Democratic Governance and the Social Accountability System
The social accountability system is the cornerstone of the democratic state. This system maps onto a public resource management system which is responsible for translating the state’s available resources into public services. The social accountability system is responsible for producing justifications for the use of resources and for explaining whether resulting services helped realise the rights of ordinary people.
A number of distinct social accountability processes need to be effectively implemented in order for the social accountability system to function efficiently. The central element of each process involves the production of plans and reports by those responsible for managing resources. Although intended mostly for internal management purposes, these documents contain the same information needed by civic actors and interest groups to hold service providers to account for their performance. By accessing this information and turning it into hard ‘evidence’, civic actors are able to participate more effectively in democratic governance processes and to hold public office bearers to account.
By ensuring that the social accountability system is effectively implemented, civic and political actors can ensure that the needs and interests of the poor and vulnerable in society are progressively realised.
Process 1 - Planning and Budgeting
Process 2 - Expenditure Management
Process 3 - Performance Management