Public Accountability: Explaining Variation Across Local Governments in Uganda By Bruno Onzima A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Administration and Organization Theory, University of Bergen in Partial Fulfilment for the Award of the Master of Philosophy in Public Administration. Spring 2013 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS ......................................................................................................................... i 2 Acknowledgment ..................................................................................................................................... v 3 List of Figures ......................................................................................................................................... vi 4 List of Acronyms ...................................................................................................................................vii 5 Abstract ................................................................................................................................................... x CHAPTER ONE .............................................................................................................................................. 1 1.0 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Background to the Study ...................................................................................................................... 1 1.3 Brief History of Decentralized Local Governance in Uganda ................................................................ 2 1.4 Local Government Structure in Uganda ................................................................................................ 4 1.5 Research Problem ................................................................................................................................ 4 1.6 Objectives of the Study ........................................................................................................................ 5 1.7 Research Question, .............................................................................................................................. 6 1.8 Significance of the Study ..................................................................................................................... 6 1.9 Outline of the Thesis: ........................................................................................................................... 7 1.10 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................................... 8 CHAPTER TWO ............................................................................................................................................. 9 2.0 THE THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ................................................................................................ 9 2.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 9 2.2 Conceptualizing accountability............................................................................................................. 9 2.2.1 Defining Accountability ....................................................................................................................... 9 2.2.2 The two concepts of accountability..................................................................................................... 10 2.2.2.1 Accountability ad a virtue .............................................................................................................. 11 2.2.2.2 Accountability as a mechanism ...................................................................................................... 11 2.2.3 Accountability as answerability and obligation ................................................................................... 11 2.2.4 Accountability as rewards, enforcements and sanctions ...................................................................... 13 2.2.5 Accountability as an idol .................................................................................................................... 13 2.2.6 Institutionalizing of Accountability: to whom and for what is account rendered? ................................. 15 2.2.6.1 The concept of Public accountability .............................................................................................. 15 2.2.6.2 Accountability as a social and institutional relation ......................................................................... 15 2.2.6.3 Understanding accountability relationships: to whom and for what is account rendered? ................. 17 2.3 Accountability, Local Government and Decentralization .................................................................... 21 2.3.1 Development of Decentralised Local Government Accountability....................................................... 27 2.3.1.1 Global trends ................................................................................................................................. 27 2.3.1.2 The case of Uganda ....................................................................................................................... 29 2.4 Theory for understanding Decentralization and Accountability ........................................................... 29 i 2.4.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 29 2.4.2 The Principal-Agent Model ................................................................................................................ 30 2.4.2.1 Limitations of the Principal-Agent Model....................................................................................... 31 2.4.2.2 Application of the Model ............................................................................................................... 31 2.5 Conceptual Framework ...................................................................................................................... 34 2.6 Elaborating the Dependent Variable: Indicators of accountability........................................................ 36 2.6.1 Transparency ..................................................................................................................................... 36 2.6.2 Citizens participation ......................................................................................................................... 38 2.6.3 Complaints and response mechanism ................................................................................................. 40 2.7 The independent Variables: awareness, local revenue, internal audit capacity and culture. ................... 42 2.7.1 Awareness ......................................................................................................................................... 42 2.7.2 Local Government Capacity ............................................................................................................... 45 2.7.3 Political History ................................................................................................................................. 46 2.8 Control Variables. .............................................................................................................................. 46 2.9 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................ 47 CHAPTER THREE ........................................................................................................................................ 48 3.0 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY........................................................................................................ 48 3.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 48 3.2 Qualitative Research Methods: ........................................................................................................... 48 3.2.1 Primary data ...................................................................................................................................... 48 a) In-depth Interviews ........................................................................................................................ 48 b) Observation ................................................................................................................................... 49 3.2.2 Secondary data .................................................................................................................................. 50 3.3 Comparative Case Study .................................................................................................................... 50 3.4 Methods of Data Collection................................................................................................................ 51 3.4.1 Units of analysis ................................................................................................................................ 51 3.4.2 Overview of areas of Study: Entebbe Municipal Council