Last November 2007, CommGAP organized a workshop entitled Generating Genuine Demand with Social Accountability Mechanisms in Paris, France.  Since then, we have been reflecting on the word “accountability” and what it really means in the work of governance.  I recently recalled that Dr. Kathleen Hall Jamieson defines the term in the context of political campaigns as candidates (and I would add officials and elites in other public settings) speaking in their own voices, thus keeping themselves open to challenge and criticism.  Simply put, the essence of accountability in political discourse is being answerable to others for what one says in public.