event

In their study, Tom Aston and Grazieli Zimmer Santos investigate the evidence on the role of sanctions, as part of social accountability initiatives, in contributing to service delivery outcomes. They will share an overview of their findings at a GPSA-hosted event.

Understanding how civil society can get government to respond to their needs and deliver services to citizens is a central concern in social accountability initiatives. It is widely argued in accountability scholarship that social and formal sanctions are key to achieving service delivery, and that sanction-based approaches lead to deeper and more sustainable effects. The authors interrogate the empirical evidence to support this. From their assessment of 11 meta-reviews and 35 case studies, they argue that the evidence to support such a claim is mixed. They find that, under certain conditions, sanction-based approaches can contribute to service delivery outcomes, and illustrate 5 ways in which this can happen. But, the study also reveals that effects are seldom sustainable, and commonly come with negative externalities. The authors therefore discuss the potential advantages and disadvantages of sanction-based approaches, and the relevant implications for practice. 

The event will present recommendations and valuable insights on how to consider context more seriously during project design, to use appropriate research and evaluation methods, and carefully mitigate the potential for backlash.