A lot is said about how increased information in the public domain would lead to greater accountability. Community radio, internet, community video etc are all touted to be powerful solutions to increased accountability.

But is this really true? Research into the impact of community radio on Benin’s education system has come up with some surrpising results. The researchers found that advertising about education services on community radio did not necessarily lead to higher government accountability. It led to higher literacy rates for sure, but not in government schools! People instead started investing more private resources to educate their children.

This lack of effect is not uniform across the board. The mass media in India and US have in contrast led to greater public participation in demanding government accountability. Where lies the difference? And how can we ensure that information campaigns lead to greater government accountability?