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Civic Engagement and Public Accountability: An Analysis with Particular Reference to Developing Countries
ABU ELIAS SARKER and MOSTAFA KAMAL HASSAN
PAM, Vol. 15 No. 2,
(2010)
The role of civic engagement in ensuring public accountability has become a catchword in recent years. Over the years, there has been dissatisfaction with formal state mechanisms as well as newly introduced market mechanisms. Now there is a consensus that social accountability mechanisms based on civic engagement can hold public officials accountable by complementing state accountability mechanisms. However, there are a number of contextual factors facilitating as well as inhibiting the effectiveness of social accountability. This paper intends to (a) explore and analyze cross-cultural evidence of social accountability in the developing world and (b) evaluate the claims of the advocates of social accountability in view of the socio-economic and political dynamics.
