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Contrast and Foundation of the Public Oversight Roles of the U.S. Government Accountability Office and the U.K. National Audit Office
Author(s) -
Norton Simon D.,
Smith L. Murphy
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
public administration review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.721
H-Index - 139
eISSN - 1540-6210
pISSN - 0033-3352
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-6210.2008.00932.x
Subject(s) - accountability , public administration , legitimacy , government (linguistics) , audit , constitution , chief audit executive , political science , business , accounting , law , politics , joint audit , internal audit , philosophy , linguistics
This paper examines and compares, according to the New Public Management approach, the U.S. watchdog, the Government Accountability Office, in its ability to oversee and call to account the executive branch of government, and its U.K. counterpart, the National Audit Office. Results of this examination indicate that the Government Accountability Office is more effective than its U.K. counterpart. Its greater effectiveness is attributable to the fact that it derives its powers and legitimacy from a written constitution; in contrast, in the United Kingdom there is no equivalent document defining the relationship between the state and the citizenry. As a consequence, the powers, duties, and self‐perception of the National Audit Office are significantly weaker and more mutable than those of the Government Accountability Office.