World Bank Accountability: In Theory and in Practice

This book argues that there remains a need to advance the broader discourse on World Bank and IFI-accountability among its diverse range of participants - that is to say, to progressively advance this discussion towards the development of a more comprehensive 'shared understanding' on what the accountability means, both 'in theory' and 'in practice'. Such a shared understanding, moreover, should be distilled from the wide array of interests, demands, expectations and underlying conceptions permeating the issue of accountability, within the changing global landscape in which the discourse is situated.

This book also argues that there remains a definite need for 'normativity' (which is not limited to legal normativity) because it has a decisive place in the further conceptualization and operationalization of accountability. The aim of this book is to contribute towards the development of a comprehensive 'shared understanding' on the meaning of accountability - and therefore, to advance the broader discourse.