Introduction: Growing Concerns for Public Accountability under the State in Transition

Abstract

NEW CONCERNS FOR PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY In line with increasing global concern for democratic governance in recent decades, there has emerged greater emphasis on realization of public accountability in different countries and regions. It emphasized that accountability represents one of most basic values or principles of democracy (Hayllar, 2000; Zarei, 2000). In representative democracies, all branches of government remain publicly accountable, have obligation to provide satisfactory explanations for their activities, and exercise power on behalf of people (Aucoin and Jarvis, 2000). The current global significance of accountability, according to some scholars, lies in growing public demand for better services, greater responsiveness, and more citizens' participation (Milakovich, 2003). As Hayllar mentions, demands for more accountability and more accountable public services and public servants have become fashionable (Hayllar, 2000:60). It also emphasized that public accountability crucial for improving public sector performance, because it reinforces institutional learning of service rules, codes of conduct, and performance standards. It also plays an essential role in enhancing integrity of public employees, preventing unethical behavior like corruption or nepotism, and deterring abuse of official power (Bovens, 2003). In addition, realization of public accountability being highlighted for its contribution to revival of public trust in government. It assumed that compliance of citizens to state rules and regulations depends on their trust in government, which in turn, dependent on public accountability (Jensen, 2000). In Western nations, according to Bovens (Bovens, 2003), due to rising public criticism and declining trust in government, there a greater need for rebuilding public confidence by ensuring public accountability. Despite such growing significance of public accountability, what relatively missing from existing literature, however, study of such accountability in relation to nature of state. The modes, means, and degrees of accountability often vary among and within different state formations such as capitalist state, welfare state, socialist state, bureaucratic state, and developmental state (Haque, 1998). Variations in public accountability largely result from historical and cross-national differences in state's relative autonomy from major social groups and classes, its external relationship with business sector, and its internal power structure composed of political, military, judicial, and administrative branches (Haque, 1998). In recent decades, there has emerged a worldwide shift in nature of state formation in favor of market-driven policies and institutions--often known as neoliberal state or promarket state--under which public sector management has been reformed into so-called new public management (NPM) that largely uses basic principles of business management such as competition, value-for-money, customer orientation, performance measurement, result-based budget, and so on (Lodhia and Burritt, 2004; Martin, 1997). In line with this major transition towards a promarket state and its businesslike public management, there have also been considerable changes in various dimensions of public accountability. As Glynn and Murphy suggest, NPM model is characterized by adoption of private sector management concepts and styles, and under this model, the best form of accountability a market accountability where, at least in principle, invisible hand of marketplace will provide accountability mechanism ... (Glynn and Murphy, 1996:125). More specifically, there are shifts in public accountability from traditional bureaucratic to current neo-managerial model, from vertical single-hierarchy to horizontal pluralistic structure, from collective to individualistic performance evaluation, and so on (Ryan and Walsh, 2004; Bovens, 2003). …

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