Eliminating the Accountability Deficit – A Call to Action for the Responsible Official

December 27, 2007 | PSD Research

The elected, and appointed, must see some benefit in the existence of opacity that surrounds most government bureaucracies. A common argument from citizens is that lack of transparency in government practices allows officials to exercise minimum responsible judgment, and maximum personal, unrestrained discretion. The government, they say, is a black box. The collective government generally believes that the civic culture has socially and economically evolved to foster apathy. There’s certainly merit to both arguments. The decline in public participation in matters of public interest is partly responsible for a government disassociated from full disclosure and accountability. Unfortunately, it is thoroughly unrealistic to expect a grassroots movement on enhancing government accountability. The onus of creating an environment of accountability then lies in the hands of government officials. For the irresponsible official, this is good news. For the ...