Abstract
The conventional hierarchy-based accountability mechanisms have proved increasingly futile to hold public institutions and officeholders to account in Bangladesh over the past decades. New forms of social accountability practices have brought more hopeful options for citizens. Among many others, several civil society organizations have conducted public hearings as a new form of social accountability. Public hearings enable citizens to confront leaders of service-providing government agencies about their promises and obligations, which improves and sustains the quality of services. In general, public hearings have been effective but the level of effectiveness varies. This is a comparative case study, using empirical data from civil society organizations that have organized public hearings in recent years. It shows that an essential condition for the success of public hearings in holding officials accountable is the support of the political leadership and local elites. Another determinant of success is the effectiveness of intermediaries such as the civil society organizations.
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Notes
- 1.
Upazila is the Bengali term for the word ‘sub-district’. A district is usually composed of 6–7 upazilas. Each of the upazila administration is led by a permanent member of Bangladesh Civil Service, who is known as UNO – Upazila Nirbahi Officer (Sub-district Executive Officer). DC is the supervising authority of the UNO.
- 2.
During the tenure of the ninth parliament (2009–2013), four donor-funded projects worked with the parliament to help it improve its operational capacity. The projects were: Improving Democracy through Parliamentary Development (IPD) funded by UNDP; Promoting Democratic Institutions and Practices (PRODIP) funded by USAID; The World Bank-funded Strengthening Parliamentary Oversight (DPO); and Strengthening Parliament’s Capacity in Integrating Population Issues in Development supported by UNFP.
- 3.
Rana Plaza, a building situated in a town about 20 km away from Dhaka city in which three garment factories were located, collapsed on the morning on April 24, 2012, killing more than 1100 workers and injuring more than 2500. Different sources reported that there were violations of the building code during the construction of the building. Lack of compliance with the labor rules in the garment factories located in that building was also an important factor in causing such a huge loss of lives.
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Islam, K.M., Nasrullah, A.M., Haq, S.T. (2018). Public Hearing for Social Accountability: Examining the Rationale and Realities in Bangladesh. In: Ahmed, N. (eds) Inclusive Governance in South Asia. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60904-1_11
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