Putting the public back into public accountability

2018 ◽  
Vol 100 (3) ◽  
pp. 29-32
Author(s):  
Derek Gottlieb ◽  
Jack Schneider
Keyword(s):  
Related Problem ◽  
System State ◽  
Public Accountability ◽  
District Leaders ◽  
Accountability Systems ◽  
The Public

Although current accountability systems have received a great deal of criticism for being too narrow and too focused on sanctions, relatively little concern has been directed at a related problem: the failure of accountability systems to meaningfully engage the public. Derek Gottlieb and Jack Schneider suggest that a better system would consider the plural and often non-instrumental standards by which communities evaluate their schools. In such a system, state officials, district leaders, teachers, parents, students, and other stakeholders would come together to determine how schools will be evaluated and how to respond to the results of those evaluations.

scholarly journals REVIEW: Campaigning with passion for an 'arsenal for democracy'

2005 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 245-249
Author(s):  
David Robie
Keyword(s):  
Professor Emeritus ◽  
Media Ethics ◽  
Public Accountability ◽  
Accountability Systems ◽  
The Public ◽  
Media Credibility ◽  
University Of Paris ◽  
The University ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Press Institute

Review of Media Ethics and Accountability Systems, by Claude-Jean Bertrand and An Arsenal for Democracy: Media Accountability Systems, by Claude-Jean BertrandThese two companion volumes by  Claude-Jean Bertrand, professor emeritus of the French Press Institute at the University of Paris-2—and a predecessor of mine as Australian Press Council fellow (1996)—provide a thoughtful and stimulating insight into the public accountability of journalists and state of media credibility. 

scholarly journals Fostering public accountability in South Africa: A reflection on challenges and successes

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pandelani H. Munzhedzi
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Service Provision ◽  
Public Services ◽  
Public Accountability ◽  
The Public ◽  
Current State ◽  
Public Service Provision ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Government

Accountability and oversight are constitutional requirements in all the spheres of government in the Republic of South Africa and their foundation is in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa of 1996. All spheres of government are charged with the constitutional mandate of providing public services. The level of responsibility and public services provision also goes with the level of capacity of a particular sphere. However, most of the direct and visible services that the public receives are at the local sphere of government. As such, enormous resources are channelled towards this sphere of government so that the said public services could be provided. It is imperative that the three spheres of government account for the huge expenditures during the public service provision processes. The parliaments of national and provincial governments exercise oversight and accountability over their executives and administrations through the Public Accounts Committees, while the local sphere of government relies on the Municipal Public Accounts Committees. This article is theoretical in nature, and it seeks to explore the current state of public accountability in South Africa and to evaluate possible measures so as to enhance public accountability. The article argues that the current public accountability mechanisms are not efficient and effective. It is recommended that these mechanisms ought to be enhanced by inter alia capacitating the legislative bodies at national, provincial and local spheres of the government.

scholarly journals Toward a Framework for Public Accountability in Education Reform

2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (7) ◽  
pp. 503-511
Author(s):  
Ethan Hutt ◽  
Morgan S. Polikoff
Keyword(s):  
Education Reform ◽  
School Performance ◽  
Information Disclosure ◽  
Court Case ◽  
Public Accountability ◽  
Accountability Systems ◽  
Modern Education ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Accountability In Education ◽  
Democratic Engagement

Public accountability through information disclosure is a pillar of modern education reform efforts. Despite the ubiquity of this approach, we argue that public accountability in education is undertheorized and often predictably unlikely to achieve its intended policy goals. Drawing on examples from an equity-oriented court case in California and the literatures on democratic engagement and parent use of school performance data, we propose a framework for thinking about the design of public accountability systems in education. The framework could provide guidance for policymakers considering new efforts at improving schools through the production and dissemination of educational data.

Desperately Seeking Democracy: Unreflexive Liberalism and the ‘Privacy Bias’ in Journalism Ethics

2005 ◽  
Vol 114 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Wilkinson
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory ◽  
Liberal Theory ◽  
Right To Know ◽  
Privacy Rights ◽  
Public Accountability ◽  
Journalism Ethics ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political Traditions ◽  
Weak Notion ◽  
Liberal Political Theory

Because journalism ethics draw deeply, and perhaps unreflexively, on liberal political traditions, there is a lot of confusion about what public accountability entails. When interpreted from the standpoint of liberal theory, the perception of the need for public accountability is generally framed by a simplistic opposition between the public's right to know and the individual's right to privacy. Central to the liberal framing of the accountability is a weak notion of ‘publicity’ anchored in notions of representation and revelation. Furthermore, there is also a strong tradition within liberal theory to treat ethics as a matter of private concern, rather than something that can be publicly resolved. For these reasons, the balance of democratic consideration always seems to sit more comfortably with privacy rights than it does with considerations of accountability to the public. This paper explores some of these dilemmas surrounding journalism ethics and public accountability by examining their theoretical underpinnings in liberal political theory and comparing them with a model of public accountability grounded in publicity construed as public participation.

scholarly journals The Public Health Value of Opioid Litigation

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 279-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca L. Haffajee
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Prescription Opioid ◽  
Behavior Changes ◽  
Public Accountability ◽  
The Public ◽  
Health Value ◽  
Lead Paint ◽  
Tort Litigation ◽  
Harmful Behavior

Opioid litigation continues a growing public health litigation trend in which governments seek to hold companies responsible for population harms related to their products. The litigation can serve to address gaps in regulatory and legislative policymaking and in market self-regulation pervasive in the prescription opioid domain. Moreover, prior opioid settlements have satisfied civil tort litigation objectives of obtaining compensation for injured parties, deterring harmful behavior, and holding certain opioid manufacturers, distributors and pharmacies accountable for their actions. In this way, opioid litigation represents progress over prior public health litigation campaigns involving tobacco, lead paint, and asbestos, which had more limited tort litigation effects. Although opioid litigation is not a comprehensive solution to the opioid crisis, it can complement other strategies and infuse much needed money, behavior changes, and public accountability for prescription opioid and related harms.

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