. M.R.Sivaraman Retd. Expenditure Secretary, Government of India

Citizens and Service Delivery
Citizens and Service Delivery

Author: Alaka Holla

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2011-12-01

Total Pages: 153

ISBN-13: 0821389807

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In many low and middle income countries, dismal failures in the quality of public service delivery such as absenteeism among teachers and doctors and leakages of public funds have driven the agenda for better governance and accountability. This has raised interest in the idea that citizens can contribute to improved quality of service delivery by holding policy-makers and providers of services accountable. This proposition is particularly resonant when it comes to the human development sectors – health, education and social protection – which involve close interactions between providers and citizens/users of services. Governments, NGOs, and donors alike have been experimenting with various “social accountability” tools that aim to inform citizens and communities about their rights, the standards of service delivery they should expect, and actual performance; and facilitate access to formal redress mechanisms to address service failures. The report reviews how citizens – individually and collectively – can influence service delivery through access to information and opportunities to use it to hold providers – both frontline service providers and program managers – accountable. It focuses on social accountability measures that support the use of information to increase transparency and service delivery and grievance redress mechanisms to help citizens use information to improve accountability. The report takes stock of what is known from international evidence and from within projects supported by the World Bank to identify knowledge gaps, key questions and areas for further work. It synthesizes experience to date; identifies what resources are needed to support more effective use of social accountability tools and approaches; and formulates considerations for their use in human development. The report concludes that the relationships between citizens, policy-makers, program managers, and service providers are complicated, not always direct or easily altered through a single intervention, such as an information campaign or scorecard exercise. The evidence base on social accountability mechanisms in the HD sectors is under development. There is a small but growing set of evaluations which test the impact of information interventions on service delivery and HD outcomes. There is ample space for future experiments to test how to make social accountability work at the country level.

Democracy Beyond Elections
Democracy Beyond Elections

Author: Gergana Dimova

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2019-08-28

Total Pages: 346

ISBN-13: 3030252949

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This book provides the analytical framework for understanding the relationship between media scandals, executive accountability and the crisis of democracy. The empirical findings are based on an original database of 6000 media allegations and investigations in Russia, Germany and Bulgaria. Observations gained from the case studies are then placed in relation to a systematic analysis and critique of more than 100 models of the transformation and crisis of democracy. The book will be of particular interest to researchers focusing on democratic theory and political thought, as well as those working empirically in the field of democratic systems.

The Oxford Handbook Public Accountability
The Oxford Handbook Public Accountability

Author: M. A. P. Bovens

Publisher: Oxford Handbooks

Published: 2014-04

Total Pages: 737

ISBN-13: 0199641250

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Drawing on the best scholars in the field from around the world, this handbook showcases conceptual and normative as well as the empirical approaches in public accountability studies.

Governance and Service Delivery
Governance and Service Delivery

Author: Anna Wetterberg

Publisher: RTI Press

Published: 2016-09-25

Total Pages: 189

ISBN-13: 1934831182

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RTI International has extensive experience implementing international donor-funded programs and projects, including single-sector and multisector policy and service-delivery improvement efforts, as well as governance and public management reforms. Drawing on that experience, this collection examines six recent RTI International projects, funded mostly by the United States Agency for International Development, that pursued several different paths to integrating service delivery and governance through engaging citizens, public officials, and service providers on issues related to accountability and sectoral services. The six cases illustrate the multiple ways in which citizen participation in accountability, called social accountability, can lead to positive effects on governance, citizen empowerment, and service delivery. The analysis focuses on both the intended and actual effects, and unpacks the influence of context on implementation and the outcomes achieved.

Governance for Development in Africa
Governance for Development in Africa

Author: David Booth

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2013-10-10

Total Pages: 176

ISBN-13: 1780325967

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Drawing on in-depth empirical research spanning a number of countries in Africa, Booth and Cammack's path-breaking book offers both an accessible overview of issues surrounding governance for development on the continent, whilst also offering a bold new alternative. In doing so, they controversially argue that externally imposed 'good governance' approaches make unrealistic assumptions about the choices leaders and officials are, in practice, able to make. As a result, reform initiatives and assistance programmes supported by donors regularly fail, while ignoring the potential for addressing the causes rather than the symptoms of this situation. In reality, the authors show, anti-developmental behaviours stem from unresolved - yet in principle soluble - collective action problems. Governance for Development in Africa offers a comprehensive and critical examination of the institutional barriers to economic and social progress in Africa, and makes a compelling plea for fresh policy thinking and new ways of envisioning so-called good governance.

The Oxford Handbook of the Quality of Government
The Oxford Handbook of the Quality of Government

Author: Andreas Bågenholm

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2021-07-20

Total Pages: 881

ISBN-13: 0191899003

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Recent research demonstrates that the quality of public institutions is crucial for a number of important environmental, social, economic, and political outcomes, and thereby human well-being. The Quality of Government (QoG) approach directs attention to issues such as impartiality in the exercise of public power, professionalism in public service delivery, effective measures against corruption, and meritocracy instead of patronage and nepotism. This Handbook offers a comprehensive, state-of-the-art overview of this rapidly expanding research field and also identifies viable avenues for future research. The initial chapters focus on theoretical approaches and debates, and the central question of how QoG can be measured. A second set of chapters examines the wealth of empirical research on how QoG relates to democratization, social trust and cohesion, ethnic diversity, happiness and human wellbeing, democratic accountability, economic growth and inequality, political legitimacy, environmental sustainability, gender equality, and the outbreak of civil conflicts. The remaining chapters turn to the perennial issue of which contextual factors and policy approaches—national, local, and international—have proven successful (and not so successful) for increasing QoG. The Quality of Government approach both challenges and complements important strands of inquiry in the social sciences. For research about democratization, QoG adds the importance of taking state capacity into account. For economics, the QoG approach shows that in order to produce economic prosperity, markets need to be embedded in institutions with a certain set of qualities. For development studies, QoG emphasizes that issues relating to corruption are integral to understanding development writ large.