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Legal Empowerment and Social Accountability: Complementary Strategies Toward Rights-based Development in Health?

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  • Joshi, Anuradha

Abstract

Citizen-based accountability strategies to improve the lives of the poor and marginalized groups are increasingly being used in efforts to improve basic public services. The latest thinking suggests that broader, multi-pronged, multi-level, strategic approaches that may overcome the limitations of narrow, localized successes, hold more promise. This paper examines the challenges and opportunities, in theory and practice, posed by the integration of two such citizen-based accountability strategies—social accountability and legal empowerment. It traces the foundations of each of these approaches to highlight the potential benefits of integration. Consequently it examines whether these benefits have been realized in practice, by drawing upon five cases of organizations pursuing integration of social accountability and legal empowerment for health accountability in Macedonia, Guatemala, Uganda, and India. The cases highlight that while integration offers some promise in advancing the cause of social change, it also poses challenges for organizations in terms of strategies they pursue.

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  • Joshi, Anuradha, 2017. "Legal Empowerment and Social Accountability: Complementary Strategies Toward Rights-based Development in Health?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 160-172.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:99:y:2017:i:c:p:160-172
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2017.07.008
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Anuradha Joshi, 2014. "Reading the Local Context: A Causal Chain Approach to Social Accountability," IDS Bulletin, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 45(5), pages 23-35, September.
    2. Anuradha Joshi, 2013. "Do They Work? Assessing the Impact of Transparency and Accountability Initiatives in Service Delivery," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 31, pages 29-48, July.
    3. Gauri, Varun, 2013. "Redressing Grievances and Complaints Regarding Basic Service Delivery," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 109-119.
    4. John Gaventa & Rosemary McGee, 2013. "The Impact of Transparency and Accountability Initiatives," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 31, pages 3-28, July.
    5. Fox, Jonathan A., 2015. "Social Accountability: What Does the Evidence Really Say?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 346-361.
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    8. Rachel M. Gisselquist, 2019. "Legal Empowerment and Group-Based Inequality," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(3), pages 333-347, March.
    9. Dewachter, Sara & Holvoet, Nathalie & Kuppens, Miet & Molenaers, Nadia, 2018. "Beyond the Short versus Long Accountability Route Dichotomy: Using Multi-track Accountability Pathways to Study Performance of Rural Water Services in Uganda," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 158-169.
    10. Rachel M. Gisselquist, 2018. "Legal empowerment and group-based inequality," WIDER Working Paper Series 039, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
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