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This volume on democratic accountability addresses one of the burning issues on the agenda of policy makers and citizens in contemporary Latin America: how democratic leaders in Latin America can improve accountability while simultaneously promoting governmental effectiveness

Legislatures are the core representative institutions in modern democracies. Citizens want legislatures to be decisive, and they want accountability, but they are frequently disillusioned with the representation legislators deliver. Political parties can provide decisiveness in legislatures, and they may provide collective accountability, but citizens and political reformers frequently demand another type of accountability from legislators - at the individual level. Can legislatures provide both kinds of accountability? This book considers what collective and individual accountability require and provides the most extensive cross-national analysis of legislative voting undertaken to date. It illustrates the balance between individualistic and collective representation in democracies, and how party unity in legislative voting shapes that balance. In addition to quantitative analysis of voting patterns, the book draws on extensive field and archival research to provide an extensive assessment of legislative transparency throughout the Americas

We need a way to make sense of moral accountability in cases where multiple individuals are cooperating in a way that results in a wrongful harm. Saba Bazargan-Forward argues that distinct aspects of human agency can be 'distributed' among different people. He presents case studies of accountability in war, law, business, and racism.

This exciting book is one of the first textbooks in the fast growing area of sustainability accounting. Contributed to and edited by an impressive array of internationally renowned authorities, it focuses on the use of sustainability accounting both as an external accountability mechanism (external reporting) and as a tool for helping managers assess and manage the social and environmental impacts of their operations (management accounting). Using real life examples and case studies to emphasize the links between the conceptual basis and issues in practice, this outstanding book addresses the growing interest among both practitioners and academics in social, environmental and ethical accountability, as interpreted through the lens of sustainable development. --Publisher

Surveillance technologies form an increasingly ubiquitous presence in many EU member states. CCTV cameras, traffic regulation systems, ID cards, biometric developments, airport security checks and on-line forms of dataveillance are just some of the many ways in which the public are subject to forms of scrutiny, data collection, data storage and data sharing. These surveillance systems are often welcomed as a means of protection and for easing public fears, but also raise profound questions for democratic states of the nature of the relationship between state and citizenry. Currently, regulation of surveillance systems differs across EU member states, including legal prohibitions, forms of licensing, self-certification, data protection and information or data protection commissioners. Forms of accountability have emerged as one means by which the potential consequences of surveillance systems might be recognised and assessed and formally incorporated into public sector policy or into the ways in which companies do business. Managing Privacy through Accountability draws together contributions from leading figures in the field of surveillance to engage in discussion of the emergence of accountability as a central motif in debates around privacy invasion and privacy protection. It is the first book to engage in this debate.

Three years after U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spelling's national commission on higher education and nearly a decade after No Child Left Behind revolutionized k-12 accountability, there is little agreement on what accountability in higher education should look like or if it's even needed at all. While more students are enrolling in (and failing to complete) postsecondary education than ever before, scholars and policymakers have paid far less attention to questions of how well colleges are teaching students and helping them earn degrees while simultaneously contributing new research

Barbara Junne befasst sich mit der Frage, wie Qualitätsmanagement in Hamburger Kitas als eine gesellschaftlich konstruierte Praktik entsteht, die die gegenseitige Rechenschaftslegung, d.h. Accountability, befördert. Vor diesem Hintergrund kann Qualitätsmanagement eben nicht als objektives Instrument betrachtet werden. Es erscheint vielmehr als ein Vehikel für unterschiedliche Interessen, Sinn- und Bedeutungszuschreibungen der am Diskurs beteiligten Akteure, die sich wiederum über die Zeit verändern. Die Gestaltung von Qualitätsverfahren ist somit auf die Mitgestaltung der lokal handelnden Akteure und deren permanente Rekonstruktion von Qualität angewiesen. Barbara Junne hat ihr besonderes Interesse an Veränderungsprozessen im öffentlichen Sektor in ihre Tätigkeit bei der Deutschen Kinder- und Jugendstiftung eingebracht. Dort leitet sie derzeit als regionale Programmleiterin im Servicebüro Kiel das Bundesprogramm 'Qualität vor Ort' für mehr Qualität in Kitas.

Education of America's school children always has been and always will be a hot-button issue. From what should be taught to how to pay for education to how to keep kids safe in schools, impassioned debates emerge and mushroom, both within the scholarly community and among the general public. This volume in the point/counterpoint Debating Issues in American Education reference series tackles the topic of standards and accountability in schools. Fifteen to twenty chapters explore such varied issues as assessment (of students, of teachers), basic-skills testing, high-stakes exams, NCLB and its legacy, pay-for-performance, standard vs. alternative teacher certification, and more. Each chapter opens with an introductory essay by the volume editor, followed by point/counterpoint articles written and signed by invited experts, and concludes with Further Readings and Resources, thus providing readers with views on multiple sides of standards and accountability issues and pointing them toward more in-depth resources for further exploration.

Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Original Title Page -- Original Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- Table of Cases -- Table of Statutes -- Preface -- 1. The Policing Debate -- 2. The Accountability of the Police -- Introduction -- The Historical Background -- (a) The Early History -- (b) The 'New Police' -- (c) The 1962 Royal Commission -- The Institutions of Accountability and their Effectiveness -- (i) The Office of Constable -- (ii) Police Authorities -- (iii) Chief Constables -- (iv) Central Government -- 3. The Police Complaints Procedure -- Introduction -- The Police Act 1976 -- The Movement for Reform -- The Police Complaints Authority -- Conclusions -- 4. Arrest and Detention -- Introduction -- Arrest -- (a) Arrest Without Warrant for Breach of the Peace -- (b) Arrest Without Warrant for Arrestable Offences -- (c) General Arrest Powers -- (d) Requirements of a Valid Arrest Without Warrant -- Detention -- (i) Custody Officers and their Duties -- (ii) Review of Detention -- (iii) Detention for Serious Arrestable Offences -- (iv) Treatment of Detained Suspects -- (v) Criticism of the Detention Provisions -- 5. Stop and Search and Related Provisions -- The Common Law -- Specific Statutory Authority -- Road-Blocks -- 6. Search and Seizure -- Introduction -- Entry onto Private Premises -- Search -- (a) On Arrest -- (b) Under Warrant -- Seizure -- Unlawfully Obtained Evidence and Admissibility -- 7. Police Questioning and Surreptitious Surveillance -- Police Questioning -- The Right of Silence -- The 1984 Act and Code Procedures -- (a) The Procedural Framework -- (b) Admissibility -- Tape-Recording -- Surreptitious Surveillance -- Appendix -- Table 1 -- Table 2 -- Index.

"Recent years have witnessed an exponential growth in corporate governance. Improvements in corporate governance practice are being orchestrated at a global level. International bodies such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) have developed internationally acceptable standards of corporate governance. In the UK, companies are continuing to strengthen their generally sound corporate governance systems, focusing on shareholder and stakeholder relations and accountability, improvements in the performance of boards of directors, auditors and the accounting function, and paying attention to the ways in which their companies are controlled and run. Similarly, institutional investors, accountants, auditors and the general public are increasingly aware of a continuing need to promote corporate governance reform. Scandals such as Enron, and more recently Carillion, have driven home this need for constant reform"--

"Ideas of collective responsibility challenge the doctrine of individual responsibility that is the dominant paradigm in law and liberal political theory. But little attention is given to the consequences of holding groups accountable for wrongdoing. Groups are not amenable to punishment in the way that individuals are. Can they be punished - and if so, how - or are other remedies available? The topic crosses the borders of law, philosophy, and political science, and in this volume specialists in all three areas contribute their perspectives. They examine the limits of individual criminal liability in addressing atrocity, the meanings of punishment and responsibility, the distribution of group punishment to a group's members, and the means by which collective accountability can be expressed. In doing so, they reflect on the legacy of the Nuremberg Trials, on the philosophical understanding of collective responsibility, and on the place of collective accountability in international political relations"--

This book examines whether the mechanisms of accountability characteristic of democratic systems are sufficient to induce the representatives to act in the best interest of the represented. The first part of the volume focuses on the role of elections, distinguishing different ways in which they may cause representation. The second part is devoted to the role of checks and balances, between the government and the parliament as well as between the government and the bureaucracy. The contributors of this volume, all leading scholars in the fields of American and comparative politics and political theory, address questions such as, whether elections induce governments to act in the interest of citizens. Are politicians in democracies accountable to voters in future elections? If so, does accountability induce politicians to represent citizens? Does accountability limit or enhance the scope of action of governments? Are governments that violate campaign mandates representative? Overall, the essays combine theoretical discussions, game-theoretic models, case studies, and statistical analyses, within a shared analytical approach and a standardized terminology. The empirical material is drawn from the well established democracies as well as from new democracies

It is increasingly being recognised across society that the preservation of our natural environment should shape political, economic and social policies. This book delves into the partnership of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), Environmental NGOs (ENGOs), their communities, and their governmental counterparts in responding to this need. Providing extended research on environmentalism and the NGOs' roles in promoting environmental accountability, the chapters present a comprehensive overview of the interaction between the two themes both regionally and internationally. Topics include the accountability of Environmental NGOs (ENGOs), impact of NGOs on environmental sustainability, NGOs and sustainable development goals, NGOs and social reporting quality, and the role of NGOs in urban and rural environmental governance. The authors present these insights within the context of developing economies, continental and global perspectives, as well as the transformational angle. This book provides readers with a truly comprehensive snapshot of the environmental accountability of NGOs.