Accountability through public opinion

About this book

Accountability through Public Opinion: From Inertia to Public Action addresses some core questions that are crucial to understanding what accountability is and why it affects the effectiveness of development aid. The main argument of this book is that genuine public opinion is central to accountability. Governments will only be accountable if there are incentives for them to do so, and only an actively engaged and critical public will change the incentives of government officials to make them responsive to citizens' demands. Accountability without public opinion is a technocratic solution, not an effective one. The book's contributors, nearly 30 accountability practitioners and thinkers, discuss the concept and its structural conditions; the relationship among accountability, information, and the media; the role of deliberation to promote accountability; and mechanisms and tools to mobilize public opinion. A number of case studies from around the world are included to illustrate the centrality of public opinion. Accountability through Public Opinion is designed for policy makers and governance specialists working within the international development community, national governments, grassroots organizations, activists, and scholars engaged in understanding the interaction between accountability and public opinion and the role of both in broadening the impact of international development interventions. --Book Jacket.