Week 1: Accountability and Good Governance Flashcards
Define accountability
The relationship between an actor an accountability forum
What form of accountability are elections?
Political.
Identify shortcomings of elections as a method of political accountability. (3).
o Frequency – intermittent involvement of voters
o Limited scope for debate during election campaigns – government will need to take many decisions without such a debate
o Gulf between voters and politicians
o Disproportionate influence of lobby groups and media
Other than elections, identify methods of political accountability. (3).
o Ministerial responsibility – government ministers need to explain their conduct in various ways
o Public inquires – investigate matters of grave concern to the public
o Select committees – specialist parliamentary committees that write detailed reports on aspects of government policy and administration
What are the five considerations in a judicial review of government action?
- Legality:
Gov’t can only act within the scope of its legal powers - Individuals can do anything that is not unlawful
(i.e. liberty); Gov’t can do only that which it is legally authorised to do (i.e. limited government) - Procedural fairness:
Gov’t must adopt a fair decision-making process - Rationality:
Gov’t decisions must be rational or reasonable - Proportionality: infringements of human rights must be proportionate to the desired end
Describe the benefits of tribunals as opposed to court.
Specialist judges and less formal
Who undertakes administrative accountability?
The government itself and independent audit agencies.
Define good governance.
A general set of principles about how government should behave.
Provide at least 3 good governance values.
- Connection to democracy
- “That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter
or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers
in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness” – US Declaration of Independence (1776) - Democracy requires that governments serve the people’s interests
- Positive dimension: government should make decisions advancing the public good
- Negative dimension: government must not act in a self-interested manner
- Connection to lawfulness – but not comprehensively mandated by law
- Four basic responsibilities of any legitimate government in modern states (with their scale and
complexity) (Mulgan 2006): - Protecting its own citizens
- Promoting the welfare of its citizens
- Enforcing justice
- Promoting truth and knowledge
What are the seven principles of public life?
Selflessness;
integrity;
objectivity;
accountability;
openness;
honesty;
leadership
Define responsible government.
Administration is responsive to public demands and movements of public.
“apart from power, influence is probably the most important basic concept of political
science”
Carl Freidrich
What is the manifestation of ‘responsibility’, in regards to accountability.
Parliament’s ability to dismiss the government of the day.
What is the paradoxical feature of modern parliamentary government.
For the control and accountability of Gov’t we rely mainly on an elected house in which a majority see it as their principal function to maintain the government in power
According to Micheal Rush, what underpins all debates, parliamentary questions, and all committee activity?
Ministerial Responsibility.
What are the three forms of accountability?
Political, legal and administrative.
Who produced the standards for those in public life ?
The Select Committee for the standards in public life.
Identify the principles of good administration. (6).
- Getting it right
- Being customer focused
- Being open and accountable
- Acting fairly
- Putting things right
- Consistently seeking improvement
Identify a correlation between a good governance value and the work of a select committee.
Good governance value: Preparing for incompetence and consequently having methods of redress.
Committee: Select Committee on Human Rights
Overlap: Rwanda Policy.
What are the four responsibilities of government?
- Protecting the safety of citizens
- Promoting citizens welfare
- Enforcing justice
- Promoting truth and knowledge
Identify the two limitations on legal accountability.
- No free-roaming mandate - an action has to be brought before the court, as opposed to the court identifying potential illegal government action.
- Courts cannot determine the wrongfulness of an action, only the legality of an action.
Identify one occasion in which there was a great deal of concern about a court overstepping the boundary between determining the wrongfulness of an action as opposed to its illegality.
Miller II.
Identify two methods of insuring accountability WITHIN THE CIVIL SERVICE.
- Business plans
- Targets
Within administrative accountability, which independent agency ensures value for money in government spending.
National Audit Office (NAO).
Within administrative accountability, who ensures adherence to good governance values?
The ombudsman.
What is necessary for an ombudsman to investigate government action or inaction.
Maladministration.
Who discussed the ‘problem of many eyes’ , and defined accountability in relation to public law.
Bolam.
Identify overlap between different types of accountability.
NAO reports being discussed in select committees.
Identify one downside of accountability (generally speaking).
‘The problem of many eyes’. Accountability can be a hinderance on effectiveness.
