Building open government is a challenge for all countries. Hence the importance of collecting and exchanging experiences on how to put the basic principles of good governance into practice. Transparency and accountability; fairness and equity; efficiency and effectiveness; respect for the rule of law; and high standards of ethical behaviour are all principles that need to be given substance if better public governance is to benefit citizens.

OECD countries have done much to enhance government openness and encourage citizen engagement and participation throughout the past two decades. Although countries now understand that a whole-of-government perspective is necessary to ensure that system-wide impacts are considered, planning and implementation issues remain. This stocktaking of social accountability initiatives aims to collect information about existing initiatives and country experiences, in an effort to help countries meet these challenges while building more open, accountable and responsive government.

This joint OECD-World Bank stocktaking exercise of social accountability (SA) initiatives in OECD member countries contributes to the global exchange of policy relevant knowledge. The exercise generated 40 templates detailing social accountability initiatives in 27 OECD countries, and the European Commission. Cases were selected based on focus, level of government, and transferability of policy lessons. The group as a whole illustrates the wealth of innovative practices currently available, and provides a rich resource for practitioners.

Several cases explored the use of online tools to enhance public scrutiny and engagement:

Canada: Online Pre-Budget Consultation (p. 44)
Denmark: Denmarksdebatten (p. 55)
Germany: Online Dialogue Participatory Budgeting (p. 72)
Hungary: e-Games (p. 81)
European Union: e-Agora (p. 164)

 This report – undertaken in 2006 – is part of the OECD Directorate for Public Governance and Territorial Development’s (GOV) efforts to identify emerging trends and develop pertinent policy lessons for all countries seeking to build more open, accountable and responsive government. It also contributes to the World Bank’s series of SA stocktaking exercises, which have been undertaken in various regions of the world. It does not claim to provide a comprehensive inventory of OECD member countries’ experience, nor an in-depth description of the myriad activities underway. Rather, it illustrates the wealth of innovative practices currently available, and provides a rich resource for practitioners.