GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY UNIT 17 Answer the following questions

GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY UNIT 17

Answer the following questions: 1. What is the meaning of accountability in public administration? 2. What other principles is accountability closely related to? 3. How can accountability of civil servants be ensured? 4. Which control mechanisms can be used to ensure accountability of public administration?

Preview Hierarchical model of accountability Definitions Answerability and enforcement Accountability and transparency Checks and balances Responsiveness Mechanisms of accountability: elections, legislative scrutiny, courts, auditors, public access to information, intra-organizational accountability

Models and Mechanisms of Accountability: Hierarchical model The traditional model of accountability: public servants were accountable to their ministers, the minister was accountable to the legislature, and the legislature was accountable to the people.

Hierarchical model To make the hierarchical model of accountability function effectively, governments have developed a number of instruments. All the instruments and mechanisms for accountability depend on transparency and openness. If an administrative system can keep its practices hidden from the public and from political actors, then the possibilities for exercising control over that administration are very limited.

Definitions of accountability Accountability- a key concept in both public administration and democratic theory. Its meaning is contested, but the general definition “the obligation to answer for the performance of duties” would fit most versions.

Definitions of accountability Though the Oxford English Dictionary records the use of the English word accountability from the late 18 th century, its prominence in political science dates only from the 1980's, before which time the term responsibility was preferred. Broadly speaking, accountability exists when an individual or body, and the performance of tasks or functions by that individual or body, are subject to another’s oversight, direction or request that they provide information or justification for their actions.

Answerability and enforcement The concept of accountability involves two distinct stages: answerability and enforcement. Answerability refers to the obligation of the government, its agencies and public officials to provide information about their decisions and actions and to justify them to the public and those institutions of accountability tasked with providing oversight.

Answerability and enforcement Enforcement suggests that the public or the institution responsible for accountability can sanction the offending party. As such, different institutions of accountability might be responsible for either or both of these stages.

Accountability and transparency Some analyses equate accountability with transparency. In complex modern systems of public accountability, some accountability mechanisms, such as parliamentary inquiry or media investigation can provide transparency, but lack the capacity to impose sanctions, leaving that function to other agencies such as the courts or the executive.

Checks and balances Accountability is sometimes equated with institutional devices for limiting or constraining power. For instance, constitutional checks and balances, such as federalism and the separation of powers, are sometimes described as mechanisms of accountability because they limit the legal power of governments and prevent them from neglecting the rights of citizens. Such constraints may certainly involve accountability mechanisms, for instance, when a government oversteps its legal powers and is called to account by the courts.

Responsiveness Accountability, as the obligation to answer to external scrutiny, is closely linked to responsiveness, understood as the readiness of institutions and officials to respond to the needs and interests of those whom they serve.

Mechanisms of accountability Elections Legislative Scrutiny Courts Auditors and other monitoring agencies Public access to government information Intra-Organizational Accountability

Elections In a representative democracy, the basic accountability mechanism is the general election at which prospective executive leaders present themselves to the voters and seek a renewal of their mandate to govern. Elections compel elected politicians to explain and justify their actions and give the citizens the opportunity to listen and deliver a verdict. Elections, however, need to be supplemented by a range of other accountability mechanisms and should not be seen as the sole instruments of democratic accountability.

Legislative Scrutiny Between elections, the major institution of accountability is the legislature. Though primarily defined in terms of their law-making functions, modern legislatures have ceded much of their legislative initiative to the executive branch. In compensation, legislatures have increasingly emphasized their accountability role as the main forum where the executive is required to answer to the public.

Legislative scrutiny Legislatures hold executives to account through a variety of ways. One is the requirement for regular reporting on executive activities. Legislatures also have the right to question members of the executive and subject them to public scrutiny.

Courts All governments - subject to legal accountability through the courts because courts determine whether the government has acted within the law. The operation and effect of this power vary with a country's legal and constitutional structure

Courts One contrast is between Anglo-American countries, where cases involving the government are heard in the same courts as civil cases, and some European countries, notably France, where a completely separate court structure is reserved for cases involving the state.

Courts Another contrast concerns the scope of judicial review. Where a constitution, as in the United States, defines and limits the powers of both Congress and the President, the courts become a forum for holding the government generally accountable across a wide range of substantial policy issues. On the other hand, in parliamentary democracies such as the UK, where few constitutional limits are placed on legislative power, opportunities for challenging policies through the courts are much more limited.

Courts Most cases involving the government are brought by individual citizens and deal with particular decisions affecting them that have been made by government agencies.

Courts It is open to the court to rule: Whether a decision was taken within the powers legally conferred on the government agency; whether the citizen received natural justice in terms of fair procedure and due process; and whether the decision itself was reasonable.

Courts Judicial accountability, like litigation generally, suffers from being slow and expensive and is beyond the reach of most people for most issues. However, its availability as a last resort is crucial to the public's capacity to hold governments to account. Like the rule of law itself, of which it is a key element, accountability through an independent and honest judiciary is the foundation of all public accountability.

Auditors and other monitoring agencies Governments are overseen and investigated by a range of special-purpose accountability agencies. Of these agencies, the most long-standing are the offices of government auditors. Their traditional function has been the monitoring of government finances on behalf of the legislature to see whether public revenue and expenditure have been managed according to legislative authorization and according to appropriate public standards.

Auditors and other monitoring agencies In general, government auditors have proved essential in maintaining financial integrity in governments. Conversely, the absence of effective audit is a key indicator of weak and corrupt government systems

Other investigating bodies Besides auditors, other investigating bodies include government inspectors and ombudsmen. Inspectors are officials established within particular government departments and agencies with the function of improving efficiency and effectiveness.

Ombudsman The position of ombudsman, first introduced in Scandinavia, has been adopted worldwide as an avenue of complaint for individual citizens seeking redress in connection with particular decisions. Ombudsmen usually have the power to investigate and recommend but not to impose remedies. In spite of this limitation, however, they have proved an effective accountability mechanism midway between an individual complaint and full legal proceedings.

Public access to government information is an essential component of government accountability and is provided by a number of channels. One such channel is the right of the citizen to seek access to information, both personal and general information about government policy. Certain exemptions usually apply, on grounds such as national security, cabinet confidentiality, commercial confidentiality, and protection of legal proceedings.

Public access to government information The various media outlets, both print and electronic, help spread information and stimulate debate. Though, for the most part, privately owned and not formally part of the machinery of government, the media are essential to effective accountability in large-scale modern states. Indeed, a free press, along with elections and an independent judiciary, has been acknowledged as one of the key institutions in securing an accountable government.

Intra-Organizational Accountability In addition to being externally accountable, government agencies, like all organizations, exhibit internal structures of accountability whereby different members or sections are accountable to others within the organization. Indeed, from the perspective of individual officials, organizational accountability through the chain of bureaucratic command is often the most immediate and salient form of accountability in their daily activities.

II Read the text carefully and answer the following questions: 1. Explain the traditional model of accountability. Who is accountable to whom? 2. What do all mechanisms of accountability depend on? 3. What is the generally accepted definition of accountability? 4. Which constitutional checks and balances can function as mechanisms of accountability? 5. What are the main mechanisms of external public sector accountability? 6. What is the most salient form of intra-organizational accountability? 7. How can legislatures hold executives to account? 8. What can the courts determine regarding government action and decisions? 9. What is the role of auditors? 10. What are the other investigating bodies besides auditors? 11. What is the role of the Ombudsman?

III Provide definitions of the following key concepts: 1. Accountability ___________ 2. Openness: ___________ 3. Answerability: ___________ 4. Enforcement: ____________ 5. Responsiveness: ____________

abuses, accountability, government, horizontal, punish The prevailing view is that institutions of ___________, such as parliament and the judiciary, provide what is commonly termed horizontal accountability, or the capacity of a network of relatively autonomous powers (i. e. other institutions) that can call into question, and eventually ________, improper ways of discharging the responsibilities of a given official. In other words, _________accountability is the capacity of state institutions to check _________ by other public agencies and branches of ___________ or the requirement for agencies to report sideways

Decide whether the following statements are true or false and correct the false ones: STATEMENT Mechanisms of accountability do not depend on transparency. TRUE FALSE The concept of accountability involves only answerability. Accountability mechanisms such as parliamentary inquiry or media investigation can impose sanctions. Constitutional checks and balances include federalism and the separation of powers. Accountability is closely linked to responsiveness. Elections are a sufficient instrument of democratic accountability. Modern legislatures have ceded much of their legislative initiative to the executive branch. Governments are not subject to legal accountability through the courts

DISCUSSION Discuss the role of the press as an accountability mechanism. Can freedom of the press be limited under any circumstances?

Integrity, Transparency and Accountability in Public Administration How would you define the concepts of integrity, transparency and accountability in public administration?

Concepts and principles The concepts of integrity, transparency and accountability have been identified by United Nations countries, collectively and individually, as part of the founding principles of public administration. .

Concepts and principles As such, these principles need to be espoused and seen to be practised by the leadership within the United Nations System and in all member countries.

Integrity In public administration, integrity refers to “honesty” or “trustworthiness” in the discharge of official duties, serving as an antithesis to “corruption” or “the abuse of office. ”

Transparency refers to unfettered access by the public to timely and reliable information on decisions and performance in the public sector.

Accountability refers to the obligation on the part of public officials to report on the use of public resources and answerability for failing to meet stated performance objectives. But what do these terms mean, in the abstract and concretely, for the UN administration and for the administrations of its member countries?

Integrity In the abstract, for the UN’s own administration, integrity has been defined as “includ(ing), but not limited to probity, impartiality, fairness, honesty and truthfulness. “

Transparency The need for transparency, though not defined explicitly, has been implied in the founding documents. More recently, the UN has acknowledged the need to foster more transparency in access to information, procurement and senior level recruitment. The UN’s staff regulations state that “staff members are accountable to the Secretary-General for the proper discharge of their functions”, highlighting the importance of accountability for performance

Read the text and answer the following questions: 1. What are the founding principles of public administration according to the United Nations? 2. How are the concepts of integrity, transparency and accountability defined in the framework of the UN administration?

Translate the following text into Croatian In public administration, integrity refers to “honesty” or “trustworthiness” in the discharge of official duties, serving as an antithesis to “corruption” or “the abuse of office. ” Transparency refers to unfettered access by the public to timely and reliable information on decisions and performance in the public sector. Accountability refers to the obligation on the part of public officials to report on the use of public resources and answerability for failing to meet stated performance objectives.