Questions of Accountability: Prerogatives, Power and Politics

Name: Questions of Accountability: Prerogatives, Power and Politics
Brand: Hart Publishing
SKU: 9781509964260
Price: 567.32 HKD
Availability: InStock
Author: Matthew Flinders; Chris Monaghan
ISBN: 9781509964260

Edited by Matthew Flinders · Chris Monaghan

Hart Publishing March 2025

Specifications

ISBN-13: 9781509964260
Publisher: Hart Publishing
Publication: March 2025
Format: Paperback
Jurisdiction: U.K. ? Countri(es) for reference only

Also available as

Hardback

Details

This book explores accountability from a range of perspectives, crossing traditional disciplinary, thematic, and professional boundaries. It asks fresh questions about accountability and its place and importance in democratic societies.

Amidst a backdrop of concerns about democratic back-sliding, the rise of populism, the role of algorithmic governance, moral barbarism, and post-truth politics - to mention just a few issues - accountability has been described as the über-concept of the 21st century.

The book considers the questions raised by the shifting architecture of accountability. Whilst some scholars suggest that accountability processes have never been so effective – trumpeting the rise of 'monitory democracy' with its dense array of watchdogs, sleaze-busters, auditors, legislative committees, statutory supports, and investigative mechanisms – others express concern about the risk of 'overloads', 'gaps', 'traps', and 'going MAD' in the sense of multiple accountabilities disorder. This has led to a focus on 'fuzzy accountability', 'diagonal accountability', and a host of other adjectives that point to increasing conceptual confusion. Bringing together world-leading scholars and former politicians and public servants, the book cuts through this confusion and provides the reader with the answers to the most debated issues, including rarely discussed 'pathologies of accountability', post-human governance, and a focus on proportionality.

Foreword, Lord David Neuberger, Former President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom; 1. Accountability Matters, Matthew Flinders (University of Sheffield, UK) and Chris Monaghan (University of Worcester, UK); Part I: Framing; 2. Accountability – Questions of Perspective, Thomas Schillemans (Utrecht University, the Netherlands); 3. Beyond the False Promises of Accountability, Mel Dubnick (University of New Hampshire, USA); 4. Questions of Measurement: Rationales for Accountability, Ellen Rock (University of Technology Sydney, Australia); 5. Executive Powers, Fuzzy Law and the Problem of Accountability, Margit Cohn (Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel); 6. A Collaborative Approach to Constitutional Accountability, Se-shauna Wheatle (Durham University, UK); Part II: Themes; 7. Questions of Control: Accountability in the Shadow of Prorogation, Chris Monaghan and Josie Welsh (both at University of Worcester, UK); 8. Questions of Counsel: Administration, Accountability and Policy Advice, Jonathan Slater (King's Policy Institute; former Permanent Secretary in the Department for Education, UK); 9. Questions about the Apex: Accountability of and for the Monarchy as Head of State, Robert Blackburn (King's College London, UK); 10. Fundamental Questions: Accountability and Human Rights, Alison Young (University of Cambridge, UK); Part III: Futures; 11. Accountability in Global Governance, Kate MacDonald and Terry MacDonald (both at University of Melbourne, Australia); 12.
Accountability from the Inside-Out, David Blunkett (Member of the House of Lords, UK: former Home Secretary); 13. Positive Accountability: From Naming, Shaming and Blaming to Lesson Learning, Sharon Shoesmith (tbc); 14. Post-Human Accountability: Evolving Algorithmic Governance, Madalina Busuioc (Leiden University, the Netherlands); Part IV: Where Next?; 15. 'Questions Answered and Emergent', Matthew Flinders (University of Sheffield, UK) and Chris Monaghan (University of Worcester, UK)