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{
  "authors": [
    "Thomas Carothers"
  ],
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  "centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
  "centers": [
    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace"
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  "collections": [
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    "Democracy, Conflict, and Governance"
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Source: Getty

Other

Social Accountability for Development Impact

Accountability is not a passing fad in the development lexicon but rather the driving idea in twenty-first century development work.

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By Thomas Carothers
Published on May 19, 2016
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Democracy, Conflict, and Governance

The Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program is a leading source of independent policy research, writing, and outreach on global democracy, conflict, and governance. It analyzes and seeks to improve international efforts to reduce democratic backsliding, mitigate conflict and violence, overcome political polarization, promote gender equality, and advance pro-democratic uses of new technologies.

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Source: Global Partnership for Social Accountabilty

Carnegie’s Thomas Carothers delivered the keynote address to the 2016 Global Partners Forum at the World Bank’s Global Partnership for Social Accountability. In front of 300 participants, Carothers explained how work and thinking related to accountability has moved into a second generation and what the implications are of this recent shift.

In his address, he touched upon social accountability’s historic progress toward becoming an increasingly strategic and indispensable component of effective development. “Accountability is the driving idea in twenty-first century development; whether and how the development field proves able to make a meaningful contribution to accountability is central to whether the development field will stay relevant in the decades ahead,” Carothers said.

The keynote address was original broadcast by the Global Partnership for Social Accountabilty.

About the Author

Thomas Carothers

Harvey V. Fineberg Chair for Democracy Studies; Senior Fellow, Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program

Thomas Carothers, a senior fellow in the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program, is a leading expert on comparative democratization and international support for democracy.

    Recent Work

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Thomas Carothers
Harvey V. Fineberg Chair for Democracy Studies; Senior Fellow, Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program
Thomas Carothers
DemocracyForeign Policy

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

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