This working paper by Prof. Jonathan Fox (American University) explores the distinction between tactical and strategic approaches to the promotion of citizen voice to contribute to improved public sector performance. Policy discussion of social accountability initiatives has increasingly focused on questions about their tangible development impacts. The empirical evidence is mixed.
Field experiments tend to study bounded, tactical interventions that rely on optimistic assumptions about the power of information alone both to motivate collective action and to influence public sector performance. More promising results emerge from studies of multi-pronged strategies that encourage enabling environments for collective action and bolster state capacity to actually respond to citizen voice. This reinterpretation of the empirical evidence leads to a proposed new series of grounded propositions that focus on state-society synergy and sandwich strategies through which 'voice' and 'teeth' can become mutually empowering.
Prof. Jonathan Fox is to present at the Global Partners 2015 Forum on May 12, 2015. Watch the live webcast here starting at 11:30am.
