Do Appearances Deceive? An Analysis of the Impression Management Tactics Used in the Defenses of Annual Public Accounts of Municipalities
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36428/revistadacgu.v18i33.767Keywords:
accountability, external control, reportsAbstract
The objective of this study was to analyze the use of impression management (IM) tactics in the responses of municipal governments in Pernambuco to the findings of control agencies in the analysis of annual public accounts. The relevance of this study lies in the investigation of IM-related phenomena within the process of governmental accountability in the context of regular annual public account reporting. This is an exploratory study with a qualitative approach. Data analysis was conducted using content analysis techniques through the use of NVivo® software. The results indicated that the only defensive IM tactic used in preliminary defenses against the auditor and their audit report on public accounts is the explanation tactic, employing four main types of rhetoric: technical contestation, accusing the auditor of incompetence, discrediting the presented arguments, and using irony in relation to the auditor's findings.
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