The notion of accountability assumes different meanings and emphasis in different contexts depending on the purpose for which it is used. In essence, accountability has to do with the demand for improved services, operations and products. In the public sector in particular, the spread of democratization has led to growing public demand for improved and better services and standards. This demand led many governments to introduce administrative reforms to bring about the desired changes in the delivery of services to the general public. Education, as a public service, and against the backdrop ofpoor learning outcomes, has over the years been subjected to intensive public scrutiny leading to increased demand for education accountability. The huge expectations imposed on educational establishments have led to a significant change in the nature and scale of education accountability. Equally, the lack of confidence in public schools to meet the educational needs of society is a further justification for the demand for accountability in education. Education accountability, in the final analysis, has as its primary goal, the need to improve learning outcomes. This study is about the development of a conceptual framework to enhance accountability in public schooling. Existing accountability processes and practises fall far too short of making public education accountable. Partly because approaches to accountability are not grounded on fundamental values and principles. Accountability in general and education accountability in particular, must be underpinned by sound values and principles to be effective and developmental. This study takes as its point of departure, the view that education accountability is both necessary and desirable if the growing educational needs of communities, particularly the poor, are to be met. To that effect, the conceptual framework has to afford every learning institution, regardless of its unique characteristics and circumstances, the opportunity to meet its accountability obligations. In this study, the quantitative and qualitative designs were employed to gather information relating to accountability processes and practises in the N orth-West education system and schools in particular. A survey questionnaire (quantitative) was used to compile data regarding the views and perspectives of principals on education accountability. Focus group interviews (qualitative) were conducted with both district officials and teacher unions to solicit their views and perspectives on the processes and practises of accountability in the North-West education department. The sample involved 222 principals from both primary and secondary schools in the province. Nine (9) union representatives drawn from the three major unions in the province participated in the focused group interviews. In addition, 7 district officials, drawn from the four education districts in the province also participated in the focus group interviews. The research, as stipulated above, yielded the following results: • Most of the principals surveyed managed schools that are located in rural and generally poor areas. These demographic challenges imposed serious limitations on the capacity of principals to manage effectively since rural schools are often geographically dispersed and poorly resourced. Consequently, accountability processes and practises must be sensitive to the context within which these schools operate. • Most of the principals sampled have the requisite qualifications and managerial experience suggesting that they are reasonably equipped to do their work. There is also evidence that provision is made for in-service training in management. It could therefore be concluded that if experience and qualifications alone were taken as key determinants in securing effective management, many of the sampled schools would be performing reasonably well. This finding however, is inconsistent with the widespread school level dysfunctionality that characterise the North-West schooling system. Effective accountability would therefore go beyond the principal to find answers to this incongruecy. • Teacher quality and teacher professionalism were identified as key levers of educational quality and school level accountability • There is a clear and direct link between an accountable school and the role of the principal. The characteristic features of an accountable school tended to overlap with the roles and responsibilities of the principals. • The role ofstakeholders in enhancing education accountability was supported by most respondents, suggesting therefore that schools must strive to develop healthy relationships with all stakeholders, both internal and externaL • Collaboration and networking among principals were seen as important in providing principals with opportunities to share ideas and thereby enhance their own capabilities • Accountability was seen by most respondents in a positive light, however, participants maintained that accountability processes and practises were poorly understood and implemented in the North-West education system. • There was general concern that the various parties to the accountability relationship did not understand their respective roles and responsibilities and thus diluting instead ofenhancing accountability. • The views of participants on the importance of performance agreements as a way of enhancing accountability were generally negative. Fear was expressed that these agreements would be abused. This finding is consistent with the finding that accountability practises were poorly understood and implemented. The general conclusion from this study is that education accountability is both necessary and desirable. However, the complex contexts within which education is delivered must be fully appreciated if accountability practices and processes are to be effective. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Education Management))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011

Univ., Diss.--Louvain-la-Neuve, 2005.

Magister Administrationis - MAdmin / Ethiopia is exercising decentralisation of the health system and thus this study assesses lessons learned about the experiences of the decentralization of institutions in heoretical terms. The problem investigated in this study concerns the lack of institutional capacity to effectively provide services, lack of transparency, responsibility and accountability. Decision making is also very remote from the people with regard to resource allocation and public health service delivery. The scope of this study covers the Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s Regional State of Ethiopia and its relationship with the Cheha District in the area of health service decentralization. The objective of this study was to identify fundamental elements of decentralization of health institutions and the impact on the performance of the health system at local government level in the Cheha District in Ethiopia. / South Africa

Magister Legum - LLM / Governing an ethnically diverse country constitutes a major challenge for state power and government in Cameroon. The call for national unity, championed by the regime in power has had to survive strong demands for greater autonomy and threats of secession by groups from within an English-speaking minority. In response to these demands and threats, and in conjunction with reforms to improve democratic governance and service delivery, Cameroon state administration has in the last decade resorted to decentralization as a technique for promoting national unity. The question this paper seeks to answer is whether decentralization is helpful or harmful to Cameroon national unity. This study traces the historical, constitutional and political development of the concepts of national unity and decentralization and critically examines their application in the Cameroonian context. It further tests the consolidation of national unity in Cameroon against a theoretical and empirical framework of decentralization. A one-dimensional view of the findings of this study is not very encouraging to regimes seeking to enhance national unity through the implementation of decentralization. However, the major conclusion of this study holds the position that the political outcome of decentralization on Cameroon national unity is largely a product of the constitutional regulation of both concepts and the manner in which the theoretical dimensions of decentralization are transplanted onto Cameroon political landscape. The paper recommends certain reforms to assist and guide Cameroon as it simultaneously implements decentralization and consolidates national unity. / South Africa

The South African Government’s service delivery initiatives do not guarantee quality of life for all citizens of South Africa. An active challenge faced by researchers and practitioners, who do not have adequate solutions available, is based on the fact that government departments are not able to say what they have achieved; only what they have done. The aim of this study was to develop a conceptual approach or framework for public financial performance management, which will pave the way for operational and line managers in public financial management towards world-class performance with specific reference to effectiveness and service delivery outcomes. The contextualisation of public administration highlights the scientific foundations of public administration and the continuous development of administrative theories and growing administrative thought within the discipline of Public Administration. The development of public administration proves to be dynamic with the emphasis on future trends and emerging concepts of public management and good governance and the need for more efficient and effective service delivery. The state's role has changed from hands-on management and direct delivery of goods and services to the facilitation of an enabling environment, which provides a framework for private sector participation. Successful development programmes hinge on the effective economic policies, good governance and financial performance management of the facilitator. Due to the fragmentation of policy responsibility in society, the traditional mechanisms of governmental control are no longer workable, or even appropriate. Control is giving way to interaction and involvement with critical implications for the operational manager’s ability to manage, but still to be accountable. The future role of government will be based on governance and stewardship, which can create an enabling environment for all its citizens to enjoy a good life. Derived from an analysis of the public administration environment, the magnitude of the challenges and the tasks facing African countries, African governments and other stakeholders, especially the international community, must establish capacity to deal with a dynamic and changing environment. A systematic and holistic approach will be needed for the implementation of policy in order to become more effective and responsive to the needs of society. The role of governance as the ideal platform allows for an interactive relationship between the public financial management system and the budget process to be facilitated by various role players in different relationships. Interaction is based on the concept of getting the basics right and is also aligned with the public financial management system as a series of realistic platforms to accommodate the multiple role players. The result is a financial system that provides the opportunity for financial performance management and effective and optimal budget outcomes. A high-performing public-sector organisation is results-driven with a sound public financial management system, which allows the government to make the best use of all available resources. This type of organisation will meet the quest to efficiently and effectively utilise public resources to meet the needs of the community in an equitable manner. Public financial performance management must be viewed as the next logical evolution of the field of public management. Public financial performance management must be viewed as an essential component of successful management. This is cultural, operational and human resource management change. The transition will require recognition that rationality is the underlying force of performance management. The development of public financial performance management capacity is a means and not an end in itself; it is an integral part of the overall development agenda. Consequently, a capacity development strategy must be based on a broader vision of improved financial performance management and increasing organisational effectiveness leading to good governance. While country ownership is critical, the capacity development efforts have to be tailored to match the existing human resources, institutions, legal system, as well as the administrative and political culture. The drive for capacity development should transcend the mode by which it is to be delivered. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / School of Public Management and Administration (SPMA) / unrestricted

Liberal Statebuilding in post-conflict societies is a very complex, intricate and dynamic task that is often based on liberal assumptions. Critiques argue that local contributions to define democracy and its norms, such as accountability, tend to be limited since local experiences are often perceived by the aid and statebuilding community to predate liberal requirements. Democratic norms are consequently often based on external international legitimacy and intentions rather than on domestic acceptance. In order to explore this further, this thesis critically examines the development of one democratic norm, accountability, in Afghanistan by using field data and applying Sikkink and Finnemore’s Norm Life Cycle to three accountability characteristics. These map out the norm’s legitimacy, its methods and relationship between Afghan citizens and government in order to understand the manifestation of accountability. The objective of the thesis is to assess whether accountability in Afghanistan was developed as intended by liberal statebuilding between 2001 and 2013. Empirical findings show that accountability did not manifest per the liberal democratic definition since the social and political realities that heavily impact norm development were not incorporated in the statebuilding approach. Combining theoretical and conceptual analysis, the research contributes to the Critical Peace Studies and Good Enough Governance literature and concludes that the liberal statebuilding methodology introduced accountability in a de-contextualised way that deprived it from norm contestation and local legitimacy. The thesis argues that this had both positive and negative effects. Accountability was introduced to a context that could benefit from its existence, but its introduction was done in an inconsistent manner that weakened its domestic conceptualisation by ignoring the link between social action and political power. Moreover the international community’s role in promoting accountability in Afghanistan both advanced and hampered the development of the liberal norm. Donors were able to raise accountability’s profile in the democratisation process but did so from an inaccessible and unaccountable political space that further removed Afghan citizens from policymaking and politics. The thesis’ application of a norm development lens to statebuilding provides a more in-depth and nuanced analysis to democratisation and one that, I hope, is original. It uses this alternative methodology to engage both with academic debate, and with policy development and implementation. The suggested approach allows for a better insight into the mergence between liberal concepts and local contexts as it not only confirms the existence of hybridity or mergence, but it also elaborates on its quality and consequences. It further proposes a more emancipatory statebuilding process that moves beyond a top-down vs. bottom-up perspective to a more enfranchised and integrated approach.

The thesis deals with the issue of ethical codes and codes of good governance and their application in selected financial institutions Banks in Slovak Republic, Czech Republic and abroad ( VÚB, Citibank, Komerční Banka and HSBC ). Within the framework of the theoretical background is presented the complexity of the relationship of the ethics and the banking sector in the form of the creation and implementation of Aegean codes and the implementation of the policy of corporate social responsibility. In the practical part is a comparative analysis of the codes of ethics of four selected banks with an evaluation of the questionnaire surveys of their clients which reflect their view of the ethical values of the bank and their compliance with the principle sections of these codes.

For many decades, regionalism was considered a potential solution to the different crises faced by the African continent. So-called old regionalism, as implemented between the 1960s and late 1980s, yielded limited success in addressing the multidimensional challenges on the continent, resulting in a re-evaluation of Africa’s approach to continental cooperation and integration, with a view to continental development. With new trends emerging in international relations following the end of the Cold War, new regionalism was introduced as an innovative way to deal with relations between regional partners. With the launch of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), Africa officially declared its endorsement of new regionalism. This study assesses the potential of NEPAD to deal with the numerous developmental challenges facing Africa. It explores how new regionalism could contribute to the resolution of a range of crises and challenges on the continent. The study focuses on Africa’s past regionalist experience, the role of new regionalism in addressing Africa’s trade and investment dilemma, as well as its role in promoting good governance and peace in Africa. The study concludes that notwithstanding the positive contribution of new regionalism, especially through its multidimensional approach, NEPAD will face tremendous challenges, mostly due to the failure of new regionalism in acknowledging the influence of other operational contexts – international and domestic – on the success of regionalist ventures. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Political Sciences / unrestricted

"Although most African states seek to tackle the problem of corruption through institutoinal responses such as anti-corruption commissions, offices of ombudspersons and anti-corruption laws, it is important that citizens have a legally enforceable right of access to information (ATI) through ATI legislation. The constitutional guarantee of access to information in constitutions of African states cannot effectively be realized without ATI legislations. However, as the existence of these laws in itself will not bring about the desired changes, there is a need to agree and design minimum international standards and guiding principles that will influence the content and operations of the laws. ... The study is divided into five chapters. Chapter one is an introduction, which sets out the background of the study, the focus and objectives of the study, the significance of the study, especially to Uganda, the hypothesis, the methodology of the research and the literature review. Chapter two deals with the conceptualisation of ATI at the international, regional and national levels. It should be noted that this paper conceptualises ATI only in relation to corruption so as to limit the discussion to the subject matter of the research. It also examines the UN, AU, and Commonwealth responses to ATI as tool for openness in government, transparency and accountability and how ATI helps in developing a culture of anti-corruption. Chapter three examines the nature, causes and level of corruption in Uganda and the aspects of ATI that creates a culture of anti-corruption such as open government. Key concepts such as whistle blowing, open governance and the use of technology in information disclosure are discussed. Chapter four is an overview and an evaluation of the contents of [the] ATI Bill in Uganda and a critique of the Bill in relation to the basic principles developed under international law. Chapter five summarizes the study and makes some recommendations that may enhance the value of the proposed ATI in Uganda." -- Introduction. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2001. / Prepared under the supervision of Dr. H. Onoria at the Faculty of Law, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

"Good governance entails accountability, transparency, enhanced public participation in decision making, strengthened public sector and civil society institutions and greater adherence to the rule of law. Corruption results in grave violations of socio-economic rights, condemns people to extreme levels of poverty and often leads to social unrest. Curbing corruption is therefore critical to the achievement of good governance and the rule of law in many countries such as Kenya. Although most legal systems in Africa prohibit corruption, the practice is significantly different, as is exhibited in this disseration. ... Chapter one introduces and sketches the questions that have prompted this study. Chapter two identifies the legal and institutional framework to curb corruption in Kenya. It also investigates the obligations of the state on anti-corruption in Kenya. The study attempts to outline and discuss the different actions that the government of Kenya has taken to contain corrupt practices in the public service and in society generally. Chapter three is an analysis of the impact of corruption on governance in Kenya. It discusses the extent [to] which corruption has permeated in the public service and its effect on public accountability and transparency. The study also assesses the effectiveness of the different anti-corruption measures set up to combat corruption in Kenya as compared to other African countries. Chapter four evaluates the effectiveness of the use of the rule of law to combat corruption in Kenya. It analyses the anti-corruption legal and institutional framework in comparison with other African countries to determine the factors that have lent effectiveness to anti-corruption efforts, as well as countermeasures that have hindered the ability of such efforts. Chapter five proffers the conclusion and recommendations." -- Introduction. / Prepared under the supervision of Dr. Atangcho N. Akonumbo at the Faculte de Sciences Sociales et de Gestion, Universite Catholique d'Afrique Centrale, Yaounde, Cameroon / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2006. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html / Centre for Human Rights / LLM