Publication: From de-jure to de-facto: Mapping Dimensions and Sequences of Accountability
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2017-01
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2017-03-06
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Accountability is one of the cornerstones of good governance. Establishing accountable institutions is a top priority on the international development agenda. Yet, scholars and democracy practitioners know little about how accountability mechanisms develop and thus can be supported by international and national actors. The present study tackles the questions of how, and in what order accountability mechanisms develop. We consider not only vertical and horizontal, but also diagonal accountability mechanisms (active civil society organizations and independent media) in both their de-jure and the de-facto dimensions. By utilizing novel sequencing methods, we study their sequential relationships in 173 countries from 1900 to the present with data from the new V-Dem dataset. Considering the long-term dimensions of institution building, this study indicates that most aspects of de-facto vertical accountability precede other forms of accountability. Effective institutions of horizontal accountability – such as vigorous parliaments and independent high courts – evolve rather late in the sequence and build on progress in many other areas.
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“Staffan I. Lindberg; Anna Lührmann; Valeriya Mechkova. 2017. From de-jure to de-facto: Mapping Dimensions and Sequences of Accountability. World Development Report Background Paper;. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/26212 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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