Public Management and Administration - Owen E.hughes

Accountability 255
agencies. They are less able to deny their own responsibility by saying that all
actions are politically accountable. A new form of accountability is developing
in which relationships between the bureaucracy, clients, the legislature, the
media and individuals are carried out directly, rather than always through
politicians. Direct accountability of this kind offers advantages over what was
in place before. Together with an increased focus on output and its measure,
accountability in the new model might turn out to be far better than that of the
traditional model of administration. As Holmes and Shand argue, ‘If the people
really responsible for making these decisions are held accountable,
accountability is actually enhanced’ (1995, p. 564).
It is possible for accountable management or another generally accepted
model to replace the politics/administration dichotomy. If it does, it needs to be
realistic, not based on a falsehood as accountability was in the traditional
model. Accountable management should mean that those who do something
are accountable for it, whether they are a manager or a politician. Indeed, the
meaning of management as discussed earlier is that a manager organizes to
achieve results and is personally responsible for doing so. There may be some
advantage in managers and politicians each being able to blame the other for any
shortcomings, as is often the case at present. However, the managerial model of
accountability does need to be well established and well accepted by the citizenry.
If accountability arrangements are unclear or easily evaded, there are
enough potential problems for these to be a challenge to the overall managerial
model. It is the case, as Behn argues, that ‘advocates of the new public management
paradigm have a responsibility to help evolve a new paradigm of democratic
accountability’ (2001, p. 212). While achieving this may not be easy,
there is an obvious need to discard once and for all the notion that politicians
make policy and the public service simply carries it out and that, through this
division of labour, accountability is ensured.