The Workings of Accountability: Contexts and Conditions

ENRIQUE PERUZZOTTI

Accountability Through Public Opinion. From Inertia to Public Action

The World Bank Institute

Lugar: Washington DC; Año: 2011; p. 53 - 64

The goal of the chapter is to analyze the different contexts in which the concept of social accountability is being applied. The first section analyzes the intrinsic links that the concept of accountability in general and the term social accountability in particular have with that of democratic representation. The second section focuses on the contextual prerequisites that must be present for the proper workings of initiatives of social accountability under representative democracy. The third section concentrates on the applicability of the term to contexts other than representative democracy. The chapter concludes with a short discussion of how to construct a favorable environment for the exercise of civic control beyond the boundaries of democratic representation.