Are Civil Society Organisations Accountable to their Beneficiaries?

Citation

Carolei D (2020) Are Civil Society Organisations Accountable to their Beneficiaries?. Atâtôt - Revista Interdisciplinar de Direitos Humanos da UEG, 1 (1), pp. 25-51. https://www.revista.ueg.br/index.php/atatot/article/view/9940

Abstract
This paper investigates the extent to which different type of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) practice beneficiary accountability (transparency, participation, and complaints procedure) within their own structure. Geographically, it focuses on Italian CSOs. On methodological level, a multiple case study analysis has been carried out. In particular, five CSOs had been purposefully selected and twenty multiple interviews with CSO managers and key accountability stakeholders/beneficiaries were conducted to allow data triangulation. Research findings indicate that beneficiary accountability is performed differently by diverse CSOs and it appears weak, informal and inconsistent across case-studies, especially in relation to compliance procedure and direct means of participation: the latter are poorly implemented regardless of congenital differences among CSOs (e.g. size, type and nature).

Keywords
Accountability; Beneficiary; CSOs; Italy

Journal
Atâtôt - Revista Interdisciplinar de Direitos Humanos da UEG: Volume 1, Issue 1

• Published version