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1. Tunisia: In Tataouine, Socio-Economic Marginalization Is a Time Bomb

Author:
Alessandra Bajec
Publication Date:
07-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Arab Reform Initiative (ARI)
Abstract:
Despite being rich in oil and gas, Tataouine in the south of Tunisia has remained severely underdeveloped and marginalized, pushing its inhabitants, time and again, to protest for reinvestment of its wealth in infrastructure and local jobs. This paper examines the underlying drivers of the ongoing unrest in Tataouine, the heavy-handed response of the security forces, and the successive Tunisian governments’ broken pledges to address the region’s socio-economic marginalization.
Topic:
Governance, Accountability, Marginalization, Socioeconomics, and Civil Unrest
Political Geography:
Africa and Tunisia

2. Donor Assistance in the Transparency and Accountability Movement

Author:
Davin O'Regan
Publication Date:
09-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
Focusing on transparency and anti-corruption issues, this report discusses the findings from a series of participatory workshops and more than seventy interviews with social movement actors and organizations in Kenya, Nigeria, and Ukraine. It looks at the different ways social movement actors in these countries were influenced by foreign financial support and training, including in terms of the goals they set, the tactics and activities they pursue, and whether receiving foreign support compromises their legitimacy with their domestic constituents.
Topic:
Corruption, Social Movement, Accountability, and Transparency
Political Geography:
Kenya, Africa, Europe, Ukraine, and Nigeria

3. Chinese investment in Uganda: new impetus for sustainable development?

Publication Date:
01-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE)
Abstract:
Chinese investment is flowing fast into Uganda, and spreading into the agriculture and forestry sectors. The government needs to keep pace with these developments so the benefits can be shared by Ugandans. A new analysis shows that, while the jobs and new businesses created are well received, the working conditions and environmental practices of Chinese companies are often poor. Many people evicted from their land to make way for new projects have not been compensated. To hold Chinese companies to account, government agencies, with support from NGOs, must share information about these investments and introduce stronger regulation — in particular to uphold community rights. In turn, Chinese companies must be more transparent, responsible and legally compliant. With a proactive and accountable strategy for Chinese investment management, Uganda could make major gains for sustainable development.
Topic:
Development, Economics, International Trade and Finance, Foreign Direct Investment, Business, Accountability, Investment, and NGOs
Political Geography:
Uganda, Africa, and China

4. Good Governance and Accountability: An Assessment of the Media’s Role in Achieving Transparency in the 2019 General Elections in Nigeria

Author:
Aondover Eric Mcsughter
Publication Date:
06-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Brazilian Journal of African Studies
Institution:
Brazilian Journal of African Studies
Abstract:
Paraphrasing the words of Mahatma Gandhi, one of the objects of the media is to understand the popular feeling and give expression into meaning, which arouse people to the desirable sentiments that will fearlessly expose popular defects. The foregoing statement by Gandhi explains the importance of media in upholding freedom and in expanding education, social reforms and change. Media can inform people, giving them a voice to be heard and heeded to. Democracy requires that people have the right to know the activities of the government, especially the decision of the government that affects their life, liberty and property. Information is important for people to make choices regarding their participation in the State, the market and civil society. Media also fearlessly exposes issues that make people more informed than uninformed. Sufficient information helps them decide rationally and take the right course of action beneficial to them. The media also helps people know what is happening around the globe. By publicizing information, it also makes public services more responsive to the people. Against the backdrop of the foregoing, this paper sets to assess the role of the media in achieving good governance and accountability especially in the 2019 general election. The provision of section 22 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria places an obligation on the press to uphold the responsibility and accountability of government to the people. Thus, democracy can hardly survive and achieve its yearnings in any society where there is no accountability, transparency and the inclusion of the majority of the people in governance and in determining the input into the process of development; all of which are guaranteed through a free and independent media (Auwal, 2018). Therefore, the responsibility of the media is in holding the government accountable to the people is fundamental to the overall success of democracy.
Topic:
Governance, Elections, Media, Accountability, and Transparency
Political Geography:
Africa and Nigeria

5. Who Debates, Who Wins? At-Scale Experimental Evidence on Debate Participation in a Liberian Election

Author:
Jeremy Bowles and Horacio Larreguy
Publication Date:
12-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
Abstract:
We examine how candidate selection into the supply of policy information determines its electoral effects. In a nationwide debate initiative designed to solicit and rebroadcast policy promises from Liberian legislative candidates, we randomized the encouragement of debate participation across districts. The intervention substantially increased the debate participation of leading candidates but led to uneven electoral returns for these candidates, with incumbents benefiting at the expense of challengers. These results are driven by differences in compliance: complying incumbents, but not challengers, positively selected into debate participation based on the congruence of their policy priorities with those of their constituents.
Topic:
Politics, Elections, Accountability, and Information Technology
Political Geography:
Africa and Liberia

6. Transformational Leaders and Social Change: IFP Impacts in Africa and the Middle East

Author:
Judith Kallick and Andrea Brown Murga
Publication Date:
09-2018
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Institute of International Education
Abstract:
The fourth report from our 10-year tracking study of the Ford Foundation International Fellowships Program (IFP), Transformational Leaders and Social Change provides important insights into the personal, organizational, community, and societal impacts of IFP alumni in Kenya, Nigeria, Palestine, and South Africa, drawn from the perspectives of 361 IFP alumni and local stakeholders. The results of this study show that the program had a positive impact on participants, with alumni saying that their IFP experience increased their confidence, awareness, self-identity, commitment, leadership, career advancement despite challenges upon re-entry at the end of the fellowship. Some alumni returned to face career barriers endemic to their community and home region, such as high unemployment rates and other labor market challenges. At an organizational level, alumni and community stakeholders said that these organizations now have a stronger work ethic, consistency, transparency, and accountability since alumni returned to their home communities. Stakeholders also said that the alumni they work with are more reliable and committed to getting the job done.
Topic:
Education, Labor Issues, Employment, Leadership, Accountability, Transparency, Unemployment, and Higher Education
Political Geography:
Kenya, Africa, Middle East, South Africa, Palestine, and Nigeria

7. Nigeria’s Movement for Transparency and Accountability: Bringing the Pieces Together

Author:
Samson Itodo
Publication Date:
10-2018
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
Since the demise of its military dictatorship in the late 1990s, Nigeria has made remarkable democratic progress. Still, widespread corruption bedevils the country—which in many respects presents its biggest policy challenge and its biggest threat to stability and development. Drawing on a workshop held in Abuja as well as on in-depth interviews with civil society leaders and others, this report analyzes the undercelebrated but unique contributions of an emerging movement for transparency and accountability, the scope of international funding and training, and how this support affects the effectiveness of civil society efforts.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Economics, Environment, Governance, Social Movement, Democracy, Accountability, and Transparency
Political Geography:
Africa and Nigeria

8. Do electoral systems affect how citizens hold their government accountable? Evidence from Africa

Author:
Sarah J. Lockwood and Matthias Krönke
Publication Date:
05-2018
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Afrobarometer
Abstract:
This paper asks whether a country’s choice of electoral system affects the methods citizens use to try to hold their government accountable. A large body of literature suggests that electoral system type has an impact on voting behaviour, but little work has been done on its effects on other strategies for democratic accountability, such as contacting an elected representative and protesting. Using data from 36 African countries, we find that the type of electoral system has a significant relationship with these forms of participation. Citizens in proportional representation (PR) systems are significantly more likely to protest than those in majoritarian ones, while those in majoritarian systems are more likely to contact their elected representatives. We argue that this is because the connection between citizens and representatives in majoritarian systems is clearer, closer, and more responsive, making contact an effective strategy and providing an efficient "safety valve" when citizens want to hold their government to account. The lack of a similar connection in most PR systems, in contrast, leads citizens to turn to protest with greater regularity.
Topic:
Government, Elections, Democracy, and Accountability
Political Geography:
Africa

9. Journal of Public and International Affairs 2018

Author:
Andi Zhou, Sam Kanson-Benanav, Collin Smith, Yi Xu, Amn Nasir, Sameer Anwar, Saim Rashid, Muqueet Shahzad, Lauren Eades, William O'Connell, Caper Gooden, Paige KW Gasser, Laurie Georges, Seleeke Flingai, and Erika Parks
Publication Date:
05-2018
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Woodrow Wilson School Journal of Public and International Affairs
Institution:
Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University
Abstract:
These are critical times for those who work to further the public interest. Across the globe, divisions and distrust erode the clarity required to tackle the great challenges of our day. Those who advocate for truth find themselves under attack from those who fear what they might lose if the status quo is changed. There is exceptional need today for powerful voices speaking on behalf of sound policy. The 10 articles in this 29th edition of the Journal of Public and International Affairs all reflect a dogged determination among young policy professionals around the world to press ahead in spite of the headwinds. These pages contain fresh ideas on electrifying rural Myanmar, reforming the U.S. banking system, strengthening the Jordanian labor market, and preventing recidivism among convicted sex offenders in Texas, to name just a few. The JPIA was born from the conviction that graduate students have a unique and invaluable voice in key policy debates. The authors of these articles, together with the 45 editors from 13 graduate programs around the world who selected and reviewed them, will shape the future of economic, international, domestic, and development policy in the decades to come. We strive continually, especially at this moment, to amplify their voices.
Topic:
Development, International Cooperation, Nuclear Weapons, Treaties and Agreements, International Affairs, Bilateral Relations, Labor Issues, Business, Mental Health, Accountability, Public Sector, Hezbollah, Services, Electricity, Pollution, and Waste
Political Geography:
Pakistan, Africa, South Asia, Middle East, Canada, Brazil, South America, Central America, Lebanon, Mozambique, North America, Mexico, Jordan, Southeast Asia, Myanmar, and United States of America