Paper short abstract:

The popularity wave of social accountability has invigorated civil society involvement in the monitoring and evaluation of government programs and policies. The paper sets out to discuss the role and influence of such CSOs on public officials in the case of Ghana.

Paper long abstract:

The introduction of a new approach to Aid, more than a decade ago, emphasized the importance of civil society participation in policy processes, including the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of poverty reduction programs and development plans. However, the implementation, and more specifically the institutionalization of civil society participation in PRS monitoring appeared difficult in practice (Eberlei and Siebold, 2006). In recent years, the growing popularity of social accountability initiatives has breathe new life into civil society M&E, albeit in a more ad-hoc, project-related way. These initiatives are mushrooming across the globe, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, but at the same time little systematic evidence is available about their outcome and impact (McGee and Gaventa, 2011).

The paper focuses on the role and influence of CSOs that are involved in the M&E of government programs and policies, mostly under the broad banner of social accountability. Based on key informant interviews carried out during recent fieldwork in Ghana, the paper sets out to examine the ways in which CSOs can influence public officials (or not) through a combination of their M&E activities and advocacy strategies. While some CSOs are able to adopt more confrontational strategies, others engage with government in a constructive way when discussing the results of their M&E. To analyse their role and influence, a framework that combines theories on evaluation use and influence, and literature on accountability was developed. The paper suggests that, under certain conditions, CSOs are able to trigger conceptual, motivational and behavioural influence mechanisms.