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In my experience, the topics people study tend to be those that touch some deep personal value of the individual. That is true for me regarding accountability. And the dynamics of accountability-the topic to which I have devoted much of my attention over the years-encompass both theoretical richness and practical challenges. I love talking about accountability and responsiveness because these are the values in which I believe. Why? Because accountability is based on fairness, integrity, doing what is right, and regard for others. Because it is fundamental to how people and organizations operate. I thank the John Gaus Award Committee and the APSA for this honor. Recognition by my peers is the highest honor and a judgment that I value. My excitement for receiving this award also comes from the unique opportunity that crafting this talk has granted me to take a step back and consider the recent past, current events, and prospects of the future of accountability. I am sure that if I asked you, we could hear some amazing stories of how each of us became academics; how we arrived upon our research; how we discovered our intellectual passions. What I have always liked about public administration was the emphasis on the link between theory and practice. It is the aspect of public administration that intrigues and stimulates me most. Government is an essential institution. And I am driven by a desire to always want to know more and more about how it works today and how it can work better tomorrow. Call me a realistic optimist. I can see the flaws, but I think it is essential to see the good government does every day. So here I am, a believer in government as an institution-committed to good government that plays a positive role in society. This makes me both a 'throwback' to earlier days, and someone who sees through the dysfunction of government today. I recognize this puts me at odds with the followers of Ayn Rand, but I am not a Pollyanna. I am aware of the limits of government. And I am aware of our ability to design institutions that can make the most of human nature and our academic insights. Adapted from the source document.

While accountability is a popular topic among elected officials, accountability of congressional staff has received little systematic scrutiny, a gap this article seeks to fill. Congressional staff have substantial autonomy & opportunity to influence public policy, albeit in ways that are not very visible to the general public. This article explores the web of accountability relationships within which congressional legislative staff work. The data, based on open-ended interviews, indicate that while the rhetoric of Congress supports a notion of swift & sure accountability, in practice the picture is much more complex. Congressional staff work within a web of multiple accountability relationships under a variety of performance standards. Congressional staff are attentive to a diverse range of stakeholders, with members of Congress being the primary but not the only group. The challenge for congressional staff is to discern which standard is appropriate at any given time. The consequences of not meeting performance expectations are subtle & uneven. 1 Exhibit, 2 Appendixes, 94 References. Adapted from the source document.

This article explores relationships among employees' work and nonwork psychological involvements in an effort to uncover some of the complexity of employees as multidimensional human beings. The relationships found reflect a pattern of involvements consistent with Van Maanen and Schein `s (1977) three-dimensional interactional schema of work, family, and self-development. These findings suggest that models of employees' accommodation to work and nonwork involvements need to incorporate a separate "self" dimension. Although direct results indicate a segregation pattern of accommodation to work and nonwork psychological involvements, closer examination reveals a pattern of links between work and nonwork involvements, with personal life efficacy as the pivotal variable.