Document Abstract
Published:
2009
Rude accountability in the unreformed state: informal pressures on frontline bureaucrats in Bangladesh
Informal accountability in Bangladesh
The massive expansion of social service provision in the 1990s in Bangladesh has meant the state is now a larger presence in the lives of the poor. The terms though of its interaction with those citizens remain largely unreformed, more strongly marked by the culture of patronage and deference
than by any common ground on rights and responsibilities. This paper discusses the concept of ‘rude’ forms of accountability as a method of informal change and accountability.
Rude accountability is central to how poor people negotiate their entitlements on the frontline of service delivery in Bangladesh. It operates through shame and embarrassment, pressures to maintain reputation and status by the service providers, and the threat of violence. The paper address questions around why people resort to rude accountability, does it work and what are its limitations in efforts of reform. It examines healthcare, education and social security nets.
The paper concludes by suggesting that rude accountability matters because it highlights how relationships of accountability in service delivery in Bangladesh can be embedded in social relations and political pressures that are unofficial, informal, and personalised. It is possible that other forms of ‘rude’ accountability are as common in other countries but much like Bangladesh, are not recognised as the spontaneous flowering of rights discourses and people-power in poor countries. Whilst the author contends that when accountability systems fail, it is be worth looking to which informal pressures are operating, they also suggest that the accountability mechanisms of the poor are often poor accountability mechanisms. The most practical way forward must be to bridge the rude accountability with the official mechanisms so that the power and accessibility of the informal can be married to the sanctions and rules and neutrality of the official.
than by any common ground on rights and responsibilities. This paper discusses the concept of ‘rude’ forms of accountability as a method of informal change and accountability.
Rude accountability is central to how poor people negotiate their entitlements on the frontline of service delivery in Bangladesh. It operates through shame and embarrassment, pressures to maintain reputation and status by the service providers, and the threat of violence. The paper address questions around why people resort to rude accountability, does it work and what are its limitations in efforts of reform. It examines healthcare, education and social security nets.
The paper concludes by suggesting that rude accountability matters because it highlights how relationships of accountability in service delivery in Bangladesh can be embedded in social relations and political pressures that are unofficial, informal, and personalised. It is possible that other forms of ‘rude’ accountability are as common in other countries but much like Bangladesh, are not recognised as the spontaneous flowering of rights discourses and people-power in poor countries. Whilst the author contends that when accountability systems fail, it is be worth looking to which informal pressures are operating, they also suggest that the accountability mechanisms of the poor are often poor accountability mechanisms. The most practical way forward must be to bridge the rude accountability with the official mechanisms so that the power and accessibility of the informal can be married to the sanctions and rules and neutrality of the official.
