Accountability And Ethics: Reconsidering the Relationships

ABSTRACT While a relationship between accountability and ethics has long been assumed and debated in Public Administration, the nature of that relationship has not been examined or clearly articulated. This article makes such an effort by positing four major forms of accountability (answerability, blameworthiness, liability and attributability) and focusing on the ethical strategies developed in response to each of these forms

Sarbanes-Oxley and the Search for Accountable Corporate Governance

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A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: Prospects for an Ethical Theory of Accountability

This paper is intended to restate the case for the development of an ethical theory of accountability as an alternative to current theoretical frames being applied by students of accountable governance. I would emphasize the word alternative at this juncture, noting that an ethical theory should not be regarded as replacement for current models; rather it is offered as a reframing of accountability that can provide a significantly different perspective -- one rooted in (and built upon) ontologically distinct presuppositions about the nature of account-giving/receiving. Central to the effort is establishing accountability as the capacity to engage in account-giving/receiving behavior triggered by the human need to deal with problematic conditions involving social interactions where there exists a regard and respect for the reaction of others. This reconceptualization of accountability represents a major ontological shift and is supported by both the move to a second-person standpoint and acceptance of the Strawsonian view that ethical behavior is grounded in reactive attitudes inherent in interpersonal activity

Public Accountability: Performance Measurement, The Extended State, And The Search For Trust

In an Academy partnership with the Kettering Foundation, National Academy of Pubic Administration Fellows Melvin J. Dubnick and H. George Frederickson have completed a study of accountability. The study, Public Accountability: Performance Measurement, The Extended State, and the Search for Trust, is a treatment of the strengths and weaknesses of contemporary applications of accountability to public affairs. The working title of the study was Public Accountability: From Ambulance Chasing to Accident Prevention, but that title was thought to lack the dignity such an important subject deserves. Dubnick and Frederickson challenge the often assumed relationship between performance measurement and accountability. They give special attention to accountability challenges associated with the outsourcing of government work, what they call the Extended State. And, they provide examples of effective public accountability in the context of high trust public-private partnerships

A framework for examining accountability and value for money in the UK's private finance initiative

This paper seeks to develop a system for evaluating the implications of accountability and value-for-money (VFM) decisions in private finance initiative (PFI) projects from initiation through set-up, implementation and internal and external monitoring. By reviewing the extant literature on accountability and VFM, a model is developed for evaluating the implications of various types of accountability and VFM decisions on PFI projects. Most previous studies have considered either the accountability or VFM at the projects' initial stages; little attention has been paid to the interrelationship between accountability and VFM issues in the evaluation of various PFI processes. This paper addresses these lacunae in the literature