Coming soon · Book Profile
Rethinking Democratic Accountability
A critique of traditional, punitive government accountability that argues for a new paradigm of mutual, collective responsibility to resolve the conflict between rule-following and achieving high performance.
A profile of this book is on the way.
What it’s about
In an era where citizens demand both integrity and results from their government, public managers are caught in an impossible bind. The traditional system of accountability, focused on punishing procedural errors in finance and fairness, stifles the very discretion and innovation needed to achieve high performance. "Rethinking Democratic Accountability" dissects this fundamental conflict—the "accountability dilemma"—and challenges the century-old public administration paradigm. Robert D. Behn argues that we must move beyond the adversarial, holder-holdee model of punishment and embrace a new framework built on trust, cooperation, and shared goals. The book proposes a path forward through a "compact of mutual, collective responsibility," where public managers, legislators, and citizens collaborate to define and achieve public purposes, ultimately fostering a government that is not only more effective but also more genuinely accountable to the people it serves.
The through-line
- Who it’s for
- The reader is a public manager, elected official, or engaged citizen who is deeply frustrated with government's poor performance and the bureaucratic morass that seems to prevent any meaningful improvement. They want government to be both effective and responsible, but see the current system as one that stifles innovation and rewards mediocrity.
- The problem
- The existing accountability system, with its focus on punishing procedural violations, creates a paralyzing 'accountability dilemma' that forces public servants to choose between following rules and producing results. This makes them feel trapped, cynical, and powerless, believing that any attempt to innovate or take risks will inevitably lead to blame and punishment, while simply following the rules guarantees mediocrity.
- The plan
- Understand the three competing forms of accountability: for finances, for fairness, and for performance.
- Recognize why the traditional, rule-based paradigm of public administration is obsolete in a world that demands results.
- Embrace discretion and learn how to build trust as the foundation for a new accountability model.
- Shift from adversarial, blame-focused accountability to a cooperative 'compact of mutual, collective responsibility.'
- Begin evolving a 'charter agency' by demonstrating competence and negotiating 'small wins' that trade flexibility for improved performance.
- The payoff
- Public agencies are transformed into high-performing 'charter agencies' that are trusted with discretion because they consistently deliver results. · The relationship between managers, legislators, and citizens shifts from adversarial blame-gaming to a cooperative partnership focused on solving public problems. · Public trust in government is restored as agencies become demonstrably more effective, innovative, and responsive.
See our guide
Additional reading
- Bureaucracy: What Government Agencies Do and Why They Do It · James Q. Wilson
Provides a deep positive theory of why public organizations behave as they do, which serves as a crucial backdrop for this book's normative theory of what managers *should* do.
- Presidential Power · Richard E. Neustadt
The classic work on how executives in government must persuade and bargain to achieve their goals, underpinning this book's emphasis on political management and managing beyond formal authority.
- Leadership in Administration · Philip Selznick
A foundational text on the role of leadership in defining an organization's mission and infusing it with value, influencing this book's concept of the manager as a strategist and value-definer.
- The Power of Public Ideas · Robert B. Reich (ed.)
Explores how public deliberation and the framing of ideas shape policy, which is central to this book's treatment of defining public value and the techniques of political leadership.
- Leading Change · John Kotter
The book's concept of the 'guiding coalition' is drawn directly from Kotter and is presented as a crucial organizational tool for driving delivery.
- Creating Public Value: Strategic Management in Government · Mark H. Moore
Moore's work provides the theoretical foundation for the book's chapter on public sector productivity, defining the core elements of 'public value' that a government should seek to create.
- The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam · Barbara Tuchman
Tuchman's analysis of governmental 'folly' is used to frame the importance of data, deliberation, and challenging assumptions to avoid catastrophic policy failures, a key aspect of problem-solving in delivery.
- Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap … and Others Don’t · Jim Collins
Collins's analysis of leadership and strategy in business is adapted by the author to create the 'Performance Wedge' model (Awful, Adequate, Good, Great) for public services.
- The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right · Atul Gawande
Gawande's argument for the importance of diligence and checklists to ensure professional reliability is cited to support the book's emphasis on routines and systematic processes.
- Federalist Paper number 51 · James Madison
The author explicitly states that readers who want to get immediately to the 'bottom line' of why his reform suggestions are unlikely to be heeded should read this paper, as the constitutional regime is the ultimate constraint.