Have social accountability initiatives yielded positive service delivery outcomes in Nepal? Evidence from the citizens' participation perspective

Social Accountability (SA) tools are important to ensure improved governance and development effectiveness, primarily through improved public service delivery. Using the nationally representative National Governance Survey 2017/18, this study empirically examines whether utilization of the SA tools improves citizens' experience with public service delivery. The overall results from the empirical analysis show that direct participation in SA activities improves the citizen's experience with service delivery, thus increasing the probability of reporting satisfaction. The results are consistent with the indirect participation, but the reported coefficients are statistically weaker. Direct participation in SA activities reduces the probability of getting help from someone, while indirect participation reduces the probability of paying other fees and the number of attempts made to receive public service. The study upholds that improved access to actionable information, engagement of civil society organizations in the development process, increased sense of fairness and inclusiveness in participation in state organs, and strong democratic norms have strengthened the causal chain between information, citizen action, and state response. The study recommends increasing awareness among citizens about the SA tools and provisions of physical participation made on an equitable and inclusive basis.