What is accountability?

Accountability is a cornerstone of democratic practice. There are many different levels at which accountability may be expected to exist in a democratic society.

Here are three examples:

• When citizens elect a person or party to represent them in parliament (or any political decision-making body), they should be able to hold these leaders accountable for the promises they made at election time. In some countries, there is a right to recall elected representatives if they do not act in accordance with the needs and interests of those who elected them. But in most countries, citizens do not have formal mechanisms to enforce the accountability of their representatives between elections. They do, however, have the power to lobby and protest - and not to re-elect those who have let them down.

• Elected representatives, in turn, have the right and duty to hold the executive accountable. In many democratic systems, there is a legal obligation on the executive arm of government to explain and justify its decisions and the implementation of these in terms of the responsibilities conferred on it. Legislatures play a critical role in securing accountability when they exercise oversight of government on behalf of citizens. They have the task of making sure that the executive is implementing agreed policies and spending public money raised through taxes. In this way, the executive is accountable to elected politicians – within the legislatures – for fulfilling its functions.

• Democratic societies may also have – or nurture – a culture of accountability. In this sense, accountability might be understood as part of a broader value system that guides interaction between citizens, between government officials and members of the public seeking assistance or information, between service-providers and beneficiaries, employers and employees and so forth. For example, where there is a culture of accountability, a government official may make a point of reporting back regularly to a community about progress in establishing a promised health care clinic in their area, even though no law or regulation enforces such communication.