Scholarlink

<p><i>Despite accountability’s centrality to good governance</i>,<i> policymakers such as senior government officials are rarely held responsible for the quality of and reasoning behind their policy choices. Conventional accountability mechanisms are mostly fixated on procedural compliance</i>,<i> without sufficiently attending to whether policies are well-designed</i>,<i> evidence-based</i>,<i> or achieve intended outcomes. This paper argues that “policy choice accountability”—requiring policymakers to justify decisions</i>,<i> demonstrate evidence use</i>,<i> and accept responsibility for results—represents a critical missing dimension in governance systems. Through illustrative case examples</i>,<i> including education transformation in Ceará</i>,<i> Brazil</i>, <i>we show how this dimension of accountability can be strengthened through our three-pillar framework.</i> <i>Addressing this gap is essential for confronting complex policy challenges effectively across diverse contexts. The paper contributes to accountability theory by establishing policy choice as a distinct dimension requiring specific oversight mechanisms beyond traditional administrative and political accountability. For practice</i>,<i> it proposes concrete threshold conditions for application that can enhance</i><i> policy effectiveness and democratic governance.</i></p>

错误：搜索内容不能为空，请输入英文关键词
错误：关键词超出字数限制，请精简
高级检索

Accountability for policy decisions: addressing gaps in theory and practice

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

    开放获取

  • 发表日期：

    2026年2月13日

查看全文
  • Yifei Yan,
  • M Ramesh

摘要

Despite accountability’s centrality to good governance, policymakers such as senior government officials are rarely held responsible for the quality of and reasoning behind their policy choices. Conventional accountability mechanisms are mostly fixated on procedural compliance, without sufficiently attending to whether policies are well-designed, evidence-based, or achieve intended outcomes. This paper argues that “policy choice accountability”—requiring policymakers to justify decisions, demonstrate evidence use, and accept responsibility for results—represents a critical missing dimension in governance systems. Through illustrative case examples, including education transformation in Ceará, Brazil, we show how this dimension of accountability can be strengthened through our three-pillar framework. Addressing this gap is essential for confronting complex policy challenges effectively across diverse contexts. The paper contributes to accountability theory by establishing policy choice as a distinct dimension requiring specific oversight mechanisms beyond traditional administrative and political accountability. For practice, it proposes concrete threshold conditions for application that can enhance policy effectiveness and democratic governance.