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Participatory budgeting is a tool that can be used to improve social accountability within public institutions through increasing the participation of citizens in decision-making processes about the distribution of public funds. The global experiences from the use of participatory budgeting indicate that the impact of the initiatives has ranged from very weak to highly successful, and that the successfulness depends on certain factors in the environment where it is implemented – even though there is no agreement on what these factors are. Albania is one of the countries where a range of civil society organizations are implementing participatory budgeting initiatives and is at the same time a country that faces one of the highest corruption levels in Europe. Despite the fact that these initiatives could bring very important impacts, very little academic research is done on this topic. The purpose of this thesis was therefore to investigate to what extent the participatory budgeting initiatives in Albania have improved social accountability in the Albanian societies, as well as what factors that have affected this impact and how. The investigation was carried out as a case study in Albania where nine different participatory budgeting initiatives were examined through conducting semi-structured interviews with the organizations implementing these projects, as well as one expert organization that has helped the other organizations to improve their knowledge on the tool and one public official from a municipality involved in one of the initiatives. The research of this thesis found that the Albanian participatory budgeting initiatives have succeeded to do minor improvements on social accountability through strengthening the voice of the citizens and the enforcement mechanism, while formal answerability still is low and negatively affects the sustainability of these improvements. It was further found that seventeen factors from five different categories have affected the ability of the initiatives to improve social accountability – some more than others. These categories were: formal and informal political systems, supportive legal and policy frameworks, local capacity and knowledge, free media institutions, and availability of information. The contributions of the thesis included also the finding of a factor that was not mentioned by the theory (trust by local governments in civil society organizations), as well as a structure on how these influencing factors interact with each other.

No description available.

Background The University of Cape Town Faculty of Health Sciences (UCT FHS) adopted the Primary Health Care (PHC) approach as its lead theme for teaching, research, and clinical service in1994 Aim To develop indicators to monitor and evaluate the implementation of the PHC approach in Health Sciences Education . Method A Delphi study, conducted over two rounds, presented indicators of Social Accountability from the Training for Health Equity Network (THEnet), as well as indicators derived from the principles of the PHC approach in the UCT FHS, to a national multidisciplinary panel. An electronic questionnaire was used to score each indicator according to relevance, feasibility/measurability, and its application to undergraduate and postgraduate curricula. Qualitative feedback on the proposed indicators was also elicited. Results Round 1: Of the 59 Social Accountability indicators presented to the panel, the 20 highest ranked indicators were selected for Round 2. Qualitative feedback challenged the link between social accountability and PHC, resulting in an additional 19 PHC-specific indicators being presented in Round 2. Round 2: The indicators which scored >85% and made the final list were: PHC: Continuity of care (94%); Holistic understanding of health care (88%); Respecting human rights (88%); Providing accessible care to all (88%); and Promoting health through health education (88%). THEnet: Safety of learners (88%); Education reflects communities' needs (86%); Teaching embodies social accountability (86%); Teaching is appropriate to learners' needs (86%) Conclusion These PHC and THEnet indicators can be used to assess the implementation of PHC in Health Sciences Education. The specific indicators identified reflect priorities relevant to the local context. One limitation is that some key priority indicators did not make the final list.

No / Efforts to promote corporate social and environmental accountability (SEA) should be informed by an understanding of stakeholders' attitudes toward enhanced accountability standards. However, little is known about current attitudes on this subject, or the determinants of these attitudes. To address this issue, this study examines the relationship between personal values and support for social and environmental accountability for a sample of experienced MBA students. Exploratory factor analysis of the items comprising our measure of support for SEA revealed two distinct factors: (1) endorsement of the general proposition that corporations and executives should be held accountable for the social and environmental impacts of their actions; and (2) agreement that the government should adopt and enforce formal SEA standards. Our findings indicate that the universalism value type is positively associated with general support for SEA, but not with support for government enforcement of accountability standards. In addition, we found that gender has a significant impact on support for government enforcement of SEA standards.

Following the controversial Federal election in Ethiopia in 2005, in which the ruling party regained power amidst allegations of state-sanctioned violence, the World Bank, along with other bilateral donors, stopped providing Direct Budget Support. In 2006, the Bank formed an agreement with the Ethiopian Government for an International Development Association (IDA) grant for the Protection of Basic Services. The project design for the grant was one of the most complex in the Bank's operations worldwide and featured a component for the implementation of social accountability, financed by a Multi-donor Trust Fund. This thesis critically examines the evolution within the Bank of this policy of 'social accountability' in relation to aid. Situated within the literature on the re-politicisation of aid, it questions the plausibility of implementing such a policy in Ethiopia where the dominant party was seeking ways to extend its power over society. Fieldwork for this thesis was conducted at the World Bank in Washington D.C. and in Ethiopia: in Addis Ababa, and in the region of Tigray. The evidence assembled in this thesis is drawn from 135 semi-structured interviews and a range of primary source documents. Using an historical method, this thesis argues that the primary purpose of social accountability was rhetorical and the deployment of this language by actors was cynical. Not only did donors have a limited purchase on a complex social reality in Ethiopia, but they also tolerated the misuse of social accountability by the dominant party to extend the power of the state. What was produced in Ethiopia was radically outside of what donors imagined, although they were remarkably relaxed about this fact. This thesis challenges the conventional assumptions that actors in aid negotiations are rational and that aid programs involve the imposition of rationalising high-modernist schemes.

O objetivo central desta tese é desenvolver a análise de três bancos centrais e seu desenho institucional para o exercício do poder monetário. O estudo visa a analisar mecanismos de hard law (estabelecido por tratados, constituições ou leis) destinados à accountability política e social de três bancos centrais: Banco Central do Brasil (Bacen), Banco Central Europeu (BCE) e Federal Reserve dos Estados Unidos (Fed). Este trabalho também pretende explorar mecanismos de soft law criados por iniciativa de bancos centrais, os quais desempenham papel importante para a sua legitimidade e para sua accountability. Este estudo adota uma abordagem jurídica específica: o direito e a análise jurídica como mecanismos de imaginação institucional em uma democracia política. O direito é concebido como instrumento para a estruturação da accountability política e social da gestão monetária por bancos centrais. Esta tese sustenta que os mecanismos de prestação de contas e responsabilização de autoridades monetárias podem sustentar a legitimidade de suas ações no tempo. As principais hipóteses deste estudo são: (i) os mecanismos de hard law parecem não revelar todos os instrumentos de accountability para os bancos centrais estudados; (ii) apesar de esses mecanismos representarem importante componente de sua moldura jurídica, destinada a assegurar sua prestação de contas e sua responsabilização política e social, instrumentos de soft law têm provocado mudanças institucionais significativas (e de forma mais rápida) na legitimidade e na accountability desses bancos centrais; (iii) o contexto institucional nos quais bancos centrais operam é variável relevante para se pensar sobre o desenho de mecanismos jurídicos de accountability; e (iv) com base nas hipóteses (i) a (iii), este estudo entende que a concepção e o papel do direito nesse domínio precisariam ser repensados e reconstruídos e esta tese apresenta algumas propostas nesse intuito. / The central goal of this dissertation is to develop an analysis of three central banks and their institutional design for the exercise of monetary power. The study aims at analyzing hard law mechanisms (established by treaties, constitutions or statutes) for the political and social accountability of three central banks: Brazilian Central Bank (Bacen), European Central Bank (ECB) and Federal Reserve (Fed). The dissertation also intends to explore the soft law mechanisms created by the central banks themselves, which in some institutions play an important role for their legitimacy and accountability. This study provides a specific legal approach: law as an instrument of institutional design in a political democracy. It conceives law as an instrument for the construction of the monetary policys political and social accountability. This dissertation claims that the mechanisms of accountability can sustain the legitimacy of central banks actions. The hypotheses of this study are: (i) the current hard law framework does not reveal all the mechanisms for political and social accountability for the central banks under study; (ii) while hard law mechanisms still represent an important component of the framework designed to build and ensure political and social accountability, soft law mechanisms are causing more and faster institutional changes in central banks accountability and legitimacy; (iii) the institutional context in which central banks operate is a relevant variable in order to conceive the design of accountability mechanisms; and (iv) building on the findings of (i), (ii) and (iii), the conception and the role of law in this domain have to be rethought and rebuilt and the dissertation presents some proposals in that purpose.

O objetivo central desta tese é desenvolver a análise de três bancos centrais e seu desenho institucional para o exercício do poder monetário. O estudo visa a analisar mecanismos de hard law (estabelecido por tratados, constituições ou leis) destinados à accountability política e social de três bancos centrais: Banco Central do Brasil (Bacen), Banco Central Europeu (BCE) e Federal Reserve dos Estados Unidos (Fed). Este trabalho também pretende explorar mecanismos de soft law criados por iniciativa de bancos centrais, os quais desempenham papel importante para a sua legitimidade e para sua accountability. Este estudo adota uma abordagem jurídica específica: o direito e a análise jurídica como mecanismos de imaginação institucional em uma democracia política. O direito é concebido como instrumento para a estruturação da accountability política e social da gestão monetária por bancos centrais. Esta tese sustenta que os mecanismos de prestação de contas e responsabilização de autoridades monetárias podem sustentar a legitimidade de suas ações no tempo. As principais hipóteses deste estudo são: (i) os mecanismos de hard law parecem não revelar todos os instrumentos de accountability para os bancos centrais estudados; (ii) apesar de esses mecanismos representarem importante componente de sua moldura jurídica, destinada a assegurar sua prestação de contas e sua responsabilização política e social, instrumentos de soft law têm provocado mudanças institucionais significativas (e de forma mais rápida) na legitimidade e na accountability desses bancos centrais; (iii) o contexto institucional nos quais bancos centrais operam é variável relevante para se pensar sobre o desenho de mecanismos jurídicos de accountability; e (iv) com base nas hipóteses (i) a (iii), este estudo entende que a concepção e o papel do direito nesse domínio precisariam ser repensados e reconstruídos e esta tese apresenta algumas propostas nesse intuito. / The central goal of this dissertation is to develop an analysis of three central banks and their institutional design for the exercise of monetary power. The study aims at analyzing hard law mechanisms (established by treaties, constitutions or statutes) for the political and social accountability of three central banks: Brazilian Central Bank (Bacen), European Central Bank (ECB) and Federal Reserve (Fed). The dissertation also intends to explore the soft law mechanisms created by the central banks themselves, which in some institutions play an important role for their legitimacy and accountability. This study provides a specific legal approach: law as an instrument of institutional design in a political democracy. It conceives law as an instrument for the construction of the monetary policys political and social accountability. This dissertation claims that the mechanisms of accountability can sustain the legitimacy of central banks actions. The hypotheses of this study are: (i) the current hard law framework does not reveal all the mechanisms for political and social accountability for the central banks under study; (ii) while hard law mechanisms still represent an important component of the framework designed to build and ensure political and social accountability, soft law mechanisms are causing more and faster institutional changes in central banks accountability and legitimacy; (iii) the institutional context in which central banks operate is a relevant variable in order to conceive the design of accountability mechanisms; and (iv) building on the findings of (i), (ii) and (iii), the conception and the role of law in this domain have to be rethought and rebuilt and the dissertation presents some proposals in that purpose.

Magister Legum - LLM

Cette thèse revisite le concept d’accountability élaboré par Robert (1991), défini comme un processus itératif en trois temps, visant pour un individu à justifier un acte qu’il a commis par rapport à des valeurs et des normes, que l’individu reconnaît comme siennes. Au sein des organisations, deux accountability sont définies. L’accountability hiérarchique se réalise à distance, du fait des outils de gestion. L’accountability sociale se réalise en face-à-face par les interactions directes. Cette thèse se concentre les interactions sociales, notamment conflictuelles, pour en comprendre l’influence sur la formation de l’accountability en organisation ; ceci tant au niveau de l’individu que du groupe. La première étude s’intéresse à la formation de l’accountability d’un individu quand il fait face à deux demandes de comptes antagonistes; ceci à partir d’entretiens de salariés qui doivent, au nom de l’entreprise, répondre à une demande sociale, restant alignée sur les principes du monde des affaires. À l’aide de la conceptualisation foucaldienne de la subjectivation de l’individu par lui-même, je montre que ces demandes, sont interprétées par les salariés selon leurs convictions propres. Ils proposent une réponse personnelle. Trop spécifique par rapport aux deux demandes, elle est rejetée. L’individu ne peut plus rendre compte. Pour rétablir l’accountability, une communauté alternative, regroupant les salariés interrogés, leur permet d’être considérés comme ayant bien agi.La seconde étude questionne, à partir d’une ethnographie, réalisée au Mali, la formation de l’accountability d’un groupe dont les collègues remettent en cause la mission. Elle montre que des salariés contrarient l’accountability de leurs pairs car ils mettent en place un produit adapté aux populations rurales, avec lesquelles les salariés urbains ne veulent être assimilés. Pour comprendre ce conflit de classe, les théories post-coloniales sont mobilisées. Elles aident à révéler un déplacement de la dichotomie entre « Nord / Sud », vers une séparation des Suds « élite urbaine / populations rurales ». Pour contrer ces difficultés à rendre compte, les salariés concernés développent une relation de redevabilité envers les villageois. Ils se rendent également mutuellement des comptes pour se soutenir, et réhabiliter leur accountability hiérarchique en s’appuyant sur leurs positions respectives. Cette étude démontre qu’au sein de l’accountability hiérarchique s’opèrent des ruptures, provenant de situations interactionnelles conflictuelles, et compensées par le développement d’accountability sociales alternatives. / This doctoral thesis examines Robert’s (1991) conceptualization of accountability in conflicting situations. In organizational contexts, individuals give account in two ways; at a distance, to show that their actions are aligned with the main goals of the company – hierarchical accountability -; in face-to-face situations, to provide explanations to people they meet - social accountability. First I study how accountability takes shape when an individual faces two antagonist demands for accountabilities towards the same act. Interviews were conducted with employees from CSR departments, whose mission is about providing an answer to social demands in the name of the company, while staying aligned with business principles. With the help of Foucaldian concepts of “Ethics” and “Moral” (1991), I show that employees interpret those two demands within their own norms and provide an answer that satisfies themselves first. This specific answer is rejected. Accountability is interrupted. In order to re-establish accountability, a community is created around that specific answer, gathering employees from various companies. This community provides a space to give accounts and confirms CSR managers are acting appropriately.Second, analysing ethnographic material, I try to understand how accountability takes shape when certain employees oppose the mission of their colleagues. Precisely, the discussion takes place regarding a product, which has been developed especially for poor rural populations, who are assimilated into the “underdeveloped world” and with which the Malian elite would not be associated. First, with the help of Saïd (1978) and Fanon’s (1952) work, I explain the reason for that class conflict through the dichotomy between “North and South”. This dichotomy has been translated south to “local elite / rural population”. Second, I show that to overcome difficulties, employees develop alternative forms of accountabilities toward villagers and toward themselves. The second form aims to develop mutual support but also reinstate accountability toward hierarchy by using their personal positions and degree of power in order to take a coordination action.Overall, this doctoral thesis shows that hierarchical accountability can be momentarily interrupted and later can be restored by the development of alternative types of social accountability.