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Conceptualising Accountability: An Approach to Measurement

Chris Larkin, Philippine Reimpell

London: BBC Media Action (2012), 31 pp.

"Improving state accountability is a central preoccupation of development efforts. How individuals and institutions can and do hold governments to account for their actions and decisions differs radically between societies. Furthermore, what accountability actually means can differ greatly from one ... more

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Topic Guide on Communication and Governance

Huma Haider, Claire McIoughlin, Zoë Scott

Birmingham; Washington, DC: Governance and Social Development Resource Centre (GSDRC), University of Birmingham;World Bank, Communication for Governance and Accountability Program (CommGAP), 2nd ed. (2011), 67 pp.

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Accountability Through Public Opinion: From Inertia to Public Action

Sina Odugbemi, Taeku Lee (eds.)

Washington, DC: World Bank (2011), xxv, 507 pp.

Well-Informed Journalists Make Well-Informed Citizens: Coverage of Governance Issues in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Mary Myers

In: Accountability Through Public Opinion: From Inertia to Public Action

Sina Odugbemi; Taeku Lee (eds.)

Washington, DC: World Bank (2011), pp. 151-158

Training Journalists for Accountability in Argentina

Laura Zommer

In: Accountability Through Public Opinion: From Inertia to Public Action

Sina Odugbemi; Taeku Lee (eds.)

Washington, DC: World Bank (2011), pp. 139-149

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The Contribution of Government Communication Capacity to Achieving Good Governance Outcomes

Antonio Lambino

Washington, DC: World Bank, Communication for Governance and Accountability Program (CommGAP) (2011), 12 pp.

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Generating Genuine Demand for Accountability Through Communication: A Trainer's Guide

Anne-Katrin Arnold, Helen Garcia

Washington, DC: World Bank, Communication for Governance and Accountability Program (CommGAP) (2011), viii, 62 pp.

"This guide is designed for development practitioners in donor organizations, governments, and civil society, who are setting up capacity-building programs for promoting sustainable accountability and governance reform. A conceptual framework for communication and accountability provides trainers wi ... more

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Media Toolkit for Local Governance in Lesotho

Paul J. M. van Hoof

Pretoria: Idasa;MISA Lesotho (2011), 39 pp.

"This Media Toolkit for Local Governance in Lesotho is designed to encourage media coverage of news and events in Lesotho’s rural areas at local government level. According to the publication, to improve such media coverage there is a need to focus both on the providers and the collectors of news. ... more

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People, Politics and Change: Building Communication Capacity for Governance Reform
Key Guidance

Cecilia Cabañero-Verzosa, Helen R. Garcia (eds.)

Washington, DC: World Bank (2011), viii, 465 pp.

"This is an applied facilitator’s guide for reform managers, change agents, development practitioners, and training professionals who need to use smart communication techniques—the relevant concepts, frameworks and applications—to promote change through governance reform. It is grounded on the ... more

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Pera Natin ‘To! Citizen Action for Good Governance

Red Batario (ed.)

Quezon City: Philippine Public Transparency Reporting Project (PPTRP) (2011), 154 pp.

"The starting point of PPTRP has been that real and lasting transparency and accountability are best built from the ground up piece by piece and by ordinary people taking their responsibilities as citizens seriously. It is one of the reasons we subtitled the project and website “Pera Natin ‘to!� ... �� (It’s Our Money!). We wanted to help build public ownership in the issue. Our concern was – and remains still today – that changes introduced at the top by one administration – can so easily be taken away by another unless that change is deeply rooted in the ground and in its people. So we believed- and still believe – that real sustainable change in governance comes only from active and continual participation of citizens. It needs action and engagement at both the national and local level. It needs groups, sectors and communities finding new ways of coming and working together to develop new ideas and build new constituencies and avenues for change. It needs to involve and energise all those hundreds of thousands of honest and professional civil servants across the country who for way too long have quietly despaired going to work each day given the failure of leadership in their own departments and agencies. All this required and still requires a combined response that uses new thinking and approaches. It required first and foremost the start of a public literacy campaign around public finances since citizens cannot ever hope to adequately monitor or engage in things that they don’t understand. So it was that we built our project equally around information, education, training, capacity building, networking, advocacy and campaigns. So it was that we worked with people’s organizations, civil society groups, media and ordinary members of the public at one and the same time. We figured that everybody had a role to play in building and securing transparency and accountability – and so everybody should get involved. We started work on a website full of the basics – (www.transparencyreporting.net) accessible and easy to understand information about all aspects of public finance. We assumed little – partly because we knew little ourselves and were learning on the job as we went. We wrote, commissioned and edited material designed to give readers a sense of understanding about how public finances, systems and cycles worked and what kind of issues and problems there were. We tried to identify how and where money was raised and how it was allocated and spent and why and by whom. Invariably it comes down to money. If you can follow the money, you can find the problems and perhaps even help suggest some solutions. We developed training modules too – modules aimed equally at journalists and activists and ordinary members of the public. And we toured around the Philippines going north and as far south as Tawi-Tawi where we were told few groups ever venture. We encouraged people to report allegations of corruption – but equally we sought out instances of where government was working well and deserved highlighting. It is easy to be negative – but far better to be critically constructive. We received many more allegations than we could investigate – in large part because sources were scared even to follow up and meet with us in confidence. Protection for whistle-blowers remains very much a pressing issue today that needs sorting ... While all projects must by necessity always remain above the political fray, we were naturally delighted that as things turned out, the new incoming administration made improving transparency and accountability a primary goal. When an initiative finds itself working in support of government policy, it is always easier. So we were delighted to see the issue of political abuse of public projects taken up as were the appointment of some leading proponents of open government to key positions in the administration. We were very fortunate also for the chance to work closely with officials in several key departments and on various initiatives linked to the national budget. [...] Perhaps one key achievement we might be remembered for, alongside the website which will remain as hopefully a useful resource for those wanting to learn more about public sector finances -- is having set up four local citizen watchdog groups that demonstrate how easy and important it is for ordinary people to get involved and play their part. We hope more groups can follow their lead. People power needs to be much more than a slogan and become a way of life." (Introduction, page 16-19) more

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Public Sentinel: News Media and Governance Reform
Top Insights

Pippa Norris (ed.)

Washington, DC: World Bank (2010), xxi, 420 pp.

"This book highlights the importance of the news media as watchdogs, agenda setters and gatekeepers for the quality of democratic deliberation in the public sphere. At the same time, it theorizes that the capacity of journalists and media systems to fulfill these roles depends on the broader context ... more

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Médias et bonne gouvernance en Afrique: Concept et cas pratiques

Libreville: UNESCO (2010), xix, 209 pp.

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Reporting Tax Research: Connecting Researchers and Journalists for Improved Media Coverage and Debate in Kenya

London: Panos London (2010), 20 pp.

"In late 2009, three newspaper articles appeared in the Kenyan press, contributing to a newly emerging debate in the Kenyan media over government transparency and accountability. Media reporting in Kenya on governance issues, particularly in relation to corrupt practices in public spending, is not n ... more

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Technology for Transparency: The Role of Technology and Citizen Media in Promoting Transparency, Accountability, and Civic Participation

David Sasaki (ed.)

[no publisher] (2010), 75 pp.

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E-Governance Report Card

New Delhi: OneWorld Foundation India (2010), 37 pp.

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Do Informed Voters Make Better Choices? Experimental Evidence from Urban India

Abhijit V. Banerjee, Selvan Kumar, Rohini Pande, Felix Su

[authors] (2010), 20 pp.

"Disclosure laws for politicians exist in over a hundred countries. But can disclosures about politician performance and qualifications influence electoral accountability in settings characterized by weak institutions and less educated populations? In the run-up to elections in Delhi we implemented ... more

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A Suggested Framework for Assessing Electronic Government Readiness in Egypt

Nahed Amin Azab, Sherif Kamel, Georgios Dafoulas

Electronic Journal of e-Government, volume 7, issue 1 (2009), pp. 11-27

"Electronic Government (e-Government) is becoming a global phenomenon that is increasingly attracting the attention of community citizens including politicians, economists, decision and policy makers amongst others. Once only regarded as a means for modernizing the public sector and increasing gover ... more

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Governance Reform Under Real World Conditions: Citizens, Stakeholders, and Voice

Sina Odugbemi, Thomas Jacobson (eds.)

Washington, DC: World Bank (2008), xxi, 525 pp.

"This book is a contribution to efforts to improve governance systems around the world, particularly in developing countries. It offers a range of innovative approaches and techniques for dealing with the most important nontechnical challenges that prevent many of those efforts from being successful ... more

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Media and Good Governance

Department for International Development (DFID) (2008), 17 pp.

"This briefing builds on DFID’s commitments set out in our 2006 White Paper, Making Governance Work for the Poor. The main purpose is to provide an overview of the relationship between media and governance, and to highlight some of the principal opportunities and challenges to engaging with the se ... more

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Usages innovants des TIC en Afrique: La presse au coeur de l’analyse

Panos Afrique de l'Ouest (2008), 208 pp.

People, Politics and Change: Building Communication Capacity for Governance Reform Key Guidance

Public Sentinel: News Media and Governance Reform Top Insights

People, Politics and Change: Building Communication Capacity for Governance Reform
Key Guidance

Public Sentinel: News Media and Governance Reform
Top Insights