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Accountable Governance: Problems and Promises
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Comments/Reviews
Description: Public accountability is a hallmark of modern democratic governance and the foundation of the popular performance management movement. Democracy is just an empty exercise if those in power cannot be held accountable in public for their acts and omissions, for their decisions, their policies, and their expenditures.
This book offers a finely detailed and richly informed consideration of accountability in both government and the contemporary world of governance. Twenty-five leading experts cover varying aspects of the accountability movement, including multiple and competing accountabilities, measuring accountability, accountability and democratic legitimacy, and accountability and information technology, and apply them to governments, quasi-governments, non-government organizations, governance organizations, and voluntary organizations. Together they provide the most comprehensive consideration of accountability currently available, with a blend of theoretical, empirical, and applied approaches.
Selected Contents:
Foreword
David Mathews
Acknowledgments
Introduction: The Promises of Accountability Research Melvin J. Dubnick and H. George Frederickson
Part I. Complex Challenges
1. The Challenge of Multiple Accountability: Does Redundancy Lead to Overload? Thomas Schillemans and Mark Bovens
2. The Tangled Web of Accountability in Contracting Networks: The Case of Welfare Reform Barbara S. Romzek
3. Accountability Challenges in Public Sector Contracting for Complex Products Trevor L. Brown, Matthew Potoski, and David M. Van Slyke
4. Accountability for Global Governance Organizations Jonathan Koppell
Part II. Obstacles to Accountability
5. Performance Blight and the Tyranny of Light? Accountability in Advanced Performance
Measurement Regimes Christopher Pollitt
6. Does Performance Measurement Actually Improve Accountability? Beryl A. Radin
7. The Accountability Environment of U.S. Counties Bonnie J. Johnson, John C. Pierce, and Nicholas P. Lovrich Jr.
Part III. Assessing Accountability
8. Accountability Institutions and Information in the Policy-making Process Paul L. Posner and Robert Schwartz
9. Accountability and Information Technology Enactment: A Cross-National Perspective Richard K. Ghere
Part IV. Adapting to Accountability
10. Blame Avoidance and Accountability: Positive, Negative, or Neutral? Christopher Hood
11. The Challenges of Accountability for International Nongovernmental and Civil Society Organizations Margaret P. Karns, Timothy J. Shaffer, and Richard K. Ghere
12. Accountability in the Nonprofit Sector: Abandoning the "One Size Fits All" Approach Kevin P. Kearns
Part V. Strategies
13. Watching the Watchers Sally Wheeler
14. Accountability and Voluntary Programs Matthew Potoski and Aseem Prakash
Part VI. Rethinking Accountability
15. Accountability in Two Non-Western Contexts Sara R. Jordan
16. Accountability and a Theory of Representation Ciarßn O'Kelly
17. Emergent Accountability and Structuration Theory: Implications Kaifeng Yang
18. Rethinking the Obsession: Accountability and the Financial Crisis Melvin J. Dubnick and Justin P. O'Brien
Conclusion: Taking Stock and Moving Forward Melvin J. Dubnick and H. George Frederickson
About the Editors and Contributors
Name Index
Subject Index
Comment(s): "Two of the leaders in the field have brought together a collection of outstanding scholars to consider the pressing issues in accountability. A critical, insightful, and indispensable guide for libraries and the classroom." -- Donald Moynihan, University of Wisconsin
"At a time when the public sector faces unrelenting demands for greater accountability, this book asks us to grapple with some harsh realities--that more accountability doesn't necessarily mean better performance, and that trying to be accountable to everyone might ultimately result in accountability to no one. Drawing from diverse experiences and disciplines, this volume shows how and when accountability might actually lead to better policy design and improved governance." -- Alnoor Ebrahim, Harvard Business School
    
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