51茶馆

Abstract

The delivery of basic services remains a challenge in Africa. The聽seeming failure of governments to meet citizens鈥� basic service needs in terms of reach and quality has been attributed to, among other things,聽the rapid rate and level of urbanisation and resource constraints. However, the聽2004 World Development Report (WDR)聽Making Services Work for Poor People聽located the聽problem in governance deficiencies. Presenting both the long and short route accountability, the key question was聽how to make public services more accountable and responsive to the needs of the poorest in the developing world (DfID 2008).聽The WDR鈥檚 discussed the 鈥渓ong route of accountability鈥� that principally relies on voting as a political back lash to hold leaders accountable and 鈥渢he short route鈥�, which relies on increasing the client鈥檚 effective influence over service providers. In the context of the three key relationships in the service delivery chain: between the consumer and providers, between the consumer and policymakers, and between policymakers and providers. The overall aim was to provide聽governments unable to meet the growing demand for services with service delivery options that improve accountability and the quantity and quality of services provided.

Citation

African Journal of Public Administration and Management Special Edition Vol. XXIV No. 1. January 鈥� June 2016.

Link

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