Six years ago, the Transparency for Development (T4D) project sought to uncover new and unique evidence on the role of community-led transparency and accountability in improving health outcomes – and how and why we see mixed evidence when these interventions are implemented in the real world. Based on large-scale mixed methods research utilizing quantitative and qualitative approaches in two countries (Indonesia and Tanzania) and small innovative pilots in three additional countries (Ghana, Malawi, and Sierra Leone), the project now has a lot more information about how these popular approaches to citizen engagement and participation work – and ways in which they can fail to reach their goals. Join us to hear the T4D team share results – including the good, the bad, and the unclear – from this one-of-a-kind research project and discuss what is needed next in the field.
Looking around the world, we can see a different approach to digital government. One of cross-government platforms that are beginning to break down organizational silos, save money and change the types of services that can be delivered to the public. This playbook is written for practitioners, from public sector product managers to chief digital officers, looking for approaches to implementing platforms in government.
Colleen Mathis, Daniel Moskowitz, and Benjamin Schneer; September 2019
In most states, redistricting, the process by which electoral district boundaries are drawn, is an overtly partisan exercise controlled by state legislatures. The U.S. Supreme Court’s 2019 decision Rucho v. Common Cause held that federal courts cannot review allegations of partisan gerrymandering. Independent redistricting in practice has proven remarkably successful along several dimensions. This policy brief outlines key lessons learned from redistricting in Arizona, a state with a five-person independent redistricting commission.
It’s an often (mis)quoted trope that more help comes to those who help themselves. Frequently, the quote is an attempt to justify cutting public or philanthropic aid. When used more generously, it can help convince individuals to be more...
Linda J. Bilmes and John B. Loomis, Routledge, August 2019
This book provides the first comprehensive economic valuation of US National Parks (including Monuments, Seashores, Lakeshores, Recreation Areas, Historic sites) and National Park Service (NPS) Programs.
Health facilities play a central role in safeguarding and promoting the health of women and newborn children. But what if you cannot afford a vehicle and the nearest health facility is too far away to...
Let me tell you a story about transparency, accountability & evidence. In January 2012, I landed in London at the Transparency and Accountability Initiative. My first task: supporting the development of a rigorous multi-year...
Residents of one rural Indonesian village that participated in T4D had many complaints about their local Puskesmas health facility. There were frequent medicine stock outs, a lack of privacy when giving birth, and a general perception...
What can we learn from an intervention or project that doesn’t achieve its intended goal? In the context of T4D, which showed that the transparency and accountability interventions that participants designed had no impact on the goal of...
This paper assess the impact of a transparency and accountability program designed to improve maternal and newborn health (MNH) outcomes in Indonesia and Tanzania. Co-designed with local partner organizations to be community-led and non-prescriptive, the program sought to encourage community participation to address local barriers in access to high quality care for pregnant women and infants. This paper evaluates the impact of this program through randomized controlled trials (RCTs), involving 100 treatment and 100 control communities in each country, and finds that on average, this program did not have a statistically significant impact on the use or content of maternal and newborn health services, nor the sense of civic efficacy or civic participation among recent mothers in the communities who were offered it.
In 2015, the World Health Organization published a strong recommendation to promote the involvement of men during pregnancy, childbirth and after care. Since then, additional evidence for the concept has accumulated...
To be clear, we did not design the Transparency for Development (T4D) project with an explicit focus on gender — nor did we select the outcome of interest (improving maternal, newborn and child health) because...
This case study provides an analysis and evaluation of the implementation of civic participation programs by companies aimed at increasing voter turnout. The United States consistently lags behind the majority of developed democratic nations in voter turnout, averaging less than half of the eligible voter population participating in midterm elections. The U.S. ranks 26th out of 32 developed democracies in percentage of eligible voters who participate in elections. Today, many companies have dedicated resources for corporate social responsibility projects aimed at strengthening society and building goodwill among employees, consumers, and the public. Voter participation initiatives align with the goals of social responsibility projects, as they address a critical societal problem (lack of engagement), while building goodwill with key stakeholders.
Lindgreen, Adam, Nicole Koenig-Lewis, Martin Kitchener, John D. Brewer, Mark H. Moore, and Timo Meynhardt, Routledge, 2019
Over the last 10 years, the concept of value has emerged in both business and public life as part of an important process of measuring, benchmarking, and assuring the resources we invest and the outcomes we generate from our activities. In the context of public life, value is an important measure on the contribution to business and social good of activities for which strict financial measures are either inappropriate or fundamentally unsound.
Linda J. Bilmes and John B. Loomis, Routledge, August 2019
Lindgreen, Adam, Nicole Koenig-Lewis, Martin Kitchener, John D. Brewer, Mark H. Moore, and Timo Meynhardt, Routledge, 2019
