In contemporary debates about democratic governance, the concept of accountability is hard to avoid. At least from a European perspective, recent innovations in political and administrative decision-making have multiplied opportunities for citizens to hold to account those who exercise governmental authority. Or so we are told. Whether busy modernizing constitutional structures or realigning public services along market-led lines, our political representatives have proclaimed a new era of open and responsive government. Accountability, in these terms, denotes enhanced processes of public oversight and answerability for decision-making involving political authority. In practice it has seen the emergence of an audit culture in which administrative efficiency and service delivery targets are paramount –.
