OVERVIEW 5
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Strategy. The framework can provide consistency and concreteness in the use of social contract language and in how World Bank strategy can reflect the opportunities—and pitfalls—of its engagement with respect to local bargaining dynamics. This process involves selfawareness of how international actors such as the World Bank can unintentionally skew civil and state bargaining capacity and affect different dimensions of the social contract. Operations. Operations should aim to strengthen government systems in ways that institutionalize mechanisms for effective civil bargaining, implying, for example, shifting from upstream public financial management reforms to engagement at the points at which government and citizens interact for service delivery. Sectoral projects should be careful not to create parallel systems that undermine citizen-state accountability.
References Cloutier, M. 2021. “Social Contracts in Sub-Saharan Africa: Concepts and Measurements.” Policy Research Working Paper, No. 9788, World Bank, Washington, DC. Washington, DC. http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/205501633362482731/Social-Contracts -in-Sub-Saharan-Africa-Concepts-and-Measurements. IEG (Independent Evaluation Group). 2019. Social Contracts and World Bank Country Engagements: Lessons from Emerging Practices. Washington, DC: World Bank. OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). 2009. “Concepts and Dilemmas of State Building in Fragile Situations: From Fragility to Resilience.” OECD Journal on Development (9): 3. https://doi.org/10.1787/journal_dev-v9-art27-en. World Bank. 2017. World Development Report 2017: Governance and the Law. Washington, DC: World Bank.
