Civil Society, Public Action and Accountability in Africa

68 Pages Posted: 20 Apr 2016

See all articles by Shantayanan Devarajan

Shantayanan Devarajan

World Bank Middle East and North Africa Region

Stuti Khemani

World Bank; World Bank - Development Research Group (DECRG)

Michael Walton

Harvard University - Harvard Kennedy School (HKS)

Date Written: July 1, 2011

Abstract

This paper examines the potential role of civil society action in increasing state accountability for development in Sub-Saharan Africa. It further develops the analytical framework of the World Development Report 2004 on accountability relationships, to emphasize the underlying political economy drivers of accountability and implications for how civil society is constituted and functions. It argues on this basis that the most important domain for improving accountability is through the political relations between citizens, civil society, and state leadership. The evidence broadly suggests that when higher-level political leadership provides sufficient or appropriate powers for citizen participation in holding within-state agencies or frontline providers accountable, there is frequently positive impact on outcomes. However, the big question remaining for such types of interventions is how to improve the incentives of higher-level leadership to pursue appropriate policy design and implementation. The paper argues that there is substantial scope for greater efforts in this domain, including through the support of external aid agencies. Such efforts and support should, however, build on existing political and civil society structures (rather than transplanting "best practice" ? initiatives from elsewhere), and be structured for careful monitoring and assessment of impact.

Keywords: Public Sector Corruption & Anticorruption Measures, Parliamentary Government, Social Accountability, Civil Society, ICT Policy and Strategies

Suggested Citation

Devarajan, Shantayanan and Khemani, Stuti and Walton, Michael, Civil Society, Public Action and Accountability in Africa (July 1, 2011). World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 5733, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1895224

Shantayanan Devarajan (Contact Author)

World Bank Middle East and North Africa Region ( email )

1818 H Street, NW
Washington, DC 20433
United States

Stuti Khemani

World Bank ( email )

1818 H Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20433
United States

HOME PAGE: http://econ.worldbank.org/staff/skhemani

World Bank - Development Research Group (DECRG)

1818 H. Street, N.W.
MSN3-311
Washington, DC 20433
United States

Michael Walton

Harvard University - Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) ( email )

79 John F. Kennedy Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States
617-496-4562 (Phone)
617-496-5747 (Fax)

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