The politics of complaint: a review of the literature on grievance redress mechanisms in the global South

Hossain, Naomi; Joshi, Anuradha; Pande, Suchi

Abstract

Institutionalized complaint systems are notable features of improving public programmes and government practice. This article reviews literature on formal grievance redress mechanisms in the global South to understand whether these mechanisms help the aggrieved to complain and seek redress for their grievances. In this emerging literature, the institutional and definitional boundaries of formal grievance mechanisms are slippery; systems that look like grievance systems may do little to enable complaints by those who seek to register them, and even less to enable them to achieve redress; with limited evidence on how these formal grievance systems work on the ground, and without sufficient power to act on complaints these formal grievance systems appear to be more ornamental; and where they have worked uncommonly well they have not always attracted political support to go to scale. The article concludes with a discussion of avenues for research identified through this literature review.

Citation

Hossain, N., Joshi, A., & Pande, S. (2024). The politics of complaint: a review of the literature on grievance redress mechanisms in the global South. Policy Studies, 45(2), 139-158. https://doi.org/10.1080/01442872.2023.2193387

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 16, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Apr 24, 2023
• Publication Date: Feb 1, 2024
• Deposit Date: Oct 12, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 12, 2023
• Journal: Policy Studies
• Print ISSN: 0144-2872
• Electronic ISSN: 1470-1006
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 45
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 139-158
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01442872.2023.2193387
• Keywords: Grievance redress mechanisms, citizen engagement, voice and accountabilty, feedback loops, public programmes
• Publisher URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01442872.2023.2193387