Understanding Accountability: New Perspectives on a Fractured World -

Description

This book brings clarity and understanding to the concept of accountability through the lens of conceptual political analysis. As the structure of the modern state has become more complex, the architecture of accountability has itself needed to evolve and re-orientate in an attempt to keep pace. This has led to an increased emphasis not on accountability per se but on different kinds or types of... Read more

This book brings clarity and understanding to the concept of accountability through the lens of conceptual political analysis. As the structure of the modern state has become more complex, the architecture of accountability has itself needed to evolve and re-orientate in an attempt to keep pace. This has led to an increased emphasis not on accountability per se but on different kinds or types of accountability. As such, it is argued here that accountability has emerged to become a concept with adjectives and there is a real need to properly understand accountability in an increasingly fractured world. The theoretical and analytical glue that binds all of the chapters in this collection is a commitment to working within the contours of the work of the philosopher, Giovanni Sartori. This is an approach that has been used to tease apart and interrogate a range of concepts including terrorism, governance, coups, gender equality, deliberation, warfare, clientelism, hybrid regimes, democracy, right through to art, love, rape and violence. It is also an approach that facilitates the cultivation of complex debates concerning the limits of conceptual flexibility. The volume consists of twelve chapters, grouped into three main parts. The introductory part provides the foundations for the collection. Part I on Power explores the normative dimensions of accountability as a means to control and regulate power. Part II on Politics focuses inter alia on accountability following a period of crisis and the emergence of new technology such as algorithms. The final part, Part III, on Particularities looks at concepts such as social accountability and what is meant by supplementary accountability. This broad-ranging collection increases the conceptual toolkit that social and political scientists and lawyers can use to interrogate change at a number of levels and in a range of sectors. Whether through a focus on moral, individual or gendered accountability, or through a shift towards clashing, stakeholder or social accountability, there is a clear flow and coherence through the chapters. The volume will be of interest to academics and researchers working in the areas of Legal and Political Theory, Legal and Political Philosophy and Accountability Studies.

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Editor(s)

Biography

Matthew Flinders is a Professor of Politics at the University of Sheffield and Vice President of the Political Studies Association of the United Kingdom.

Gergana Dimova is an Associate Professor of Politics at Northeastern University London.

Chris Monaghan is a Principal Lecturer in Law at the University of Worcester.

Critics' Reviews

"In this volume, the editors advocate a distinct approach to the analytic challenge of ‘grappling with the conceptual chameleon that is accountability.’ Applying the concept analysis method associated with Giovanni Sartori, they bring together a wide-ranging collection of studies that highlights the benefits of putting aside our obsession with creating a definitive theory or framing and instead focuses on the insights generated by ‘adjectivization’ of accountability that characterizes most of the literature being generated by our field. The result is a major step forward in enhancing our understanding of accountability and its role in an increasingly complex and fragmented world.”

— Melvin Dubnick, Professor Emeritus at the University of New Hampshire, US.

Understanding Accountability: New Perspectives on a Fractured World

Description

Table of Contents

Editor(s)

Biography

Critics' Reviews

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