No / Calls by political leaders, social activists, and international policy and aid actors for accountability reforms to improve governance have never been more widespread. For some analysts, the unprecedented scale of these pressures reflects the functional imperatives and power of liberal and democratic institutions accompanying greater global economic integration. This book offers a different perspective, investigating the crucial role of contrasting ideologies informing accountability movements and mediating reform directions in Southeast Asia. It argues that the most influential ideologies are not those promoting the political authority of democratic sovereign people or of liberalism's freely contracting individuals. Instead, in both post-authoritarian and authoritarian regimes, it is ideologies advancing the political authority of moral guardians interpreting or ordaining correct modes of behaviour for public officials. Elites exploit such ideologies to deflect and contain pressures for democratic and liberal reforms to governance institutions. The book's case studies include human rights, political decentralization, anticorruption, and social accountability reform movements in Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. These studies highlight how effective propagation of moral ideologies is boosted by the presence of powerful organizations, notably religious bodies, political parties, and broadcast media. Meanwhile, civil society organizations of comparable clout advancing liberalism or democracy are lacking. The theoretical framework of the book has wide applicability. In other regions, with contrasting histories and political economies, the nature and extent of organizations and social actors shaping accountability politics will differ, but the importance of these factors to which ideologies prevail to shape reform directions will not. / Australian Research Council

This study examines political accountability within the context of ministerial accountability towards the Scottish parliamentary committees. A review of the existing literature on accountability identified striking discrepancies between different disciplinary perspectives. In particular, political science research (e.g. Mayer, 1999) focuses on describing the structural mechanisms available for constraining the behaviour of those being made accountable. This literature includes research on ministerial accountability (e.g. Flinders, 1991), although largely focusing on accountability towards the parliamentary Chamber rather than the committees. By contrast, the psychological literature does not focus on accountability, but rather on developing a classification of accounts (e.g. Scott and Lyman, 1968) doing the kind of work that is examined in political science under ‘accountability’ (i.e. providing excuses and justifications to explain problematic behaviours), and testing these accounts using experimental designs (e.g. Weiner et al., 1987). However, given its focus on classification and experimental designs, the psychological literature on accounts treats language as reified and abstract. A third (discourse and conversation analytic) research tradition uses recordings of real-life verbal interactions to examine the turn-by-turn unfolding of interactions (e.g. Atkinson and Drew, 1979), but few studies focus on accountability, and none specifically investigate political accountability. My study is the first to bridge the gap between these three disciplinary perspectives by examining the practice of political accountability through the turn-by-turn unfolding of interactions between ministers and members of Scottish parliamentary committees. The thesis aims to contribute to an understanding of democracy in action by providing an insight into the practical ways in which accountability is accomplished within this specific real-life setting. The corpus of data was compiled from 27 hours of video recordings of interactions between ministers and members of four Scottish parliamentary committees. I analysed the data using conversation analysis (CA). Use of CA led me to identify indirectness as a pervading characteristic of the ways in which challenges are formulated and attended to in the interactions between committee members and ministers, as well as a number of ways in which committee members and ministers attended to matters of stake and interest in relation to such challenges. In addition, CA has allowed an insight into the limits of accountability by showing how ministers can avoid answering particular questions. These findings stand in stark contrast to the political science literature, which emphasises the adversarial nature of interactions within parliamentary settings and the availability of mechanisms for holding ministers to account (e.g. parliamentary committees) without investigating the way in which these mechanisms are used in practice. Furthermore, these findings contribute to the psychological literature on accounts by investigating their use within a real-life setting, and to the discourse and conversation analytic literature by showing the way in which well-known conversational devices (e.g. footing) are adapted to suit the specific context of parliamentary committee meetings with ministers.

No / Calls by political leaders, social activists, and international policy and aid actors for accountability reforms to improve governance have never been more widespread. For some analysts, the unprecedented scale of these pressures reflects the functional imperatives and power of liberal and democratic institutions accompanying greater global economic integration. This book offers a different perspective, investigating the crucial role of contrasting ideologies informing accountability movements and mediating reform directions in Southeast Asia. It argues that the most influential ideologies are not those promoting the political authority of democratic sovereign people or of liberalism's freely contracting individuals. Instead, in both post-authoritarian and authoritarian regimes, it is ideologies advancing the political authority of moral guardians interpreting or ordaining correct modes of behaviour for public officials. Elites exploit such ideologies to deflect and contain pressures for democratic and liberal reforms to governance institutions. The book's case studies include human rights, political decentralization, anticorruption, and social accountability reform movements in Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. These studies highlight how effective propagation of moral ideologies is boosted by the presence of powerful organizations, notably religious bodies, political parties, and broadcast media. Meanwhile, civil society organizations of comparable clout advancing liberalism or democracy are lacking. The theoretical framework of the book has wide applicability. In other regions, with contrasting histories and political economies, the nature and extent of organizations and social actors shaping accountability politics will differ, but the importance of these factors to which ideologies prevail to shape reform directions will not.

O objetivo central desta tese é formular propostas normativas de delineamento do instituto da responsabilidade do poder político de forma a que este sirva como mecanismo de conformação de um paradigma de democracia qualificada (democratic responsiveness), cujo atributo fundamental é favorecer a correlação entre a atividade política e as expectativas e interesses da sociedade. Sob as premissas de que a qualificação democrática deve ser um objetivo fundamental no Estado Constitucional contemporâneo e de que a agregação de responsiveness ao processo político é, sem dúvida, um expediente necessário para tanto, defendemos em nossa tese a adoção de um modelo normativo em que as três facetas do instituto da responsabilidade responsibility, accountability e liability favoreçam a aproximação entre poder político e sociedade, o que é coerente com uma conformação mais substancial do princípio da soberania popular na experiência democrática, atenuando o déficit que as teorias procedimentais de democracia e a representação política independente causaram nesse campo. Valorizando o papel que a Constituição e o direito exercem em relação ao fenômeno político, apresentamos, como uma primeira proposta para um delineamento do instituto da responsabilidade do poder político que cumpra os objetivos acima colimados, a preferência por um ordenamento legal responsivo (responsive law), em que as normas priorizem o elemento finalístico e se torne possível a responsabilização da atividade política a partir dos resultados por ela alcançados. Outra proposta que apresentamos é a de enaltecer e readequar o papel do judicial review como mecanismo essencial à efetividade da responsabilidade do poder político, especialmente no sentido de assegurar a integridade e efetividade das instituições e procedimentos desenvolvidos no escopo de aperfeiçoar a responsiveness no processo político. Sem implicar a invasão da seara típica dos demais Poderes do Estado, defendemos uma atuação do Judiciário compromissada com a concretização dos requisitos necessários à implementação da democratic responsiveness. Como proposta final, defendemos que a atividade governamental assuma um caráter programático, valorizando o papel que os programas de governo podem assumir na aproximação entre a atividade política e os interesses e expectativas sociais mais prementes, especialmente quando se preveem mecanismos de influência popular na construção de aludidos programas. Esse último aspecto é essencialmente importante para o instituto da responsabilidade em razão de tornar possível a accountability prospectiva, isto é, permitir que a sociedade participe diretamente na fixação das prioridades da atividade governamental a ser desenvolvida, o que, a nosso ver, é uma perspectiva muito interessante para o alcance do modelo de democracia qualificada que defendemos nesta pesquisa. Em sede final, deixamos claro que as propostas apresentadas são apenas linhas indicativas para o alcance de um objetivo que entendemos prioritário na realidade estatal e social contemporânea: o de qualificar nossos institutos e instituições. A nosso ver, a busca do aperfeiçoamento contínuo do Estado Constitucional, da democracia e da responsabilidade do poder político, mediante a fixação de parâmetros e paradigmas de qualidade, deve ser uma tarefa permanente do cientista social, e foi nesse escopo que desenvolvemos a presente tese. / The central goal of this thesis is to devise normative proposals for defining political accountability that can be used as a mechanism to shape democratic responsiveness, whose fundamental attribute is, in turn, to promote the link between political activity and societys expectations and interests. Based on the premises that democratic responsiveness should be a fundamental goal of todays Constitutional State and that adding responsiveness to the political process is, unquestionably, a necessary measure, this study argues for the adoption of a normative model in which the three prongs of political accountability responsibility, accountability and liability promote an approximation between political authority and society, and this is coherent with a more substantial shaping of the principle of the sovereignty of the people in a democracy, thus mitigating the deficiencies caused by procedural democracy theories and independent political representation in this field. Stressing the importance of the role of the Constitution and the Law over politics, our first proposal for defining political accountability that fulfills the goals described above is to adopt a responsive legal system, in which the norms prioritize the final result, and by so doing, accountability attached to political activity takes place based on the results attained by such political activity. Our next proposal is to value and redefine the role of judicial review as an essential tool to promote the effectiveness of political accountability; especially in the sense of ensuring the integrity and effectiveness of the institutions and procedures developed within the scope of improving responsiveness in the political process. Without necessarily invading traditional fields under the other Branches of power, this study advocates a more committed Judiciary in terms of achieving the necessary requisites to implement democratic responsiveness. As our third and last proposal, we argue that government activity should play a programmatic role, valuing the role government programs can play in bringing together political activity and the more urgent interests and expectations of society, especially when there are mechanisms for the people to participate in developing said programs. This latter aspect is of utmost importance for accountability because it renders prospective accountability possible, that is, it enables societys direct participation in establishing the priorities of government activity, which, in our point of view, is a very significant perspective for the achievement of the democratic responsiveness advocated herein. Finally, this study emphasizes that the proposals presented are only general guidelines to achieve a goal that we consider urgent in todays social and government scenarios, which is to qualify our institutes and institutions. In our view, the quest to continuously improve the Constitutional State, democracy and political accountability, by setting quality parameters and paradigms, must be a permanent effort on the part of social scientists; and it was within this scope that this study was developed.

La bureaucratie joue un rôle-clé dans l'arène politique. Le pouvoir de l'administration publique a néanmoins souvent été sous-estimé, tandis que sa structure comme sa croissance constante restent mal compris. Cette thèse est consacrée à l'étude approfondie des principales caractéristiques de l'administration publique et plus particulièrement à son avantage informationnel dans la prise de décisions politiques. Dans une perspective normative, la thèse explore les questions de délégation dans une hiérarchie à trois niveaux, et de répartition de rente informationnelle en 'common agency' avec plusieurs mandataires politiques. Ceci me permet d'entrevoir ce que renferme la boîte noire de la structure organisationnelle composite du gouvernement. D'un point de vue positif, l'approche comparative me permet d'analyser et d'expliquer la croissance des administrations publiques dans les démocraties sur le plan de l'emploi de fonctionnaires d'État. / Bureaucracy is a key player in political game. However, its power has been often underestimated as well as the questions of its structure and constant growth remain not properly understood. This thesis represents a detailed study of the major features of the government bureaucracy by focusing on its information leverage in policy making. Normatively, the thesis explores the issues of delegation in a three-tier hierarchy and information rent distribution in common agency with several political principals, and thus contributes to opening a black box of the composite organizational structure of government. Positively, the comparative approach helps to explain the growth of government bureaucracies in democracies in terms of government administration employment.

O objetivo central desta tese é formular propostas normativas de delineamento do instituto da responsabilidade do poder político de forma a que este sirva como mecanismo de conformação de um paradigma de democracia qualificada (democratic responsiveness), cujo atributo fundamental é favorecer a correlação entre a atividade política e as expectativas e interesses da sociedade. Sob as premissas de que a qualificação democrática deve ser um objetivo fundamental no Estado Constitucional contemporâneo e de que a agregação de responsiveness ao processo político é, sem dúvida, um expediente necessário para tanto, defendemos em nossa tese a adoção de um modelo normativo em que as três facetas do instituto da responsabilidade responsibility, accountability e liability favoreçam a aproximação entre poder político e sociedade, o que é coerente com uma conformação mais substancial do princípio da soberania popular na experiência democrática, atenuando o déficit que as teorias procedimentais de democracia e a representação política independente causaram nesse campo. Valorizando o papel que a Constituição e o direito exercem em relação ao fenômeno político, apresentamos, como uma primeira proposta para um delineamento do instituto da responsabilidade do poder político que cumpra os objetivos acima colimados, a preferência por um ordenamento legal responsivo (responsive law), em que as normas priorizem o elemento finalístico e se torne possível a responsabilização da atividade política a partir dos resultados por ela alcançados. Outra proposta que apresentamos é a de enaltecer e readequar o papel do judicial review como mecanismo essencial à efetividade da responsabilidade do poder político, especialmente no sentido de assegurar a integridade e efetividade das instituições e procedimentos desenvolvidos no escopo de aperfeiçoar a responsiveness no processo político. Sem implicar a invasão da seara típica dos demais Poderes do Estado, defendemos uma atuação do Judiciário compromissada com a concretização dos requisitos necessários à implementação da democratic responsiveness. Como proposta final, defendemos que a atividade governamental assuma um caráter programático, valorizando o papel que os programas de governo podem assumir na aproximação entre a atividade política e os interesses e expectativas sociais mais prementes, especialmente quando se preveem mecanismos de influência popular na construção de aludidos programas. Esse último aspecto é essencialmente importante para o instituto da responsabilidade em razão de tornar possível a accountability prospectiva, isto é, permitir que a sociedade participe diretamente na fixação das prioridades da atividade governamental a ser desenvolvida, o que, a nosso ver, é uma perspectiva muito interessante para o alcance do modelo de democracia qualificada que defendemos nesta pesquisa. Em sede final, deixamos claro que as propostas apresentadas são apenas linhas indicativas para o alcance de um objetivo que entendemos prioritário na realidade estatal e social contemporânea: o de qualificar nossos institutos e instituições. A nosso ver, a busca do aperfeiçoamento contínuo do Estado Constitucional, da democracia e da responsabilidade do poder político, mediante a fixação de parâmetros e paradigmas de qualidade, deve ser uma tarefa permanente do cientista social, e foi nesse escopo que desenvolvemos a presente tese. / The central goal of this thesis is to devise normative proposals for defining political accountability that can be used as a mechanism to shape democratic responsiveness, whose fundamental attribute is, in turn, to promote the link between political activity and societys expectations and interests. Based on the premises that democratic responsiveness should be a fundamental goal of todays Constitutional State and that adding responsiveness to the political process is, unquestionably, a necessary measure, this study argues for the adoption of a normative model in which the three prongs of political accountability responsibility, accountability and liability promote an approximation between political authority and society, and this is coherent with a more substantial shaping of the principle of the sovereignty of the people in a democracy, thus mitigating the deficiencies caused by procedural democracy theories and independent political representation in this field. Stressing the importance of the role of the Constitution and the Law over politics, our first proposal for defining political accountability that fulfills the goals described above is to adopt a responsive legal system, in which the norms prioritize the final result, and by so doing, accountability attached to political activity takes place based on the results attained by such political activity. Our next proposal is to value and redefine the role of judicial review as an essential tool to promote the effectiveness of political accountability; especially in the sense of ensuring the integrity and effectiveness of the institutions and procedures developed within the scope of improving responsiveness in the political process. Without necessarily invading traditional fields under the other Branches of power, this study advocates a more committed Judiciary in terms of achieving the necessary requisites to implement democratic responsiveness. As our third and last proposal, we argue that government activity should play a programmatic role, valuing the role government programs can play in bringing together political activity and the more urgent interests and expectations of society, especially when there are mechanisms for the people to participate in developing said programs. This latter aspect is of utmost importance for accountability because it renders prospective accountability possible, that is, it enables societys direct participation in establishing the priorities of government activity, which, in our point of view, is a very significant perspective for the achievement of the democratic responsiveness advocated herein. Finally, this study emphasizes that the proposals presented are only general guidelines to achieve a goal that we consider urgent in todays social and government scenarios, which is to qualify our institutes and institutions. In our view, the quest to continuously improve the Constitutional State, democracy and political accountability, by setting quality parameters and paradigms, must be a permanent effort on the part of social scientists; and it was within this scope that this study was developed.

In 2010, our definition of democracy in America was drastically changed by the Supreme Court case Citizens United v. FEC. The Court ruled that under the First Amendment, corporations have the right to free speech. The decision removed the final ban on corporations, which prohibited corporate money used for direct advocacy. The consequences of this have been tremendous. The decision has allowed for the creation and rise of Super PACs and political active nonprofits. As a result, Super PACs and nonprofits now act as “shadow campaigns”. Outside groups have the ability to engage in voter suppression tactics without politically hurting the candidate. Unlike political candidates, there are no direct ramifications for an outside organization to get caught engaging in voter suppression. They are not held accountable by anyone. The ability to take political action that is independent from the government or campaigns allows for a new form of corruption. Corruption is no longer a coordinated act between corporate money and a candidate, but rather political actions that take place outside the public sphere. Political actions that take place in the private sphere are outside the realm of political accountability. The people stand powerless against private outside organizations.

In 2010, our definition of democracy in America was drastically changed by the Supreme Court case Citizens United v. FEC. The Court ruled that under the First Amendment, corporations have the right to free speech. The decision removed the final ban on corporations, which prohibited corporate money used for direct advocacy. The consequences of this have been tremendous. The decision has allowed for the creation and rise of Super PACs and political active nonprofits. As a result, Super PACs and nonprofits now act as “shadow campaigns”. Outside groups have the ability to engage in voter suppression tactics without politically hurting the candidate. Unlike political candidates, there are no direct ramifications for an outside organization to get caught engaging in voter suppression. They are not held accountable by anyone. The ability to take political action that is independent from the government or campaigns allows for a new form of corruption. Corruption is no longer a coordinated act between corporate money and a candidate, but rather political actions that take place outside the public sphere. Political actions that take place in the private sphere are outside the realm of political accountability. The people stand powerless against private outside organizations.

O objetivo central desta tese é desenvolver a análise de três bancos centrais e seu desenho institucional para o exercício do poder monetário. O estudo visa a analisar mecanismos de hard law (estabelecido por tratados, constituições ou leis) destinados à accountability política e social de três bancos centrais: Banco Central do Brasil (Bacen), Banco Central Europeu (BCE) e Federal Reserve dos Estados Unidos (Fed). Este trabalho também pretende explorar mecanismos de soft law criados por iniciativa de bancos centrais, os quais desempenham papel importante para a sua legitimidade e para sua accountability. Este estudo adota uma abordagem jurídica específica: o direito e a análise jurídica como mecanismos de imaginação institucional em uma democracia política. O direito é concebido como instrumento para a estruturação da accountability política e social da gestão monetária por bancos centrais. Esta tese sustenta que os mecanismos de prestação de contas e responsabilização de autoridades monetárias podem sustentar a legitimidade de suas ações no tempo. As principais hipóteses deste estudo são: (i) os mecanismos de hard law parecem não revelar todos os instrumentos de accountability para os bancos centrais estudados; (ii) apesar de esses mecanismos representarem importante componente de sua moldura jurídica, destinada a assegurar sua prestação de contas e sua responsabilização política e social, instrumentos de soft law têm provocado mudanças institucionais significativas (e de forma mais rápida) na legitimidade e na accountability desses bancos centrais; (iii) o contexto institucional nos quais bancos centrais operam é variável relevante para se pensar sobre o desenho de mecanismos jurídicos de accountability; e (iv) com base nas hipóteses (i) a (iii), este estudo entende que a concepção e o papel do direito nesse domínio precisariam ser repensados e reconstruídos e esta tese apresenta algumas propostas nesse intuito. / The central goal of this dissertation is to develop an analysis of three central banks and their institutional design for the exercise of monetary power. The study aims at analyzing hard law mechanisms (established by treaties, constitutions or statutes) for the political and social accountability of three central banks: Brazilian Central Bank (Bacen), European Central Bank (ECB) and Federal Reserve (Fed). The dissertation also intends to explore the soft law mechanisms created by the central banks themselves, which in some institutions play an important role for their legitimacy and accountability. This study provides a specific legal approach: law as an instrument of institutional design in a political democracy. It conceives law as an instrument for the construction of the monetary policys political and social accountability. This dissertation claims that the mechanisms of accountability can sustain the legitimacy of central banks actions. The hypotheses of this study are: (i) the current hard law framework does not reveal all the mechanisms for political and social accountability for the central banks under study; (ii) while hard law mechanisms still represent an important component of the framework designed to build and ensure political and social accountability, soft law mechanisms are causing more and faster institutional changes in central banks accountability and legitimacy; (iii) the institutional context in which central banks operate is a relevant variable in order to conceive the design of accountability mechanisms; and (iv) building on the findings of (i), (ii) and (iii), the conception and the role of law in this domain have to be rethought and rebuilt and the dissertation presents some proposals in that purpose.

[pt] Essa tese e composta por três artigos. Os dois primeiros estudam os efeitos da abundância de recursos naturais através da análise do recente boom de petróleo no Brasil e a distribuição de royalties para os municípios. No primeiro capítulo, estuda-se os efeitos do boom de petróleo sobre a economia local. Mostra-se que os efeitos da produção de petróleo são pequenos, limitando-se ao impacto sobre o setor público. O maior impacto encontrado é sobre o número de funcionários públicos municipais, que aumenta consideravelmente entre 1997 e 2006. São encontrados efeitos modestos sobre a oferta de educação e saúde. O segundo capítulo analisa os efeitos do royalties de petróleo sobre a política local. Os royalties aumentam a probabilidade de reeleição dos prefeitos na primeira eleição que sucede o boom de receitas, mas essa vantagem não persiste nas eleições seguintes. Os resultados são consistentes com um processo de aprendizado por parte dos eleitores, que somente reconduzem os prefeitos ao poder quando têm conhecimento limitado sobre o choque positivo de receitas e interpretam o aumento de funcionários públicos como um sinal de habilidade do prefeito. Contudo, os resultados indicam que a abundância de recursos não acabou com a responsabilização dos prefeitos e que um sistema democrático é crucial para restringir o uso irresponsável desses recursos. O terceiro capítulo investiga um outro tema: a relação entre violência local e desempenho escolar. Explora-se a variação no espaço e no tempo do conflito de drogas no Rio de Janeiro para entender o impacto desses conflitos sobre as escolas municipais. Encontra-se que as áreas que sofreram mais variação de conflitos armados ao longo do tempo têm um desempenho inferior em testes padronizados de matemática. A exposição aos conflitos também é associada a aumento na reprovação e do abandono de alunos do quinto ano do ensino fundamental. Discute-se ainda os canais que podem explicar a piora do desempenho e identifica-se que violência está associada a maior ausência de professores nas escolas. / [en] This thesis is comprised of three articles. The first two chapters study the effects of natural resource abundance on economic development by analyzing Brazil s offshore oil boom and the distribution of royalties to municipalities. In the first chapter, we examine the impact of this oil boom on local economies. We show that oil production has little economic impact on the municipalities, other than in the public sector. By far, the most important effect is on the number of public employees, which increased a great deal from 1997 to 2006. Few improvements were found on health and educational services. The second chapter analyzes oil effects on local politics. We show evidence that oil does not make leaders unaccountable and that a democratic system is crucial to avoid the negative effects of resource abundance. Our results indicate that, although oil windfall creates a large incumbency advantage in the short run, voters reward incumbents by reappointing them to office as long as they are not completely informed of the size of the extraordinary revenue and see increases in public employment as an indication of mayor s ability. In the medium run, as information about the resources increases and a larger public sector does not translate into more public goods and services, citizens oust the incumbent and select new candidates. The third chapter investigates a different subject. We analyze the relationship between neighborhood violence and school achievement, by exploring time and geographical variation in Rio de Janeiro s drug battles. We find that schools close to areas that experience more variation in armed conflicts over time perform worse in standardized math exams, while no significant effect is found on language exams. Violent events are also associated with an increase in grade repetition and dropout for 5th graders. In terms of mobility across schools, we find no significant effects of violence on students transfers and new admissions during the school year. We also discuss the mechanisms that can explain these results and provide evidence that violence is associated with an increase in teacher absenteeism.