Premium
Accountability In A ‘Reinvented’ Government
Author(s) -
Deleon Linda
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
public administration
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.313
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1467-9299
pISSN - 0033-3298
DOI - 10.1111/1467-9299.00116
Subject(s) - accountability , typology , enthusiasm , clarity , public administration , government (linguistics) , agency (philosophy) , decentralization , certainty , bureaucracy , public relations , business , political science , sociology , social psychology , law , psychology , politics , epistemology , social science , biochemistry , chemistry , linguistics , philosophy , anthropology
Whether ‘reinvented’ government implies worker empowerment, increased managerial discretion, or decentralization, it is widely thought to mean diminished accountability. A two‐dimensional typology (based on clarity of goals and certainty of cause‐effect knowledge) of decision‐making processes and their associated organizational structures is compared to Romzek and Dubnick’s typology of accountability relations. The article argues that accountability mechanisms can be matched to public problems and agency structures and that changes in perceptions concerning the nature of public problems is at the root of contemporary enthusiasm for non‐hierarchical modes of organizing.