Government accountability
Performance accountability and combating corruption
Empowering citizens to demand accountability
Authors:
A. Shah (ed)
Publisher:
World Bank, 2008
This book presents the latest thinking of leading development scholars on operationalising a framework of governance to empower citizens to demand accountability from their governments. Focusing on the question of how to institutionalise performance-based accountability, especially in countries that lack good accountability systems, the essays in the book describe how institutions of accountability may be strengthened to combat corruption.
The book is organized into two parts. The first part with four chapters deals with public management reforms to ensure the integrity and improve the efficiency of government operations. It also outlines an agenda for public management reforms and discusses the roles of e-government and network solutions in performance improvements.
The second part with nine chapters provides advice on strengthening the role of representative institutions, such as organs and committees of parliament, in providing oversight of government programs. It also provides guidance on how auditing and related institutions can be used to detect fraud and corruption.
In general, the essays in the book highlight the causes of corruption and the use of both internal and external accountability institutions and mechanisms to fight it. It provides advice on how to tailor anticorruption programs to individual country circumstances and how to sequence reform efforts to ensure sustainability.
The book offers insights into ways policy makers can initiate governance reforms that introduce performance-based accountability in the public sector in order to both improve service delivery performance and eradicate corruption.
