Civil society actors have pressed for greater accountability in the World Bank since at least the 1970s. This chapter outlines the range of accountability mechanisms currently in place at the World Bank along four dimensions: staff level, project level, policy level, and board governance level. It is argued that civil society organizations have been influential in advancing Bank accountability at the project and policy levels, particularly through the establishment and enforcement of social and environmental safeguards as well as complaint and response mechanisms. However, civil society interventions have been much less successful in changing staff incentives for accountability to affected communities, or in improving board accountability through greater transparency in decision making, more representative vote allocation, or better parliamentary scrutiny. In other words, although civil society efforts have led to some gains in accountability with respect to Bank policies and projects, the deeper structural features of the institution – how staff are promoted and how the organization is governed – remain largely unchanged.

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