Characteristics of Administration Accountability
Accountability is the responsibility bestowed on an individual, official, or person under responsibility to explain, justify and own upon their actions. Accountability calls for honoring of duty and upholding of public interest. Accountability is one of the critical instruments for decision-making in public administration. Public administrators are required to adopt accountability in all their job functions, including policy formulation. Therefore, accountability is one of the essential skills that public administrators are required to have. Accountability enhances the proper administration of resources in any public office. Also, accountability creates openness. Accountability controls the roles of the civil servants and other government agents. Administration accountability is further envisaged in a country’s constitution to ensure democracy. Nevertheless, the adoption of administrative accountability is depended on different specific qualities. Therefore, this essay aims at examining the characteristics of administrative accountability.
First, accountability cannot be delegated as it requires ownership. Responsibility is an inherent role in a particular role that encompasses an individual’s duty to hold a particular public office or any other office in the same capacity (Abadzi, 2020). Every leader, official, and juniors in public administration are required to be accountable as it is one of the critical values of performance in an organization. The success or failure of organizations or agencies depends on leaders’ accountability. Resources are required to be used most optimally. Consequently, every public official should adhere to the code of accountability by disclosing how they utilize resources and how the same resources are used to impact all citizens’ lives. Non-delegation of accountability means that it’s based on their behavior, which defines their public service actions for an individual to be accountable. Therefore, someone’s behavior should be coherent towards ensuring that they are accountable in all aspects, in resource allocation and utilization. Therefore, either bottom-up or top-bottom accountability cannot be delegated to other people at any authority level.
Accountability and human behavior are linked together. According to a study conducted by Yang (2011) on the interactive relationship between human action and accountability structure, the article researchers established that accountability and human behavior have a long-term relationship. The study finds out that the actions of individual managers are responsible for their accountability. Moreover, developing human agency in action and behavior is vital for advancing administrative accountability in public agencies. Every public administrator is thus required to be accountable in an individual capacity. Non-delegation of accountability further requires the development of individual responsibility among public officers to streamline service delivery and response. Thereby, recognizing this will effectively develop and strengthen the public systems of a country to foster development. In most developed countries, leaders are accountable, which has led to improved responsibility and service delivery.
Besides, the non-delegation of accountability, another feature of administration accountability, cannot be reduced. Accountability can only follow a chain of command in an organization. Put simply, in a public organization, managers and subordinate staff are accountable to their superiors. Superiors are also accountable to the higher-level executive to whom they owe the responsibility. Nevertheless, the delegation of authority does not inhibit the role of accountability in an organization. Officials who are tasked to undertake a task should report on the usability of resources and produce findings to their senior. Therefore, before the top executive is aware of the results, the senior must be aware of the subordinates’ responsibility and report the same. By doing so, accountability cannot be reduced but is an act of responsibility inherent to an officer who should report to another officer. Reducing accountability limits the responsibility of a public officer as the principle of delegation is removed.
Moreover, stewardship significantly influences accountability in government agencies. Yan (2019) conducted policy research that showed that lack of stewardship limits government institutions’ adoption of accountability. The study examined the usefulness of implementing accountability in improving the quality and inclusiveness of primary education. Lack of stewardship asserts that delegation has failed in public organizations, thereby limiting administrative accountability. Therefore, leaders should delegate responsibilities to ensure there no reduction in accountability. Juniors, seniors, and top executives are required to be accountable at all costs. Eventually, this will increase responsibility in the organization, creating an avenue for administration accountability. All administrators will understand their roles inadvertently and act upon each to ensure all stakeholders are accountable for their roles and positions. Public administration should strive at improving stewardship to boost the efforts of improving administrative accountability. Public officials will be actionable but not complacent as they are required to respond to a higher body.
Besides, accountability is trust. Trustworthiness is an essential quality of administration accountability. Trust is a core competence that should be inherent in all leaders and public administrators. They should be people who have to be trusted with greater responsibilities on behalf of the citizens or for any position of power. Accountable people need to develop trust by being great executors of their responsibilities. Trust has a strong correlation with leadership, and the most trusted leaders are considered the most accountable. These leaders are reliable for their duties and responsibilities bestowed on them. Therefore, public officers and other leaders need to be trustworthy to be accountable. In most organizations, both public and private trustworthiness is a significant factor that is considered when recruiting officials. Trust encompasses a candidate’s ability to demonstrate their suitability to be appointed or give a particular role.
Besides, the success of accountability is linked to trust. Ehren, Paterson & Baxter (2020) examined the relationship between trust and accountability as two sides of the same coin. Their study established that without trust and accountability, there is no significant improvement. An individual must be trustworthy to develop accountability, and the combination of the two will lead to organizational improvement. The study further examined how high levels of accountability promoted accountability relationships. They examined the education sector in South Africa, and the researchers observed that lack of trust undermined accountability in the education sectors. Also, lack of trust carets more stringent measures like bureaucratic accountability, which may negatively impact the country’s local education. Consequently, people should develop trustworthiness to enhance their ability to become accountable. It is prudent for an accountable person to be trustworthy, and this quality is developed. These are critical qualities required by public administrators to create improvement in organizations.
Furthermore, accountability requires awareness. Awareness is the capacity to recognize and identify information constantly. Leaders are supposed to be constant seekers of information to develop a great sense of awareness. Accountable people must be informed and aware of the different situations and activities taking place in the country’s organization to ensure accountability. Lack of awareness is one of the significant factors undermining accountability in public administration. Different issues and matters are going on in public administration that deters the adoption of accountability. In the event, leaders are overcome by these factors; they are likely to become less accountable. One of the main issues on public administration hindering the adoption of accountability is corruption and funds mismanagement. It seems most public institutions are unaware of the dangers of corruption that they fail to become accountable to the entire citizenry. Whenever leaders begin to identify these issues, they become aware, look for solutions and develop more accountability. Different scholars have evaluated how self-awareness has become a potent tool for unleashing accountability in public administration. Ghanem, Kassem & Castelli (2019) examined how accountability and moral competence influenced ethical leadership. In this study, it was evident that self-awareness among leaders was critical in advancing responsibility. Moreover, the development of this responsibility has become a reliable tool to evaluate the leaders’ awareness and thereby influence their accountability. Consequently, this shows that leaders are likely to provide more results due to awareness. Leaders should understand issues affecting their communities, such as health, income, and employment. The leader will therefore become accountable by responding to these issues. Thus, accountability entails the identification of social issues, providing solutions, and being accountable to society.
Moreover, administration accountability is controlled by standards. Different administrations have come up with several standards that govern accountability. The accountability standards are specific to a particular organization to avoid duplication. Every leader or any other person in authority needs to identify themselves with these standards to become accountable. In other words, accountability standards regulate how people in different organizations operate and how they respond to different situations. Both governments and other private sectors need to set up standards that should be sued to map accountability among its staff. The accountability standards should be used as benchmarks for ensuring performance in these organizations. Standards are used to drive high-performance in the organization, which is a critical tool for Assessment. Besides that, employees and leaders who meet the set standards should be rewarded to ensure continuous improvement and accountability. Accountability standards further ensure that everyone in an organization is left behind as the standards’ goals involve creating an all-inclusive environment for all stakeholders. By so doing, higher standards of performance are achieved in the organization. High levels of trust are also developed as the organization’s response to external factors is aggressive. Accountability standards in public administration are instrumental for public governance. These accountability standards advocate for a clear focus on institutions, norms, rules, and the organization’s mission to drive improvement (Brown & Toze, 2017). However, the accountability standards are not dependent on how the execution of tasks is done but are fixed to drive the organization’s overall performance.
Another essential characteristic of accountability is dependability. Accountability demands that an individual should be dependable in all endeavors they undertake in an administration. An individual needs to be committed and should stick to the course of the organization. Dependable people are very trustworthy and develop accountability quickly. As a result, the organization should look for dependable people who are likely to commit and drive organizational accountability. By so doing, this leads to motivation as people are accountable to each other. Dependability demands people to act as per what is expected of them. Moreover, dependability demands strict adherence to the code of performance, which entails discipline and honoring rules and regulations. Based on this, dependable people will not find it difficult to be accountable. It is like accountability is in their DNA. Accountability is further exemplified when a dependable can accomplish tasks with commitment and more zeal to become a higher performer. Organizations that rely on dependable staff are reaping the fruits of accountability, and this has created a pool of talent critical for development. According to the study by Abderrahim & Choukair (2017), dependability integration, responsibility and accountability are critical tools in leadership. Leaders need to de dependable before they can achieve responsibility and accountability. If there is no dependability, the risk of failure is high, and the organization may not achieve accountability which is an essential tool for improvement. Thus, it is essential to board dependable staff who will follow the organization’s goals and commit to its success, thereby increasing accountability.
Accountability is further characterized as unitary. A person is only accountable to one superior. Accountability to more than one superiors may lead to confusion and dilution of authority in an organization. Therefore, organizations need to aspire to develop leaders who are accountable according to the hierarchy. Accountability, therefore, becomes a driving tool as it creates coordination in the organization. People can adapt the required protocols to avoid mismatch and promote improvement. Sometimes it becomes challenging to report to higher authorities as it affects the flow of responsibility. Therefore, people are accountable to their immediate bosses, which will improve the level of accountability in an organization. Also, the organizations have a responsibility of ensuring proper systems in the organization, which enhances accountability. Individuals should follow specific procedures to ensure coordination and become more accountable. Roles have to be well defined and communicated to them, leading to better administration accountability.
Conclusively, the essay shows the different characteristics of administration accountability. Accountability is the responsibility of a person towards the justification and explanation of his or her actions. Accountability calls for honoring of duty and upholding of public interest. Accountability cannot be delegated as it requires the person involved to be responsible for their actions. No leader or individual can delegate the obligation of accountability to the superior parties. Also, the command structure cannot reduce administration accountability since the chain of command must be followed for accountability. Administration accountability further demands that individuals be trustworthy for them to be accountable. Accountability further the quality of dependability, accountability is unitary, and accountability has standards. Due to this, organizations need to devise ways that would ensure individuals are accountable. The accountability should also be based on the even characteristics discussed. Accountability standards have to be put in place to aid in the promotion and development of accountable people. Furthermore, organizations need to hire trustworthy and dependable individuals to ensure higher levels and effective achievement of accountability. Moreover, accountability calls for action and ownership among individuals who are involved in different roles. Consequently, this will create a practical framework that would be useful in improving performance in the organization. Accountability allows individuals to explain how resources are utilized and whether they can achieve what is required of them. Therefore, it acts as a benchmark for evaluating the performance indicators in an organization. All in all, all public servants should adopt accountability to drive outstanding results in public administration.
References
Abadzi, H. (2020). Accountability features and their implications for education policies. Comparative Education Review, 64(1), 66-86.
Abderrahim, W., & Choukair, Z. (2017). The three-dimensional model for dependability integration in cloud computing. Annals of Telecommunications, 72(5), 371-384.
Brown, D. C., & Toze, S. (2017). Information governance in digitized public administration. Canadian public administration, 60(4), 581-604.
Ehren, M., Paterson, A. & Baxter, J. Accountability and trust: Two sides of the same coin?. J Educ Change 21, 183–213 (2020). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10833-019-09352-4
Ghanem, Kassem A., and Castelli, Patricia A. (2019) “Accountability and Moral Competence Promote Ethical Leadership,” The Journal of Values-Based Leadership: Vol. 12: Iss. 1, Article 11. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.22543/0733.121.1247
Yang, K. (2012). Further understanding accountability in public organizations: Actionable knowledge and the structure–agency duality. Administration & Society, 44(3), 255-284.
Yifei Y. K. S. (2021) Policy capacity matters for capacity development: comparing teacher in-service training and career advancement in basic education systems of India and China. International Review of Administrative Sciences 51, pages 002085232098386.
