“This paper discusses the impact of alternative institutional arrangements of service delivery on clients’ power, with special emphasis on Africa. It reviews the existing economic literature with regard to the rationale for institutionalizing clients’ power through direct accountability
mechanisms, contrasting it with the rationale for adopting indirect accountability mechanisms. The common characteristic of these two institutional arrangements of services delivery is their prescription of the need for the State to take responsibility in the delivery process of basic services such as education, health, safe water and modern sanitation.”
