Demanding Good Governance : Lessons from Social Accountability Initiatives in Africa

Accountability is the cornerstone of good governance. Unless public officials can be held to account, then critical benefits associated with good governance, such as social justice, poverty reduction and development remain elusive. The impacts of non-responsive and unaccountable governance are perhaps most harshly felt by the citizens of Africa, where corruption and governance failures are broadly acknowledged as a principal obstacle to the achievement Over the past decade, a range of social accountability practices―such as participatory budgeting, independent budget analysis, participatory monitoring of public expenditure and citizen evaluation of public services have been experimented with in many Africa countries. Their outcomes and lessons have, thus far, received little attend and documentation. This volume aims to make a contribution towards filling this gap by describing and analyzing a selection of social accountability initiatives from seven Sub-Saharan countries.

"Development professionals have traditionally assumed that Africa s governance and service delivery challenges must be addressed from the top down. The reality is the opposite; bottom-up civilian-led social accountability mechanisms have proven to be versatile, adaptable, and highly effective in enhancing development prospects across a number of African countries. This collection of case studies is an invaluable guide to practitioners seeking a better grasp of how to implement and strengthen such mechanisms and it represents an important contribution to the literature."

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— James D. Wolfensohn, Wolfensohn Fund Management, L.P., Former President, World Bank Group

"This book provides a succinct exposition of the central role of civil society organizations in governance enforcement through social accountability. I find it a welcome addition to the extant literature on social accountability and its intertwined relationship with good governance and the need for increased public participation of both women and men for improved public service delivery."

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— Frannie A. Léautier, Executive Secretary, The African Capacity Building Foundation, Harare, Zimbabwe