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Accountability Mechanisms

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Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance

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Synonyms

Answerability; Attributiveness; Performance judgment; Responsibility; Transparency

Accountability in Scope

Being accountable means that one is called to account for one’s actions. It sounds quite simple, but any analysis must understand the context of the actions and the authority by which the person acts. If one is in a position of authority, then in a well-functioning or ethical society that authority carries a responsibility – a responsibility to act in the interests of those who confer that authority and a responsibility to be transparent in exercising that authority.

This may well be the ideal, and we are all aware of breaches that have taken place in specific contexts. In a political context, politicians may behave without accountability when they are driven by avarice or corruption or by a narrow ideological focus and so will serve only the interests of a selected few. If they are held to account, voters will not return them to power. If they are not accountable, then...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia

    Adam Graycar

Authors
  1. Adam Graycar
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Correspondence to Adam Graycar .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL, USA

    Ali Farazmand

Section Editor information

  1. McCormack College of Management, University of Massachusetts Boston, 100 Morrissey Blvd. Office 613, MA 02125, Boston, USA

    Carole Jurkiewicz Ph.D

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Graycar, A. (2018). Accountability Mechanisms. In: Farazmand, A. (eds) Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20928-9_2331

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