Enabling Environment for Social Accountability in ... - SASANet

Executive Summary
Governmental accountability has become an increasing focus of attention by the World Bank and other
international donors in their development policies, strategies, and programs. Efforts to promote
accountability have traditionally focused on improving horizontal accountability between governmental
actors and institutions, that is, the “supply-side” of governance. Recently, however, the “demand side” of
governance, including but not limited to the electoral process, has received greater attention. This vertical
form of social accountability is based on civic engagement as a means to promote transparency and
responsiveness in public policy making and implementation and is increasingly regarded as vital for good
governance. Moreover, social accountability empowers citizens, especially poor citizens, and promotes
inclusive and accountable institutions that can enhance the political legitimacy and stability of a
government and strengthen social cohesion.
Social accountability refers to a range of mechanisms that citizens can use to hold public officials to
account, and actions on the part of government, civil society, media, and other societal actors that
promote these efforts. 1 While conventional ways of holding governments accountable have included such
actions as public protests, advocacy campaigns, and investigative journalism, there is growing attention to
social accountability practices such as participatory budgeting, public expenditure tracking, and citizen
monitoring of public service delivery, which emphasize a solid evidence base and direct negotiation
between citizens and government representatives.
The role of civil society actors in promoting social accountability is particularly relevant to Mongolia
because of the emphasis the Government of Mongolia (GoM) and its development partners place on good
governance to enhance social and economic development. Social accountability mechanisms that
strengthen links between the state and citizens form a critical foundation for Mongolia’s ongoing effort to
develop democratic institutions that enable economic growth and human development. These mechanisms
are important for limiting corruption, a problem all stakeholders acknowledge as a mounting challenge in
Mongolia. Given the sociopolitical legacies of the socialist regime that reinforce top-down approaches to
governance, one of the greatest challenges to achieving Mongolia’s economic and social development is
enhancing the important role that citizens and their organizations can play in promoting government
accountability.
The purpose of this study, therefore, is: 1) to analyze conditions that influence the ability of citizens and
their organizations to promote accountability of public institutions in Mongolia; 2) to identify priority
areas for policy, legal, regulatory, and institutional reforms to improve these conditions; and 3) to identify
areas in which the capacity building of civil society organizations and the Government of Mongolia may
be promoted to enhance social accountability for improved governance, social and economic
development, and poverty reduction.
Despite numerous studies on related topics of governance, development, and civil society in Mongolia,
many of which are cited in this document, few have considered and none have focused on issues related
to social accountability. 2 The study applies a civic engagement analytical framework to assess the
enabling environment: the factors and conditions that would allow CSOs to promote public
accountability. This framework, represented by the acronym ARVIN, recognizes five enabling elements
1 Although the focus of this paper is public sector accountability, social accountability also applies to society’s actions in exacting
accountability from private sector institutions and even CSOs.
2 A notable exception is the recent World Bank study on Mongolian Civil Society Organizations by Chris Finch (2005), which
provides critical background information to this document.