IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/porgrv/v15y2015i2p317-333.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Role of Social Accountability in Poverty Alleviation Programs in Developing Countries: An Analysis with Reference to Bangladesh

Author

Listed:
  • Abu Sarker
  • Mohammad Rahman

Abstract

In spite of different approaches being experimented over the past six decades, poverty alleviation programs in the developing world have largely failed to improve poverty situation. Of all the factors responsible for the growing trend of poverty, the accountability of public officials remains an intriguing one. The relative ineffectiveness of conventional accountability mechanisms has given rise to social accountability practices. This paper aims to explore the terrain of social accountability and its role in poverty alleviation programs in Bangladesh. The paper argues that despite the great potentials, social accountability mechanisms work with difficulties in Bangladesh owing to contemporary socio-economic and political realities. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Abu Sarker & Mohammad Rahman, 2015. "The Role of Social Accountability in Poverty Alleviation Programs in Developing Countries: An Analysis with Reference to Bangladesh," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 317-333, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:kap:porgrv:v:15:y:2015:i:2:p:317-333
    DOI: 10.1007/s11115-014-0275-x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s11115-014-0275-x
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11115-014-0275-x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rehman Sobhan, 1998. "How Bad Governance Impedes Poverty Alleviation in Bangladesh," OECD Development Centre Working Papers 143, OECD Publishing.
    2. Goldstein, Judith & Kahler, Miles & Keohane, Robert O. & Slaughter, Anne-Marie, 2000. "Introduction: Legalization and World Politics," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 54(3), pages 385-399, July.
    3. Sarah C. White, 1999. "NGOs, Civil Society, and the State in Bangladesh: The Politics of Representing the Poor," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 30(2), pages 307-326, April.
    4. Anuradha Joshi & Peter P. Houtzager, 2012. "Widgets or Watchdogs?," Public Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(2), pages 145-162, February.
    5. World Bank, 2004. "State-Society Synergy for Accountability : Lessons for the World Bank," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 14944, December.
    6. World Bank, 2008. "Poverty Assessment for Bangladesh," World Bank Publications - Reports 28239, The World Bank Group.
    7. Heller, Patrick & Harilal, K.N. & Chaudhuri, Shubham, 2007. "Building Local Democracy: Evaluating the Impact of Decentralization in Kerala, India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 626-648, April.
    8. Ackerman, John, 2004. "Co-Governance for Accountability: Beyond "Exit" and "Voice"," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 447-463, March.
    9. Abu Sarker & Mohammad Rahman, 2007. "The Emerging Perspective of Governance and Poverty Alleviation: A Case of Bangladesh," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 7(2), pages 93-112, June.
    10. McCourt, Willy, 2003. "Political Commitment to Reform: Civil Service Reform in Swaziland," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 1015-1031, June.
    11. World Bank, 2008. "Bangladesh - Poverty Assessment for Bangladesh : Creating Opportunities and Bridging the East-West Divide," World Bank Publications - Reports 6144, The World Bank Group.
    12. World Bank, 2008. "Bangladesh - Poverty Assessment for Bangladesh : Creating Opportunities and Bridging the East-West Divide," World Bank Publications - Reports 7886, The World Bank Group.
    13. Anne Marie Goetz & Rob Jenkins, 2001. "Hybrid Forms Of Accountability: Citizen engagement in institutions of public-sector oversight in India," Public Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 3(3), pages 363-383, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Shan, Haiyan & Yang, Junliang, 2019. "Sustainability of photovoltaic poverty alleviation in China: An evolutionary game between stakeholders," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 264-280.
    2. Sajedul Islam Khan & Md Nazirul Islam Sarker* & Nazmul Huda & A. B. M. Nurullah & Md Rafiuz Zaman, 2018. "Assessment of New Urban Poverty of Vulnerable Urban Dwellers in the Context of Sub-Urbanization in Bangladesh," The Journal of Social Sciences Research, Academic Research Publishing Group, vol. 4(10), pages 184-193, 10-2018.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Fox, Jonathan A., 2015. "Social Accountability: What Does the Evidence Really Say?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 346-361.
    2. Zhang, Xiaobo & Rashid, Shahidur & Kaikaus, Ahmad & Ahmed, Akhter, 2021. "Escalation of real wages in Bangladesh: Is it the beginning of structural transformation?," IFPRI book chapters, in: Securing food for all in Bangladesh, chapter 10, pages 343-374, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    3. Berg Claudia & Emran M. Shahe, 2020. "Microfinance and Vulnerability to Seasonal Famine in a Rural Economy: Evidence from Monga in Bangladesh," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 20(3), pages 1-36, July.
    4. Peter Davis & Bob Baulch, 2010. "Casting the net wide and deep: lessons learned in a mixed-methods study of poverty dynamics in rural Bangladesh," Working Papers id:2674, eSocialSciences.
    5. Asadullah, M. Niaz & Savoia, Antonio & Mahmud, Wahiduddin, 2014. "Paths to Development: Is there a Bangladesh Surprise?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 138-154.
    6. Fischer, Harry W. & Ali, Syed Shoaib, 2019. "Reshaping the public domain: Decentralization, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), and trajectories of local democracy in rural India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 147-158.
    7. A. T. M. Hasibul Islam & Syed Abul Basher & A. K. Enamul Haque, 2022. "The impact of mobile money on long-term poverty: evidence from Bangladesh," Journal of Social and Economic Development, Springer;Institute for Social and Economic Change, vol. 24(2), pages 436-455, December.
    8. Abu Elias Sarker & Syed Awais Ahmad Tipu & Farhana Razzaque, 2022. "An Integrative Dynamic Framework of Social Accountability: Determinants, Initiatives, and Outcomes," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 117-133, March.
    9. Shadlee Rahman, 2018. "A Critical Examination of Inter-temporal Spatial Poverty Trends in Bangladesh," South Asia Economic Journal, Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, vol. 19(1), pages 108-123, March.
    10. Sushenjit Bandyopadhyay & Emmanuel Skoufias, 2015. "Rainfall variability, occupational choice, and welfare in rural Bangladesh," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 13(3), pages 589-634, September.
    11. Maren Duvendack & Richard Palmer-Jones, 2017. "Micro-Finance, Women’s Empowerment and Fertility Decline in Bangladesh: How Important Was Women’s Agency?," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(5), pages 664-683, May.
    12. Gulesci, Selim & Battaglia, Marianna & Madestam, Andreas, 2018. "Repayment Flexibility and Risk Taking: Experimental Evidence from Credit Contracts," CEPR Discussion Papers 13329, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    13. Agnes R. Quisumbing & Neha Kumar & Julia A. Behrman, 2018. "Do shocks affect men's and women's assets differently? Evidence from Bangladesh and Uganda," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 36(1), pages 3-34, January.
    14. Khondoker Abdul Mottaleb & Dil Bahadur Rahut, 2019. "Impacts of Improved Infrastructure on Labor Allocation and Livelihoods: The Case of the Jamuna Multipurpose Bridge, Bangladesh," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 31(4), pages 750-778, September.
    15. Nabi, Ijaz & Malik, Abdul & Hattari, Rabin & Husain, Turab & Shafqat, Adeel & Anwaar, Sana & Rashid, Ammar, 2010. "Economic growth and structural change in South Asia: miracle or mirage?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 36389, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    16. Sabina Alkire, Jose Manuel Roche, 2011. "Beyond Headcount: Measures that Reflect the Breadth and Components of Child Poverty," OPHI Working Papers 45, Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford.
    17. Ian Thynne, 2013. "Governance and Organizational Eclecticism in the Public Arena: Introductory Perspectives," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 13(2), pages 107-116, June.
    18. Manisha Verma & Anurag Priyadarshee, 2015. "Improving Service Delivery through State–Citizen Partnership: The Case of the Ahmedabad Urban Transport System," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(2), pages 321-336, June.
    19. Raihan, Selim, 2013. "The Political Economy of Food Price Policy: The Case of Bangladesh," WIDER Working Paper Series 002, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    20. Mccourt, Willy, 2012. "Can Top-Down and Bottom-Up be Reconciled? Electoral Competition and Service Delivery in Malaysia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(11), pages 2329-2341.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:porgrv:v:15:y:2015:i:2:p:317-333. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.