Current literature on social and political accountability hardly explains why governments are (or are not) interested in including non-state actors in decision-making and policy implementation. This paper argues that accountability is the product of the interplay of ideas and institutions to mediate contradictory interests in the definition of normative, strategic and operational policy aims and means. Process-tracing is utilized to identify the causal mechanism linking the adoption of international law instruments to actual enforcement of accountability in a policy area. The case study is about the indigenous right to prior consultation on oil and gas policies in Colombia and Ecuador.