Countries with low levels of service delivery tend to have one thing in common: they have little or no provisions for effective sanctions or rewards.

So although democracy is often equated with an assumption that accountability mechanisms are at work, the reality is much more complex. There are many different variables affecting service delivery and the way accountability mechanisms work. Such mechanisms are often non-existent, barely functional or discriminate on the basis of identity, sexual orientation, age, income, disability or power.

This guide contains an assessment methodology to identify improvements in democratic accountability mechanisms. The framework is the most recent addition to International IDEA’s family of citizen-led assessment frameworks, which also includes the State of Democracy assessment framework, and the State of Local Democracy assessment framework.

Users will find guidance to determine whether duty bearers can be held accountable throughout the policy process concerning the provision of public services, and how to devise improvements for such accountability mechanisms.