Accountability

In ethics and governance, accountability is answerability, blameworthiness, liability, and the expectation of account-giving. As an aspect of governance, it has been central to discussions related to problems in the public sector, nonprofit and private (corporate) and individual contexts. In leadership roles, accountability is the acknowledgment and assumption of responsibility for actions, products, decisions, and policies including the administration, governance, and implementation within the scope of the role or employment position and encompassing the obligation to report, explain and be answerable for resulting consequences. In ethics and governance, accountability is answerability, blameworthiness, liability, and the expectation of account-giving. As an aspect of governance, it has been central to discussions related to problems in the public sector, nonprofit and private (corporate) and individual contexts. In leadership roles, accountability is the acknowledgment and assumption of responsibility for actions, products, decisions, and policies including the administration, governance, and implementation within the scope of the role or employment position and encompassing the obligation to report, explain and be answerable for resulting consequences. In governance, accountability has expanded beyond the basic definition of 'being called to account for one's actions'. It is frequently described as an account-giving relationship between individuals, e.g. 'A is accountable to B when A is obliged to inform B about A's (past or future) actions and decisions, to justify them, and to suffer punishment in the case of eventual misconduct'. Accountability cannot exist without proper accounting practices; in other words, an absence of accounting means an absence of accountability. Accountability is an element of a RACI to indicate who is ultimately answerable for the correct and thorough completion of the deliverable or task, and the one who delegates the work to those responsible. There are various reasons (legitimate or excuses) why accountability fails. 'Accountability' stems from late Latin accomptare (to account), a prefixed form of computare (to calculate), which in turn derived from putare (to reckon).While the word itself does not appear in English until its use in 13th century Norman England, the concept of account-giving has ancient roots in record keeping activities related to governance and money-lending systems that first developed in Ancient Egypt, Israel, Babylon, Greece, and later, Rome. Bruce Stone, O.P. Dwivedi, and Joseph G. Jabbra list 8 types of accountability, namely: moral, administrative, political, managerial, market, legal/judicial, constituency relation, and professional. Leadership accountability cross cuts many of these distinctions. Political accountability is the accountability of the government, civil servants and politicians to the public and to legislative bodies such as a congress or a parliament. Hirschman makes substantial contributions to accountability theory, positing exit or voice as pivotal accountability mechanisms. The relationship between the governor and governed (i.e., , , , ) functions such that the prospect of citizen exit can, not only disciplines ex ante, but also ex post if the state is dependent on the citizens. The literature connects this disposition of autonomy or dependence to its fiscal capacity. States that are most responsive adjust to exit or voice. Clark & Golder model the dynamics of Hirschman's theory and elaborate important aspects like those that operationalize loyalty as an active choice. Exit, voice, and loyalty will be expressed in different ways under differing regimes and given the relevant assumptions. All three of these sufficiently broad categories present ways and means of holding the state accountable. Recall elections can be used to revoke the office of an elected official. Generally, however, voters do not have any direct way of holding elected representatives to account during the term for which they have been elected. Additionally, some officials and legislators may be appointed rather than elected. Constitution, or statute, can empower a legislative body to hold their own members, the government, and government bodies to account. This can be through holding an internal or independent inquiry. Inquiries are usually held in response to an allegation of misconduct or corruption. The powers, procedures and sanctions vary from country to country. The legislature may have the power to impeach the individual, remove them, or suspend them from office for a period of time. The accused person might also decide to resign before trial. Impeachment in the United States has been used both for elected representatives and other civil offices, such as district court judges.