Publication details

• Tuesday | 04 Jun, 2013
• Shehryar Khan Toru, Fayyaz Yaseen, Muhammad Sohaib, Safyan Kakakhel
• Working Papers
• 22

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Shehryar Khan

Fayyaz Yasin

Safyan Kakakh

Muhammad Sohaib

June 2013

Summary

Based on the Aawaz1 Programme study on service delivery, the paper explores the problems of access to welfare services in public sector institutions. In democratic-pluralistic societies, the state provides welfare services to its citizens through well-performing  bureaucracies on the basis of equity and equality. This description cannot be applied in the context of Pakistan. Managerial inadequacies, resource constraints, various forms of corruption, weak accountability, and the inability of the state to respond to citizens’ needs are critical problems in the provision of welfare services. With the help of a theoretical framework, the paper examines access structures and situations in relation to the conceptual categories of ‘voice’, ‘exit’ and accountability. Our intention is to assist policy makers, scholars and donors to understand the range of responses that may be adopted by citizens in access situations.

1

The Aawaz is a five-year voice and accountability initiative of the UK Department for International Development (DFID) in Pakistan. The broad themes of the programme are: to achieve greater participation of women in politics, to resolve local disputes through non-conventional means, and to improve service delivery in collaboration with service users.