TY - JOUR
T1 - Lost in internal evaluation? Accountability and insulation at the World Bank
AU - Heldt, Eugénia C.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2018/10/20
Y1 - 2018/10/20
N2 - Over past decades, the World Bank has been criticized by scholars, policymakers, and civil society groups for being unaccountable and inefficient. Confronted with this wave of contestation, the Bank established several internal accountability mechanisms, including the Inspection Panel, the Independent Evaluation Group, and the Compliance Advisor/Ombudsman. Against this background, this article investigates how the proliferation of accountability mechanisms in a large and complex organization such as the World Bank reduces rather than enhances transparency and lines of accountability. I argue that the establishment of a myriad of accountability mechanisms has paradoxically made the Bank even more encapsulated and less accountable to the outside world. Unpacking the differential effects of external and internal accountability mechanisms makes this contribution of significant interest to scholars working on the accountability and performance of international organizations.
AB - Over past decades, the World Bank has been criticized by scholars, policymakers, and civil society groups for being unaccountable and inefficient. Confronted with this wave of contestation, the Bank established several internal accountability mechanisms, including the Inspection Panel, the Independent Evaluation Group, and the Compliance Advisor/Ombudsman. Against this background, this article investigates how the proliferation of accountability mechanisms in a large and complex organization such as the World Bank reduces rather than enhances transparency and lines of accountability. I argue that the establishment of a myriad of accountability mechanisms has paradoxically made the Bank even more encapsulated and less accountable to the outside world. Unpacking the differential effects of external and internal accountability mechanisms makes this contribution of significant interest to scholars working on the accountability and performance of international organizations.
KW - Accountability mechanisms
KW - World Bank
KW - international organizations
KW - performance
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85044453329&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/13569775.2018.1455491
DO - 10.1080/13569775.2018.1455491
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85044453329
SN - 1356-9775
VL - 24
SP - 568
EP - 587
JO - Contemporary Politics
JF - Contemporary Politics
IS - 5
ER -