Accountability is the ability to hold organizations and individuals answerable for their policies, implementation processes and use of resources and responsible for performance. Accountability involves both answerability and enforcement. Social accountability refers to social movements that demand accountability through channels other than traditional vertical mechanisms (elections) and horizontal mechanisms. They often frame their claims in terms of legality and rights. It is an approach initiated by the civil society or the State, towards building an accountable and responsive government by relying on civic engagement.

The Concept and Framework of Social accountability is based on three key principles, namely, to bring about transparency, effectiveness and integrity in public action, to bring about greater participation of the citizens in public policy and actions and thus making process more democratic and representative and to integrate the accountability factors both at structural and functional levels of administration. There are various types of accountability. Accountability could be both internal accountability and external accountability which can in turn be political, social and managerial.

Social accountability has great relevance in the context of developing counties. We can see this in African and Asian countries where community and institution driven social accountability mechanisms are being used widely. The practice of social accountability also falls in the broader conceptual framework of social accountability. Horizontal accountability entails setting up public policies and government procedures, whereas vertical accountability involves public mechanisms for enforcing accountability, both before and during the exercise of public authority, and includes citizen groups and a vibrant independent media. The need for social accountability also germinates where public authorities are coming under extreme pressure from the community to be more accountable.

Social accountability approaches have yielded positive results. Aware that their actions are being monitored by citizen groups, public officials know that they may be held accountable for budget discrepancies or failure to deliver adequate services. As practitioners and policy makers while conceptualizing and designing an intervention around social accountability it is useful to think about such parameters that would help in operationalising social accountability mechanisms. It would also be important to think of how to sustain initiatives such initiatives by putting systems and institutions in place.

The key learnings to the unit will help the reader to understand the broad concept of accountability and in that context the fundamentals of social accountability, identify the need for social accountability and its relevance, understand the dimensions of social accountability in order to design policy level interventions and finally identify the institutions and systems of social accountability, with special reference to certain country cases.

Best Reads

1. Social Accountability: An Introduction to the Concept and Emerging Practice; World Bank
2. State-Society Synergy for Accountability: Lessons for the World Bank
3. Dimensions of Social Accountability Social Accountability in the Public Sector: A Conceptual Discussion; World Bank A Note on the Concept and Methodology, World Bank

Case Studies

1. Empowering the Marginalized: Case Studies of Social Accountability Initiatives in Asia; World Bank Institute
2. Demanding Good Governance: A Stocktaking of Social Accountability Initiatives by Civil Society in Anglophone Africa; World Bank Institute