10 research outputs found
Shifting power? : assessing the impact of transparency and accountability initiatives
Accountability and transparency initiatives have taken democratisation, governance, aid and development circles by storm since the turn of the century. Many actors involved with them –
as donors, funders, programme managers, implementers and researchers – are now keen to
know more about what these initiatives are achieving.
This paper arises from a review of the impact and effectiveness of transparency and
accountability initiatives which gathered and analysed existing evidence, discussed how it
could be improved, and evaluated how impact and effectiveness could be enhanced. This
paper takes the discussion further, by delving into what lies behind the methodological and
evaluative debates currently surrounding governance and accountability work. It illustrates
how choices about methods are made in the context of impact assessment designs driven by
different objectives and different ideological and epistemological underpinnings. We argue
that these differences are articulated as methodological debates, obscuring vital issues
underlying accountability work, which are about power and politics, not methodological
technicalities.
In line with this argument, there is a need to re-think what impact means in relation to
accountability initiatives, and to governance and social change efforts more broadly. This
represents a serious challenge to the prevailing impact paradigm, posed by the realities of
unaccountable governance, unproven accountability programming and uncertain evidence of
impact. A learning approach to evaluation and final impact assessment would give power
and politics a central place in monitoring and evaluation systems, continually test and revise
assumptions about theories of change and ensure the engagement of marginalised people in
assessment processes. Such an approach is essential if donors and policy makers are to
develop a reliable evidence base to demonstrate that transparency and accountability work is
of real value to poor and vulnerable people.
Keywords: Accountability, transparency, impact assessment, evaluatio
The Impact of Transparency and Accountability Initiatives
Transparency and accountability initiatives (TAIs) have taken democratisation, governance, aid and development circles by storm since the turn of the century. Many actors involved with them – as donors, funders, programme managers, implementers and researchers – are now keen to know more about what these initiatives are achieving. This issue of Development Policy Review arises from a study of the impact and effectiveness of transparency and accountability initiatives in different development sectors. It analyses existing evidence, discusses how approaches to learning about TAIs might be improved, and recommends how impact and effectiveness could be enhanced
Dynamic crushing behavior of a multilayer thin-walled aluminum corrugated core: The effect of velocity and imperfection
Freedom of Information Around the World 2006: A Global Survey of Access to Government Information Laws
Impact loading and modelling a multilayer aluminium corrugated/fin core: The effect of the insertion of imperfect fin layers
Questioning technology in the development of a resilient higher education
This article considers the impact that peak oil and climate change may have on the future of higher education. In particular, it questions the role of technology in supporting the provision of a higher education which is resilient to a scenario both of energy depletion and the need to adapt to the effects of global warming. One emerging area of interest from this future scenario might be the role of technology in addressing more complex learning futures, and more especially in facilitating individual and social resilience, or the ability to manage and overcome disruption. However, the extent to which higher education practitioners can utilise technology to this end is framed by their approaches to the curriculum, and the sociocultural practices within which they are located. The authors discuss how open education might enable learners to engage with uncertainty through social action within a form of higher education that is more resilient to economic, environmental and energy-related disruptions. It asks whether more open higher education can be (re)claimed by users and communities within specific contexts and curricula, in order to engage with an increasingly uncertain world