CITIZENS POLITICIANS AND PROVIDERS-THE LATIN AMERICAN EXPERIENCE WITH SERVICE DELIVERY REFORM

Latin American countries have seen significant progress in the past two decades in the coverage of social and infrastructure services. However, coverage gaps and poor quality of services remain a serious problem for many citizens, particularly the poor. While technical difficulties may still be a binding constraint for some sophisticated services, they are clearly not a bottleneck for the most essential ones. Citizens, Politicians, and Providers directly addresses this issue and aims to provide guidance to policymakers and development practitioners on how to shape public action to get better quality services for all. The major premise of this book is that understanding questions of access and quality of services is about the behaviors of people, from teachers, to administrators, politicians, and rich and poor citizens. The main concern is whether those responsible for designing and delivering services are accountable to the citizens who are demanding the services and also paying the taxes and fees that finance services.