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Who Can We Count On? Authority, Empowerment and Accountability in Mozambique
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Authors/contributors
- Chaimite, Egidio (Author)
- Forquilha, Salvador (Author)
- Shankland, Alex (Author)
Title
Who Can We Count On? Authority, Empowerment and Accountability in Mozambique
Abstract
In this paper, we explore the use of a governance diaries methodology to investigate poor households’ interactions with authority in fragile, conflict and violence-affected settings in Mozambique. The research questioned the meanings of empowerment and accountability from the point of view of poor and marginalised people, with the aim of understanding what both mean for them, and how that changes over time, based on their experiences with governance. The study also sought to record how poor and marginalised households view the multiple institutions that govern their lives; providing basic public goods and services, including health and security; and, in return, raise revenues to fund these services. The findings show that, even if the perceptions and, with them, the concepts of empowerment and accountability that emerged do not differ significantly from those identified in the literature, in terms of action and mobilisation there are distinctions. In our research sites we found that people rarely mobilise, even faced with prevalent injustices and poor basic service provision. Many claim to be ‘unable’ to influence or force ‘authorities’ to respond to their concerns and demands.
Publication
IDS Working Paper 546, , Brighton: Institute of Development Studies
Date
2021-02-02
Language
en
ISSN
2040-0209
Short Title
Who Can We Count On?
Accessed
01/03/2021, 11:58
Library Catalogue
opendocs.ids.ac.uk
Rights
This is an Open Access paper distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (CC BY), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original authors and source are credited and any modifications or adaptations are indicated.
Extra
Accepted: 2021-02-02T10:30:54Z
Citation
Chaimite, E., Forquilha, S., & Shankland, A. (2021). Who Can We Count On? Authority, Empowerment and Accountability in Mozambique. IDS Working Paper 546, , Brighton: Institute of Development Studies. https://doi.org/10.19088/IDS.2021.019
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