ABSTRACT
The focus of the second thematic chapter is on the allocation and realisation of responsibility. We first study how responsibility for realising the SDGs has been allocated in Ghana, Tanzania, and Sweden, finding that in all three countries the executive branch of government is understood to be the key subject of institutional political responsibility. In Sweden and Tanzania, responsibility for the SDGs has been allocated within existing political and administrative structures, causing impatience and criticism related to a lack of coordination and holistic thinking. This shows that there is at a minimum symbolic value in the creation of new organisational structures as a manifestation of political responsibility, as has been done in Ghana. Second, the chapter finds that key factors affecting the realisation of the SDGs are availability of resources, coordination, appropriate bureaucratic structures, and political will. Tensions between short-term and long-term political interests and between holistic and issue-based governance also impact goal realisation, in addition to competing issues on the political agenda. The chapter’s conclusion emphasises that the relationship between the allocation of responsibility and its actual realisation constitutes the basis for political accountability.
