Public accountability

Some scholars have argued that the enhanced performance of governmental agencies in any nation is a product of good governance, accountability, transparency and trust, which in turn brings about the improvement in the living standard of the people. The implication of this position is that where good governance is absent, accountability of governmental agencies and development in such a society is likely to be affected negatively. With the analysis of secondary data, the paper examines the challenges of good governance, accountability of governmental agencies and development in Nigeria. It observes the manifestation of unethical behaviour amongst public officials as the major challenge hindering development in the country. It therefore recommend among others the need for the government to strengthen the existing anti-corruption agencies to enable them enforce proper ethical standard.

Para muchos pensadores el origen de la administración es tomado desde la revolución industrial, a partir de esto, cabe aclarar que la teoría en sí, surge a partir de este periodo, ya que el contexto histórico de este hecho lo permitió, a pesar de esto, la administración se venía empleando desde que el hombre primitivo comenzó a organizarse en grupos para satisfacer sus necesidades de una manera mas efectiva.

Since public sector reform initiatives, public accountability and transparency have advanced democracy and good governance on managing state finances. State financial management mechanism involves regional policies and fiscal decentralization trend in the devolution of responsibility for empowerment from central to local units of governments, but the governance face challenges to effectively manage and control the use of public funds that best meet citizen’s needs. This study determines the effect of public accountability and transparency on the management of state finances in Indonesia, as well as the extent to which public accountability and transparency affect the management of state finances. Based on a descriptive quantitative case-oriented research approach, 60 survey interviews are collected and analyzed with multiple linear regression analysis techniques. This study concludes that Public Accountability partially has a significant effect on the Financial Management Mechanism. On the other hand, partially public transparency has no significant effect on the State Financial Management Mechanism. Cumulatively, some aspects of Public Accountability and Transparency have a significant effect on the State Financial Management Mechanism. If unaccountability in decentralise administrative model prevails, the problem of ineffective policy output may persist to impair sustainable finance and public values for good governance in times of covid-19 crisis-related society

The external control of public organizations and their members, commonly referred to as accountability , is an enduring theme in public administration. This article shifts attention from a traditional focus on accountability as a macro-institutional matter to the psychology of accountability, that is, whether and how employees internalize accountability systems. The internalization of rules and expectations varies by individual, which, in turn, has significant consequences for accountability outcomes. We theorize that the micro-foundations of employee accountability are affected by five factors: attributability, observability, evaluability, answerability, and consequentiality. These five dimensions are conceptually distinct but interrelated, representing a deeper common psychological construct of employee accountability. Incorporating the psychological approach of accountability advances the potential of public accountability research. We conclude with a discussion of future research and practical implications.

Whistleblowing (WB) is the practice of reporting immoral or illegal behavior by members of a legitimate organization with privileged access to information concerning an alleged wrongdoing within that organization. A common critique of WB draws on its supposed consequence of generating a climate of mutual distrust. This wariness is heightened in the case of external WB, which may lead to weakening public trust in an organization by diminishing its credibility. Accordingly, even the defenders of WB have presented it as an individual conscientious extrema ratio; the justification of WB as a dutiful practice has lost plausibility. Contrary to this view, we present WB as a specific instance of institutional and individual moral duties of public accountability in nonideal conditions. WB is thus justified as a dutiful corrective practice within a general normative theory of institutions because it qualifies the individual and institutional moral demands attached to rule-governed institutional roles.

This study is about accountability of public institutions. Accountability is an important aspect of good governance as without it there can be no democratic governance. The purpose of this study is to review the literature available about accountability and identify the gap in previous studies. This study, before focusing on accountability, first searched for the available literature on this topic. Once this was done, theoretical and empirical literature were reviewed. Published books, previous research papers, and the Internet were the secondary sources used to obtain the qualitative data for this study. These secondary sources were analyzed using the descriptive method. Through this study, much knowledge was gained of the actors and processes of accountability, history of accountability, accountability framework, importance of accountability, and types of accountability, by reviewing the theoretical literature. Further, the accountability practices of different countries were scrutinized by going through the empirical literature. An important research gap this study noted was that socio-demographic and administrative factors were not fully identified in previous studies. This gap must be narrowed or eliminated if further progress is to be made in future studies.

ABSTRACT
The transformation of the public service has marked a new wave of
performance and public financial management. Government institutions are required to subscribe to statutory performance measures including efficiency, effectiveness, economy (3Es) and professional ethics thus ensuring an outcome-based governance approach to service delivery. Central to this mandate, amongst other things, performance auditing is pivotal for state institutions in
general and for municipalities in particular. Performance or value-for-money audit is a process carried out by the management of the institution to assess the systems, or the lack thereof, to ensure that resources have been acquired economically and are utilised efficiently and effectively, and to report thereon to management.
If appropriate also to report, to the legislative body concerned. In this regard, the paper first explores the legislative framework regulating the audit processes nd ultimately the promotion of efficiency, effectiveness and economy in the management public resources within the municipalities. These include Municipal
Finance Management Act, 2003 (Act 56 of 2003), Municipal Systems Act, 2000 (Act 32 of 2000), Auditor-General Act, 1995 (Act 12 of 1995) and Public Audit Act, 2004 (Act 25 of 2004). The paper further provides an analysis of municipal audit outcomes for 2006/07 financial year. The analysis unravels several issues which require immediate attention in order to make financial management and accountability of municipal official operational. Therefore, the paper concludes by providing pertinent recommendations on how to enhance good performance audit
practice as means to enhance professional ethos in the public service in general and within municipalities in particular.

In the 2008 Afrobarometer survey1 for Tanzania, citizens were asked how well local councils allowed their participation in local-level decision-making. The result was a 50/50 split between those who thought that councils did not allow participation and those who thought they did. Yet when asked how much an ordinary person can do to improve how local government is run in their communities, 71% said either very little or nothing. While the largest proportion of citizens interviewed (about 40 %) felt that voters are the ones with the primary responsibility for making sure that their elected leaders did their jobs, most respondents (64%) felt that it was difficult to have their voices heard in between elections.
This case study explores the extent to which these findings are consistent with the preliminary lessons emerging from the learning partnership between Policy Forum and the PSAM. The case study also demonstrates that it is possible under certain conditions to strengthen the voice of citizens and their representative groups in demanding and obtaining accountability from government.

Despite of persistent efforts from the part of organizations aiming to solve or to alleviate the
world’s most challenging issues, there are limitations of the current problem-solving system based
on hierarchical bureaucratic models. These are mainly related to the powerlessness of the profes-
sional sector when, alone, facing global issues of ever increasing complexity and uncertainty. The
current context often called “the network age” has in turn, supported and enhanced systems
which serve as means for coping with these complex and uncertain scenarios, such as the concept
of distributed cognition that leads (in its positive aspects) to collaborative, participatory and peer-
to-peer common oriented processes, including the emergence of decentralized systems as well as
the gradual empowerment of the civil society (overlapping with the latter); forming altogether,
the background of latent paradigm shifts. 
Concurrently there is the political discourse (driven by the UN) on Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs) and of a Data Revolution, where the claim is that the latter is indispensable for
achieving the former. The Data Revolution’s main purpose is to fill data gaps in order to leave no
one behind and its realization is also crucial for unlocking other latent paradigm shifts. This thesis
introduces the core concepts of such a paradigm shifts whilst focusing on two collaborative ap-
proaches for data collection and analysis: crowdsourcing and citizen science; most specifically on
their role and challenges in the context of the current data revolution. Crowdsourcing and citizen
science (also citizen journalism and other participatory monitoring activities) are not just part of the
context of latent paradigm shifts, but do play a major role for the realization of a data revolution,
once professionals and machines do not currently suffice to fill those data gaps. This hinders proper
accounting, planning and distribution of resources and hence spoils efforts to tackle the critical
issues involved in the SDGs. 
Unfortunately there is wide reluctance from the part of the institutions (UN, INGOs and
governments) in adopting these approaches as valid data/information sources. The main goal of
this MA thesis is to identify the reason behind this reluctance, shedding light on deadlocks ham-
pering the consolidation of a data revolution. In order to do so, the problematic was approached
from multiple perspectives, characterizing a truly interdisciplinary inquiry, which, based on the
approach of the “informed grounded theory”, presents the main challenges of crowdsourcing
and citizen science in multiple levels and from multiple perspectives. 
From a pragmatic perspective, issues related with data quality as well as the issue of little un-
derstanding  have  been  the  most  cited.  Withal  the  fact  that  both  issues  are  not  exclusive  to
crowdsourcing or citizen science has shown to be crucial for the present inquiry, although widely
neglected  in  the  literature.  Thus  for  this  and  other  important  reasons  to  be  further  discussed
throughout chapters 3 and 4, an alternative to the “quality-centred” approach towards crowdsourc-
ing and citizen science is appropriate, nevertheless the quality issue should not be disregarded, as it
is reasonable, but eventually addressed in a different manner as part of the problematic, but not as
“the problematic” itself. 
In addition, prejudice from the part of professionals has been cited by some expert inter-
viewees as the “real” reason behind the reluctance vis-à-vis crowdsourcing and citizen science as
valid data/information sources. Analysis has shown that prejudice is omnipresent with regards to new technologies or any novel approach. For there is no time to wait for wider acceptance, given
the urgency of matters, and as prejudice shows to result from ignorance linked to the clash of
paradigms, this thesis also focuses on the question of what lays behind prejudice. In order to
answer this question, other crucial parts of the problematic encompassing constrained profes-
sional autonomy, risk and blame aversion are discussed throughout the thesis, forming altogether
a hypothesis advocating that the resistance from the part of institutions towards crowdsourcing
and citizen science is not just rooted on prejudice, but also on lack of trust in society; being both
resultants of excess of accountability which has been ultimately delineated by public discourse.
After a rough analysis, the latter has shown to be in unbalance, overemphasizing the need for
accountability and consequently (based on the premise of a necessary balance between trust and
control/accountability), inadvertently, undermining trust.
Paradoxically the overdose of accountability in public discourse reflects an attempt to restore
trust in society. This paradox can be found also within the discourse on the data revolution, hinder-
ing this and other latent paradigm shifts of thriving, as for them all mutual trust is a requisite. If
there is no trust from the part of organizations towards the public, there will be no room (ac-
ceptance) for approaches relying on citizen-generated data, leaving data gaps and many people and
countries behind. The outcomes of this analysis are useful for those stakeholders contributing to
the discourses on the fundamental role of a data revolution, as they should reframe the latter giving
more weight to “top-down” trust, if we are to see the realization of such a shift.

Along with the Sixteenth Amendment of Constitution, the government wanted to return on 1972 as the Original Constitution of 1972 empowered parliament to remove Supreme Court judges and make the judges under public accountability. Besides, the Sixteenth Amendment Case, the Supreme Court declared the Sixteenth Amendment ultra-vires to the constitution in violation of the principles of the separation of powers and the independency of the judiciary, and goes back to Supreme Judicial Council. On that backdrop, this paper is to introduce an improved removal mechanism by tuning the supreme judicial council with the parliamentary removal system balancing between independency and accountability of judges, to make the separation of powers with the accountability of check and balance not impacting to the basic structures of the Constitution.

The culture of corruption has grown roots in Kenyan society at large and has become an endemic. Institutions, which were designed for the regulation of the relationships between citizens and the State, are being used instead for the personal enrichment of public officials (politicians and bureaucrats) and other corrupt private agents (individuals, groups, and businesses). Corruption persists in Kenya primarily because there are people in power who benefit from it and the existing governance institutions lack both the will and capacity to stop them from doing so. This work takes a governance and development perspective to analytically examine the causes and consequences of corruption in Kenya. It identifies the key factors (such as absence of strong and effective democratic institutions, centralised power, lack of public accountability, and impunity) and synthesises and analyses available data, indicators, and other information in that regard. The research attributed Causes of Corruption in Kenya to the following: Bad governance political patronage, Lack of political will, Breakdown/erosion/perversion of societal values and norms. Non enforcement of the law, Tribalism, favouritism, nepotism and cronyism, Weak or absence of management systems, Procedures and practices. Misuse of discretionary power vested in individuals or offices, Weak civil society and apathy. Lack of professional integrity, Lack of transparency and accountability, inefficient public sector and Greed. In addition, the police were reported to be corrupt. It was reported that they arrest criminals not to keep law and order but to extort money. A criminal can do anything in Kenya and go scorts free as long he has the cash to buy his freedom from the police. The study is a literature review with systematic principles (Hagen-Zanker et al., 2012). This approach is designed to produce a review strategy that adheres to the core concepts of systematic reviews – rigour, transparency, a commitment to taking questions of evidence seriously while allowing for a more flexible and user-friendly handling of retrieval and analysis methods (DFID, 2014; Hagen-Zanker and Mallett, 2013; Hagen-Zanker et al., 2012).

Blockchain information technology represents an opportunity for innovation and digitization of public administration. The article examines the proposal - advanced by a working group set up at the MISE (Ministry of Economic Development) - to test the blockchain for the register for the collection of Advanced Healthcare Directives, in light of the right to protection and control of data (GDPR) and principles of accountability, participation and efficiency of the PA, taking into account the importance of building trust between citizens and digital transformation

The purpose of this study examined influence of public accountability, public participation and public policy transparency on the relationship between budgeting knowledge and budgeting control. The sample study are legislative assembly at provincial (DPRD) and public such as Non Governmental Organization (NGO), public organization, public figure, academic, student and mass media in Malang City, Malang Regency, and Batu City. Hypothesis are tested empirically used regression and Chow test. The result of study indicated that, first, budgeting knowledge are statically significant, positive coefficient indicated that high budgeting according legislative and public. The second, interaction between public accountability with budgeting knowledge are statically significant according to legislative and public.The third, interaction between public participation with budgeting knowledge are statically significant according to legislative, and not significantly according to public participation data. The fourth, interaction between public policy transparency with budgeting knowledge are statically not significant. Fifth, the result of chow test indicated that local financial control (APBD) function are statically different as well as council public sample, so the fifth hypothesis are acceptable.

Este trabalho visa trazer atenção para um tema pouco explorado e que enfrenta muitas resistências de diversas ordens, o controle da atividade policial, notadamente no âmbito do militarismo conformado constitucionalmente que foi dispensado à nossas polícias ostensivas. Portanto, teremos o campo da polícia militar, em especial no que toca ao controle disciplinar e penal por parte dos desvios de condutas e condutas delituosas praticadas pelos seus membros. Abordando os aspectos prévios, os entraves que ocorreram durante sua execução, bem como o desenrolar, com a abordagem do tratamento dos dados e um panorama geral dos resultados obtidos, através da análise do corpus empírico trabalhado, com a apresentação da dimensão e a profundidade dos dados, assim como uma leitura crítica do pesquisador, este trabalho tem caráter de relato de pesquisa.  A coleta de dados ocorreu em 2012, na 11ª Vara Criminal da Comarca de Natal, unidade judiciária competente pelo processamento e julgamento dos crimes de tortura, além de ser a Auditoria Militar estadual de primeiro grau, respondendo pelos crimes militares dos Policiais Militares de todo o estado. A pesquisa aplicou alguns critérios de recorte na coleta de dados, resultando em um universo total abordado de 147 processos dos crimes denunciados e/ou julgados, com aplicação de um questionário de 33 perguntas as quais abordaram aspectos da investigação/persecução/punição desse universo pouco explorado pela academia no Brasil.

Some scholars have argued that the enhanced performance of governmental agencies in
any nation is a product of good governance, accountability, transparency and trust, which in turn
brings about the improvement in the living standard of the people. The implication of this position is
that where good governance is absent, accountability of governmental agencies and development in
such a society is likely to be affected negatively. With the analysis of secondary data, the paper
examines the challenges of good governance, accountability of governmental agencies and
development in Nigeria. It observes the manifestation of unethical behaviour amongst public officials
as the major challenge hindering development in the country. It therefore recommend among others
the need for the government to strengthen the existing anti-corruption agencies to enable them enforce
proper ethical standard.

Incumbent Supreme Court Justices are immune from disbarment suits before their impeachment and subsequent conviction by the Senate in Article XI, Section 3 (6) of the 1987 Philippine Constitution. The grounds for their removal are culpable violation of the Constitution, treason, bribery, graft and corruption, other high crimes, or betrayal of public trust (Article XI, Section 2 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution). In Cuenco v. Justice Fernan, A.M. No. 3135, February 17, 1988, the Supreme Court held that there is another reason why the complaint for disbarment here must be dismissed. Members of the Supreme Court must, under Article VIII (7) (1) of the Constitution, be members of the Philippine Bar and may be removed from office only by impeachment (Article XI [2], Constitution). To grant a complaint for disbarment of a Member of the Court during the Member's incumbency, would in effect be to circumvent and hence to ran afoul of the constitutional mandate that Members of the Court may be removed from office only by impeachment for and conviction of certain offenses listed in Article XI (2) of the Constitution. Precisely the same situation exists in respect of the Ombudsman and his deputies (Article XI [8] in relation to Article XI [2] of the Constitution), a majority of the members of the Commission on Elections (Article IX [C] [1] [1] in relation to Article XI [2] of the Constitution), and the members of the Commission on audit who are not certified public accountants (Article XI [D] [1] [1] of the Constitution), all of whom are constitutionally required to be members of the Philippine Bar.

Voting records of United States senators were evaluated and rankings of their conservative vs. liberal voting tendencies presented. The implications of this research include the ability to establish an empirical continuum to represent the political spectrum of the far liberal left to the far conservative right. Information gleaned from analyses such as this one can be useful for: identifying individuals with a voting record that likely will (or will not) resonate well with voters; identifying the extent to which legislators’ votes are consistent with their political platforms; comparing the voting records/political views of legislators from the same state; identifying which individuals are likely to filibuster a bill if given the opportunity; predicting how various legislators will vote on a highly partisan issue; predicting the productivity of various congressional subcommittees based on its panel of members, etc.

This paper explores the principle of accountability, particularly the accountability of powerful actors for the social and environmental outcomes of their decision making about natural resources. Powerful actors are institutions with decision making powers and influence over management of forests, fisheries, land, water, and extractive resources. While it focuses on government and the private sector, accountability is a principle common to all governance systems. Accountability is the requirement for powerful actors to accept responsibility and answer for their actions; it could be vertical and characterized by a hierarchical principal-agent relationship, horizontal where accountee is not hierarchically superior to the accountor, or diagonal and inclusive of citizen initiatives to hold powerful actors accountable. When vertical, horizontal and diagonal accountability practices are primarily civil society or citizen driven, they are referred to as social accountability initiatives (SAIs). There are five dimensions or aspects to accountability namely transparency, liability, controllability, responsibility, and responsiveness. The main questions being asked by the paper are: why is accountability an essential principle for natural resources governance; how has it been recognized internationally and by whom; and what are the key challenges and good practices related to holding powerful actors around the world to account? The paper finds that government has primary obligation for accountable management of natural resources on behalf of its citizens who are right holders over these resources. However, government is often reluctant to unreservedly hold powerful actors to account, especially business, preferring to allow business to opt for voluntary mechanisms of accountability or to self-regulate. This has given rise to citizen driven SAIs as external means of holding powerful actors to account, while contributing to strengthening formal internal accountability procedures. Thus supporting citizen driven accountability practices in vertical, horizontal and diagonal accountability systems, is a reliable way to ensure that powerful actors in natural resources management are held accountable for the social and environmental outcomes of their decision making and actions.

Nigeria’s disturbing socio-economic indicators are among the worst in the world; 70 % of its 148 million people vegetate below the one US dollar poverty benchmark (World Bank, 2010). It has about the worst maternal/child mortality rates in sub-Saharan Africa (NHR, 2007), it sits 143 among the 183 most corrupt countries of the world (Transparently International, 2011), and coupled with the fact that unemployment is arguably over 40 % (Nigeria News Network, November 17, 2012). That these uncomplimentary indicators exists side-by-side great national wealth and potentials make the Nigerian situation a complicated paradox requiring urgent, systematic, and strategic efforts at a reversal. This paper argues that such strides should begin with reforming Nigeria’s ailing public administration by way of repositioning it to both support and drive the processes of national development. It recommends, among others, purposeful political/administrative leadership, viable institutions of accountabi...

The paper explores the model of regulation of health professionals in Ontario, Canada; a self-regulation model built around a detailed statutory scheme. The core of the paper consists of a discussion of Ontario’s Regulated Health Professions Act and of the key components of 26 specific health profession acts that have been enacted under its umbrella. The paper explores the role of the regulatory colleges, the role of the Ministry of Health in determining scope of practice and other components of medical practice, and the disciplinary and appeal procedures. Some other specific issues are also briefly touched upon, such as the integration into the profession of internationally trained physicians, and the government’s role in ensuring access to specialists across the province. A final section looks at the challenges and the limitations of the Ontario model, through a number of health professions-related controversies that reveal gaps in self-regulation, including: failure to set and en...

One of the major challenges towards the programs of organizational improvement and change is resistance to change due to suspicion. For this reason, it is required that organizations identify the triggers of suspicion, trying to control and eliminate the resultant factors. This Study was performed among hospital staffs including, Sina, Shariati and Imam Khomeini and the sample size was 260. Base on theoretical and empirical studies, the most important factors to stimulate organizational cynicism were identified including organizational justice, participation in decision making, psychological contract breach, and the villain. Data analysis was performed using structural equation modeling techniques. The result showed that suspicion of militant character had the greatest impact on organizational suspicion and health, whereas justice has the greatest impact on reducing suspicion and increasing organizational health.

Los controles democráticos son uno de los principales temas de investigación en las ciencias políticas latinoamericanas. Desde el regreso a la democracia a finales de 1970, los académicos comenzaron a reflexionar sobre cómo podrían generarse mecanismos que fortalecieran la institu- cionalidad democrática y evitaran el surgi- miento de nuevos proyectos autoritarios. Los análisis, en mayor o menor medida, convergieron en la idea de que las condi- ciones propias del contexto latinoameri- cano y sus instituciones informales, eran fuertes obstáculos para el funcionamiento de los mecanismos de control horizontales y sociales. Muchas de estas investigaciones abordaron los problemas de accountabili- ty en el nivel amplio del sistema político o explicando determinadas coyunturas críticas en forma de grandes eventos de corrupción o estallidos de la protesta so- cial. Sin embargo, pocas trabajaron en el nivel de las políticas públicas. El trabajo de Fontaine, Medrano y Narváez (2020), tributa a la tarea de completar ese vacío de la literatura e instaura una agenda de investigación relevante para las políticas públicas en la región.

Public organizations are subject to many kinds of control mechanisms and analysts worry that they often suffer from an “accountability overload.” This article argues that such diagnoses are typically set without an adequate demarcation criterion for identifying accountability practices and separating them from other kinds of interaction, such as strategic
pursuit of power or reputational standing. In response, the suggestion is that accountability practices should be restricted to procedures that track the mandate of the organization. This requires clarification of how mandates can be seen as more than a mere heap of conflicting considerations. The concept of a “multidimensional mandate” is
introduced as a heuristic for thinking about how different perspectives on organizational action can be integrated. The interpretive test for deciding if a procedure qualifies as an accountability practice is whether it is sufficiently sensitive to the intertwinement of the goals and commitments of the organization. Neither account-givers nor account-holders
can legitimately refrain from orienting themselves in this broader normative framework.

Since the audit reform in 2001, the roles and functions of the Indonesian public sector audit has been strengthened in examining the transparency and accountability of public administration. Many scholars argue that the performance auditing has significantly influenced to the improvement of public sector accountability in spending public funds and providing better services to the public. This paper enriches the existing public administration, development, accountability and auditing literature through comprehensive examination of the quality of information in the audit reports of the Badan Pemeriksa Keuangan (BPK); Indonesian State Audit Board preceding and following audit reform (2001) to reform the Indonesian public administration. Data were collected through triangulation of observations, documentations, questionnaires, and personal interviews with key informants from auditors and managers of BPK, members of Parliament, auditees from public sector, academics, researchers, practices and NGO. The study revealed that the Indonesian government had amended its Constituion that impacted on reforming the audit laws and regulations. To fulfill the mandate of Constitution, laws and regulations in auditing the Indonesian public sector, the audit board (BPK) has made strong efforts to reform its organisation and to improve its integrity and professionalism. The study found ineffectiveness of audit findings and recommendations that caused by the lack of seriousness from the government to follow-up audit reports and the lack of ability from aparatus to implement auditors’ recommendations. On the other hand, as BPK recruited many new and young auditors, they have insufficient experiences in auditing public sector agencies. This resulting on difficulty to provide constructive effective recommendations for better public administration that are applicable to be followed-up and implemented by public sector agencies.

Keywords: public administration, public accountability, transparency, public sector accountability, performance auditing.

Risk carries unique significance for democratic politics today as it faces the challenges of rising inequality, neoliberalism, and systemic racism. To show how, the article divides "risk" into two complementary political models: a technocratic logic of risk allocation, concerned primarily with safety, and a forensic logic of risk attribution, concerned with holding risk takers and risky policies to account. Both have had pervasive effects on a transformed welfare state, increasingly focused on "personal responsibility" and privatized risk-management. But risk has also played a key role in the way post-1968 movements have organized and challenged the logic of privatization. Risk-based movements, the article argues, especially from the political margins, are key agents in promoting a new political form founded on risk attribution. The article focuses on the exemplary case of the American environmental justice movement in the 1980s and 90s as it reframed social justice around three core demands: accountability from decisions makers, equitable risk distribution (including redress for extreme inequities, past and present), and broad participation in decisions about danger and communities' well-being.

A virile, viable and strong economy anywhere in the world is a product of a "pragmatic philosophy" that is anchored on public accountability. Accountability as a pragmatic philosophy presupposes a natural unhindered tendency or impulse intrinsically flowing from a personal conviction that giving account is necessarily good in itself. It requires one to freely and voluntarily give an account of his actions without waiting to be challenged, seeing it as a necessary condition, an indispensable requirement for the survival of an economy and the development of a nation. The benefits of accountability, notwithstanding, include ensuring public trust and confidence as well as vindicating one who is entrusted with public resources or funds. It shows that one's actions are guided by the rule of law, fairness and social justice. Regrettably, accountability has been elusive in Nigeria, resulting in a high rate of corruption, looting of the public treasury, abuse of power-the bane of economic doldrums and chequered development of the country. This paper, therefore, argued that without accountability, all efforts towards economic and social progress, justice and national development cannot be achieved in Nigeria because accountability eliminates corruption, embezzlement of public funds and wastages and promotes transparency, frugality and good governance which are conditio-sine-qua-non to economic growth and national development.

Il paradigma open data sposta il fulcro della relazione comunicativa amministrazione-cittadino dal documento al dato ed impone agli ordinamenti giuridici una revisione degli istituti, dei ruoli e dei compiti associati al “ciclo di produzione” della trasparenza amministrativa. L’Italia nell’arco di un ventennio ha dovuto fronteggiare il passaggio radicale dagli atti cartacei secretati alla “liberazione” sui siti istituzionali dei dati in formato digitale. Tutto ciò in un contesto sociale e culturale che sollecita una gestione sempre più partecipata della res publica e reclama un’amministrazione alleata e non più antagonista del cittadino. L’ordinamento italiano ha di recente raccolto la sfida open data e, parzialmente, quella open government adottando un approccio multimodale (che combina strumenti di hard law e di soft law) e abbozzando il prototipo di una comunità locale “intelligente” (smart city). Nonostante ciò, le radici del sistema appaiono ancora insensibili al nuovo paradigma.

La rendición de cuentas es un valor fundamental para cualquier sistema político. En la actualidad es comprendida como una virtud y como un mecanismo para lograr varios elementos importantes de la gobernabilidad. Se entiende que los ciudadanos deben tener el derecho de saber qué acciones se han tomado en su nombre, así como también deben contar con los medios para tomar acciones correctivas cuando los funcionarios públicos actúan de manera ilegal, inmoral o injusta. Además, los ciudadanos deben tener la posibilidad de obtener una reparación o compensación cuando el Estado abusa de sus derechos o no reciben los beneficios públicos que les corresponden. En el presente trabajo se realiza una revisión de los principales abordajes de la rendición de cuentas que se han realizado en los últimos años, con el objetivo de hacerlos dialogar y analizar sus potencialidades dentro de la caja de herramientas de los sistemas políticos latinoamericanos.

The election observer is one of the stakeholders of the electoral process in Africa. The role of the international observers just like other players of the electoral process, is to ensure free, fair and credible election. This body mostly work hand in hand with civil society group/organization in order to ensure smooth conduct of election. Election observers have been seen as democracy police in Africa which has added value to the conduct and manner at which election is being managed in the society. Although, many studies have been conducted on both positive contribution and negative impact of the election observers into the system, but this study will juxtapose the two sides of a coin to examine whether the role of the observer is a blessing or curse to the development of Africa and its democratic consolidation. The study makes use of Normative Theory to explain the role and contribution of election observers to the democratic consolidation in Africa. The study is a qualitative, and it employs the use of secondary source of data to explain the pros and cons of the international election observers towards monitoring election that mostly usher-in the transition of power from one democratically elected leader to another in Africa.

It may benefit any ruling dispensation in the short term to weaken the institution of the Comptroller & Auditor General of India, but it is extremely important for our democracy that the independence and objectivity of the institution as guaranteed in the Constitution be protected at all costs.

Public service is one of the important foundations of governments in delivering citizens' expectations. Public service, in order to provide citizens with the expectation of this requires the consideration of principles such as equality, compliance, continuity, rule of law, accountability, transparency, so that public officials, taking into account the above principles, perform public services and take unfair, improper decisions. And contrary to the public interest, this research, while explaining the concept of public service, examines the new principles governing it.

"This book develops a sociologically informed theory of constitutionalism in the global realm, addressing both national and transnational forms of constitutional ordering. The book begins with the argument that current approaches to constitutionalism remain tied to a state-based conception of constitutions, and overlooks underlying structural transformations that trigger the emergence of constitutional forms of ordering. Poul F. Kjaer aims to address this shortcoming by offering a sociological and historically informed analysis of the evolution of constitutionalism in the face of globalisation. The analysis contextualises on-going constitutional developments through the use of a long-term historical perspective, which is capable of highlighting the impact of deeper structural transformations unfolding within society.
The book looks at the ways in which national and transnational legal forms have evolved alongside one another. It demonstrates that the formation of global constitutions has not resulted in a corresponding decrease in the power of nation states, but instead, legal and political aspects of both the nation state and the transnational have been reconfigured and intensified in a mutually supportive manner.
In combining insights from a range of fields, this interdisciplinary book will be of great interest to students and scholars of constitutional law, sociology, global governance studies, and legal, social and political theory.

List of Content
1. Introduction: The Metamorphosis of Constitutionalism
Part 1: Structural Transformations
2. The Implosion of the Euro-Centric World
3. The Multiplicity of Normative Orders in World Society
Part 2: Re-configurations of Law and the Political
4. The Law within and in-between Normative Orders
5. The Political within and in-between Normative Orders
Part 3: Constitutional Stabilisation
6. The Breakdown of Constitutional Ordering through Globalisation-induced Crises
7.The Transmutation of Constitutional Ordering
8.Re-calibrating the Constitutional Concept
9. Conclusion

Reviews and Review essays:
- Aldo Mascareño: Revista de Ciencia Política, 36, 2, 587 – 592, 2016.
- Gregory Shaffer: ‘Law, Constitutionalism and World Society: Kjaer, Kratochwil,
and global (dis)order’, International Journal of Constitutional Law, 13, 4, 1063–1077, 2015.
-    Alfons Bora: Zeitschrift für Rechtssoziologie, 35, 1, 152-156, 2015.
- Grahame Thompson: ‘Socializing the Constitution?’, Economy and Society, 44, 3, 480 – 93, 2015.

The Office of the Auditor General (OAG) can and should play the role of watchdog to control irregularities in the government entities. The OAG should make its auditing system more effective so that it can reveal all malpractices in the government agencies. Its reports should be available widely and understandable by a layman.

La profunda crisis economica ha puesto en entredicho las politicas de ingresos y gastos del Sector Publico espanol, de forma muy destacada en el ambito de las Comunidades Autonomas (CCAA). En el trabajo se analizan algunos impactos basicos de la crisis sobre los ingresos y gastos y el endeudamiento de este nivel de gobierno. Tambien se repasan sucintamente los ajustes llevados a cabo hasta el momento, constatando su relativa eficacia, pero dudando de su persistencia en el futuro, si no es a costa de deteriorar elementos nucleares de los servicios publicos fundamentales. En este contexto, el control externo afronta retos muy amplios y diversos. The deep economic crisis has compromised the revenue and expenditure policies in the Spanish Public Sector, especially in the regional governments (Autonomous Communities). The paper discusses some basic impacts of the crisis on the revenues, expenses and borrowing of this tier of government. The paper also reviews the adjustments made till th...

While the field of public management has long emphasized the importance of holding public employees accountable for their actions, our understanding of how best to do so has been hindered by a dearth of empirical research on this topic. Recent literature has called for more examination of individual subjective experiences of being accountable – employee accountability – in order to research how macro accountability systems make a difference to individuals. To validate the employee accountability construct in the public domain, we collect data from two separate samples using a multidimensional scale to measure public employee accountability. We analyze these data to explore the nomological network of public employee accountability by assessing its relationship with both a logical antecedent and expected outcomes. Based on findings that validate the nomological network, we discuss how this research contributes to the literature on accountability and possible directions for future research.

Akademi veya üniversite, toplumun temel dinamiklerini oluşturan ve şekillendiren en önemli yapıdır. Akademi, toplumun eğitiminden ahlakına, iktisadi gelişmişliğinden aile yapısına kadar bütün unsurlarını etkilemektedir. Bunun yanı sıra, Modern Dünya'da ulusların saygınlıkları ekonomik, teknolojik ve bilimsel üretimde aldıkları rollerle ölçülür hale gelmiştir. Türkiye Akademisi, her geçen gün artmakta olan öğrenci ve alanlarında doktoralı yetkin uzmanlarıyla ülkemizin lokomotifi vazifesi görmektedir. Bilim ve teknikteki gelişmeleri takip etmenin yanı sıra çağdaş teknolojiyi bizatihi üretmek noktasında Türkiye Üniversiteleri ve akademisi gereken özveriyi göstererek durmaksızın çalışmaktadır. Sendikal faaliyetlerin yoğunluğu ile ülkelerin gelişmişlik düzeyleri arasındaki ilişki her zaman için doğru orantılı olmuştur. Bunun yanı sıra Türkiye'de akademisyenlerin tamamına hitap eden bir sendikanın eksikliği Türkiye akademisi ve toplumu tarafından yoğun bir şekilde hissedilmektedir. Bu doğrultuda üniversiteler ve akademisyenlerin sorunlarına çözüm arayışlarında bir paydaş olma iddiasında bulunan AKA-SEN, Ankara Valiliğine verilen dilekçe ve tüzük ile kurularak faaliyetlerine başlamıştır. AKA-SEN, sendika ruhunun bir gereği olarak siyasi partilerden bağımsız olarak faaliyet göstermektedir. AKA-SEN, herhangi bir konfederasyona bağlı olmayıp; herhangi bir siyasi partinin uzantısı şeklinde hareket etmeyecek; din, dil, ırk veya cinsiyet gibi her hangi farklılık gözetmeksizin Türkiye Cumhuriyeti sınırları içerisinde görev yapan akademisyenlerin temsilcisi olacaktır. Bu doğrultuda farklı üniversitelerde çalışan, farklı siyasi görüşleri olan meslektaşlarımızı AKA-SEN çatısı altında birleşmeye davet ediyoruz.  Daha iyi bir akademi için AKA-SEN  Akademinin yeni ve güçlü sesi için AKA-SEN  Akademinin onuru ve ahlakı için AKA-SEN  Mobbing ve intihale son vermek için AKA-SEN

‘Poverty’ as a complex and multilateral public problem is under the influence of government policies and performances regarding poverty eradication. Therefore, any change in the level of poverty in the society depends upon policy making system performance (P.M.S.P). In present research, after describing the ineffectiveness of P.M.S.P about poverty eradication, the causes of this problem have been investigated by taking case study method and focusing on the bill of “poverty eradication in Islamic Republic of Iran” (as a sample of P.M.S.P). So the main probable causes of bill’s aborting -as the causes of ineffectiveness of P.M.S.P- have been studied in the framework of research hypothesis. “The indifference and ignorance of policy makers”, “the inefficiency of public policy making system” and “extension and complexity of poverty problem” have been distinguished as the most important causes and have been assayed via gathering experts’ viewpoints. The results of research, by confirming the effect of triple factors, indicate that "the inefficiency of public policy making system" is the main cause of that problem.

Criminal liability arises when the offender commits a criminal act punishable by the Revised Penal Code such as Crimes Committed by Public Officers or by special penal laws such as violation of RA No. 3019 or RA No. 6713. Nowhere in these penal code and special penal laws expressly or impliedly state that the incumbent Supreme Court Justices are exempt from the criminal laws before impeachment.

This year's KAP survey has found significant differences across districts, genders, age groups, household sizes and disability in multiple areas such as: water quality and quantity, recycling practices, diarrhea prevention knowledge, volunteering disposition, complaint likelihood, and labor opportunities, amongst others. These results should prove of interests across the WASH sectors.