Untangling blame and responsibility for service delivery and local governance performance: testing a grounded social accountability approach in Tanzania

Abstract

We examine the gap between theory and practice in social accountability mechanisms to improve local governance performance in Tanzania. We do so through drawing on an ethnographic investigation tracing lines of blame and responsibility for service delivery, from individual citizens up to the central state incorporating a total of 340 interviews and 12 focussed group discussions. We have two keys findings: Firstly, that there is a wide divergence between formal lines of accountability and where actors direct blame for performance failure in practice. Secondly, building a collective understanding of this divergence provides an effective starting point for intervention to improve performance. Our conclusion is that dominant assumptions on social accountability interventions require significant revision in light of our findings.

The potential for scaling up container‐based sanitation in informal settlements in Kenya

“…What often emerges is the ‘blame‐world’ characterised by Hood (2011) where blame is often shifted sideways, down or upwards along lines of responsibility. In Tanzania, it was found that narratives of blame and responsibility did not align with the responsibilities stated in the policy that often could not be implemented in practice due to institutional capacity constraints (Mdee & Mushi, 2020). As the devolution of responsibilities is dynamic and contested, there is likely to be an ongoing debate over who is responsible for sanitation in policy and practice.…”

“…This approach combined analysis of grey and published literature, semi‐structured key informant interviews and participant observation. Such methods enable the triangulation of emerging narratives and the mapping of complex actor networks in contexts of fragmented service delivery (Mdee & Mushi, 2020).…”

The Urbanizing Frontier, Change and Continuity

“…Why was it easier to mobilize funds to construct an enormous Catholic church, rather than to finish the ward building at the government dispensary? This governance deficit is not an Uchira problem, this is ironically a result of shambolic decentralization policies (see Mdee and Mushi 2020).…”

Co-Creation for Sustainability

“…Social accountability requires active mobilization of civil society organizations, which is essential for overcoming the limits of the knowledge of individual citizens (Mdee & Mushi, 2020). To achieve a collective citizen voice, social accountability also depends on the successful mobilization of diverse stakeholders.…”

“…Although cocreation may not take on the explicit form of a social accountability mechanism, it facilitates the collective mobilization, shared knowledge, and awareness that may be necessary to encourage follow-through on sustainability efforts. Indeed, while the concept of social accountability is sometimes criticized as being limited to narrow "tactical tools' like scorecards, cocreation offers a more "strategic" approach to social accountability (Mdee & Mushi, 2020). For an extended discussion of cocreation, evaluation, and social accountability, see Chapters 11 and 12.…”