Social Accountability: What Does the Evidence Really Say?

Jonathan A. Fox

doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2015.03.011

Social Accountability: What Does the Evidence Really Say?

Jonathan A. Fox

American University Washington DC

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

384 Scopus citations

Abstract

Empirical evidence of tangible impacts of social accountability initiatives is mixed. This meta-analysis reinterprets evaluations through a new lens: the distinction between tactical and strategic approaches to the promotion of citizen voice to contribute to improved public sector performance. Field experiments study bounded, tactical interventions based on optimistic assumptions about the power of information alone, both to motivate collective action and to influence the state. Enabling environments for collective action combined with bolstered state capacity to respond to citizen voice are more promising. Sandwich strategies can help 'voice' and 'teeth' to become mutually empowering, through state-society synergy.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	346-361
Number of pages	16
Journal	World Development
Volume	72
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2015.03.011
State	Published - 1 Aug 2015
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2015.

Funding

This is a revised and abridged version of a working paper released as Fox (2014) . The research was funded by the Global Partnership for Social Accountability, a multi-stakeholder association convened by the World Bank. Thanks very much to Marcos Mendiburu and Tiago Peixoto for their input into this study, and to Yamini Aiyar, Kiran Bhatty, John Gaventa, Helene Grandvoinnet, Florencia Guerzovich, Scott Guggenheim, Jeffrey Hall, Anuradha Joshi, Richard Holloway, Stuti Khemani, Stephen Kosack, Rosie McGee, Vijayendra Rao, Jesse Ribot, Roby Senderowitsch and Albert Van Zyl, as well as to three anonymous reviewers for their specific and timely comments on earlier versions. Thanks also to Benedicte de la Briere, Paul Liebowitz, Saw-Young Min, Simon O’Meally, Vijayendra Rao, Audrey Sacks, Nicola Smithers, Jeff Thindwa, Warren Van Wicklin, Michael Woolcock for their interviews, to Phil Keefer for discussant comments, and to participants in seminars in Washington DC, Jakarta and Mexico City (via webinar). Thanks also to Waad Tamaa for design assistance with Figures 1 and 2 . They and the GPSA bear no responsibility for the author’s views expressed here.

Funders	Funder number
World Bank Group

Keywords

Public information access
Social accountability
State-society synergy
Transparency
Voice

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10.1016/j.worlddev.2015.03.011

Cite this

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Social Accountability: What Does the Evidence Really Say?

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

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