Accountability and Trust in Government: What’s Next?

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.36428/revistadacgu.v12i22.368

Abstract

During the last four years the need for trustworthy leaders who possess both integrity and courage to
address societal needs and inequities in the U.S. was highlighted, as has been the need for a trust-worthy government. A global pandemic and weakened economy have made it is highly unlikely that governments across the world will return to the old normal, but where do we go from here? Drawing upon the experience in U.S., I discuss what efforts are needed to rebuild accountability, trustworthy governments, and trust in public institutions across the globe. I discuss what the exercise of accountability involves, and describe how authentic evidence-building may support both accountability and trust-building. I also highlight some challenges and opportunities to build trustworthy government and increase trust in government.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

  • Kathryn Newcomer, George Washington University, U.S.A.

    Kathryn Newcomer is a professor in the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration at the George Washington University where she served as the School director for over 12 years, until August 2019. She is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, and serves on the Comptroller General’s Educators’ Advisory Panel. She served as an elected member of the Board of Directors of the American Evaluation Association (AEA) (2013-2015 and 2016-2018), and as AEA president for 2017. She served as President of the Network of the Association of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs and Administration (NASPAA) for 2006-2007. She earned her PhD in political science from the University of Iowa.

References

Anderson, Carol. 2016. White Rage. New York, NY: Bloomsbury Publishing.

Dubnick, Melvin & H. George Frederickson. 2011. Public accountability: Performance measurement, the extended state, and the search for trust. Washington, DC: The Kettering Foundation.

Edelman. 2020. Edelman Trust Barometer Update Accessed at: https://www.edelman.com/research/trust-2020-spring-update#:~:text=Despite%20the%20high%20trust%20in%20government%2C%20the%20pandemic,in%20the%20system%20was%20driving%20distrust%20across%20institutions.

GAO. 2018. Managing for results: Government-wide Actions Needed to Improve Agencies' Use of Performance Information in Decision Making. GAO-18-609SP. Accessed at https://www.gao.gov/assets/700/694269.pdf

GAO. 2020. Inspectors General: Independence Principles and Considerations for Reform. GAO-20-639R Accessed at https://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-20-639R

Hilliard, Nadia. 2017. The Accountability State: US Federal Inspectors General and the Pursuit of Democratic Integrity. Lawrence, KS: The University of Kansas Press.

Johnson, Charles and Newcomer, Kathryn. 2020. Federal Inspectors General: Truth Seekers in Turbulent Times. Washington, DC: Brookings.

Kee, James, John Forrer, Eric Boyer and Kathryn Newcomer. 2010. “Public-Private Partnership and the Public Accountability Question.” Public Administration Review 70, no. 3 (2010): 475–485. .

Kendi, Ibram. X. 2016. Stamped from the Beginning. New York, NY: Bold Type Books.

Light, Paul. 1993. Monitoring Government: Inspectors General and the Search for Accountability. Washington, DC: Brookings.

Mayne, John. 2007. Evaluating for accountability: Myth or reality. In M. Bemelmans-Videc, J. Lonsdale, & B. Perrin (Eds.), Making accountability work: Dilemmas for evaluation and for audit (pp. 63-84). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.

Moynihan, Donald. 2008. The dynamics of performance management: Constructing information and reform. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.

Moynihan, Donald. 2009. How do public organizations learn? Bridging cultural and structural perspectives. Public Administration Review, 69(6), 1097-1105.

Moynihan, Donald. 2011. The big question for performance management: Why do managers use performance information? Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 20, 849-866.

Moynihan, Donald & Lavertu, S. 2012. Does involvement in performance management routines encourage performance information use? Evaluating GPRA and PART. Public Administration Review, 72(4), 592- 602.

Newcomer, Kathryn. 1994. “Opportunities and Incentives for Improving Program Quality: Auditing and Evaluating.” Public Administration Review 54 (November l994): 147–154.

Newcomer, Kathryn. 1998. “The Changing Nature of Accountability: The Role of the Inspector General in Federal Agencies.” Public Administration Review 57 (1998): 129–136.

Newcomer, Kathryn and Christine Ritter. 1998. “Accountability in the Federal Government,” in George Thomas Kurian, Joseph P. Harahan (eds.), A Historical Guide to the U.S. Government. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Newcomer, Kathryn and George Grob. 2004. “Federal Offices of the Inspector General: Thriving on Chaos?” American Review of Public Administration 34, no. 3 (2004): 235–251.

Newcomer, Kathryn. 2007. “The Certainty of Uncertainty.” Journal of Public Affairs Education 13, no. 1 (2007): 1–14.

Newcomer, Kathryn and James Kee. 2011. “Federalist 23: Can the Leviathan be Managed?” Public Administration Review 71 (2011): 37–46.

Radin, Beryl. 2006. Challenging the performance movement. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.

Radin, Beryl. 2009. What can we expect from performance measurement activities? Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 28(3), 505-512.

Radin, Beryl. 2012. Federal Management Reform in a World of Contradictions. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press.

Rainie, Lee, Scott Keeter and Andrew Perrin. 2019. “Trust and Distrust in America.” Pew Reseach Center. Accessed at https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2019/07/22/trust-and-distrust-in-america/

Downloads

Published

2020-12-30

Issue

Vol. 12 No. 22 (2020): Revista da CGU, 22, jul-dez/2020

Section

Accountability and Control in Context of Pandemic

License

Copyright (c) 2020 Revista da CGU

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

The Revista da CGU follows the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY), which allows the use and sharing of published works with mandatory indication of authors and sources. Contents published until 2019 have generic permission for use and sharing with mandatory indication of authorship and source.

We highlight some essential and non-exhaustive points related:

  • The submission of the proposal implies a commitment not to submit it to another journal and authorizes if approved, its publication.
  • The submission of the proposal also implies that the author(s) agrees with the publication, without resulting in remuneration, reimbursement, or compensation of any kind.
  • The published texts are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the journal.
  • Responsibility for any plagiarism is the responsibility of the author(s).
  • The person responsible for the submission declares, under the penalties of the Law, that the information on the authorship of the work is complete and correct.

Also highlighted are the items related to our Editorial Policies, in particular on the Focus and Scope, Publication Ethics, Peer Review Process, and Open Access Policy.

How to Cite

Accountability and Trust in Government: What’s Next?. Revista da CGU, [S. l.], v. 12, n. 22, p. 343–350, 2020. DOI: 10.36428/revistadacgu.v12i22.368. Disponível em: https://revista.cgu.gov.br/Revista_da_CGU/article/view/368.. Acesso em: 3 jul. 2024.