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The prospect of Bosnia and Herzegovina's accession to the European Union encapsulates a pivotal chapter in the nation's trajectory. As the country navigates the intricate path toward EU membership, it faces a myriad of challenges and opportunities that extend beyond mere geopolitical realignment. This journey involves addressing complex issues such as political stability, governance reforms, rule of law and economic development. The significance of this process lies not only in its potential to reshape Bosnia and Herzegovina's political and economic landscape but also in the broader implications for regional stability and the consolidation of European values in the Western Balkans. In this context, the journey towards EU accession for Bosnia and Herzegovina is a multifaceted endeavour, reflecting both the aspirations and complexities inherent in the pursuit of a European future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The last electoral reform in the Czech Republic opened up space for new quantitative and qualitative analysis. The main objective of this case study is to determine whether the constitutional reform of the mechanism for converting electoral votes into parliamentary seats, which came into effect on 1 June 2021, met the requirements of the ruling of the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic which requires, among other things, the provision of more proportional allocation of parliamentary seats among political entities. For this purpose were quantified and compared the effects of the old (original) and new (current) electoral systems in the two parliamentary elections held in 2017 and 2021. The core quantifier is a group of standardized indices to determine the degree of disproportionality of the election results. Results of the research suggested ambivalent behavior of the new voting mechanism. On the one hand, it strengthens the proportionality of the allocation of redistributed seats in the Chamber of Deputies and tends to increase mandate gains in favor of small parties. On the other hand, this phenomenon occurs only when a number of conditions, universality of which cannot be guaranteed in advance, is met. These conditions are then highly volatile, so in comparison to the older electoral mechanism, the new electoral system lacks the ability to generate lower values of disproportionality. This finding reinforces the controversy about the appropriateness of the configuration of the new electoral system and opens a discussion about the motives of the various actors involved in the process of electoral reform. The limits of the study can be seen primarily in the low number of analyzed parliamentary elections, but this fact does not reduce the relevance of the research conclusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article studies Egyptian and Tunisian transitions by investigating the effect of two factors, namely electoral system choice and the presence of competitive oppositionparties. It suggests that, between 2011 and 2015, the electoral system choice and the presence of competitive political parties contributed to the transition to democracy inTunisia while the same two factors were causes of the failed transition in Egypt. It concludes by arguing that during transitional phases, electoral system choice andpresence of competitive political parties help institutionalization of normal, limited political uncertainty in a polity. Accordingly, these two factors compel cooperation andnegotiation between different political actors, which in turn help democracy survive transitions.

The paper offers a critical literature review of existing explanations for new party success in Central and Eastern Europe after the fall of communism in 1989. The paper presents the strengths and weaknesses of existing approaches, arguing that the historical analysis, the sociological explanation, and the institutional framework can provide sources of changes in party systems, and set constraints to political party leaders, but fail to elucidate variations in individual parties. The paper then continues to reflect on `the agential approach and the party-specific factors such as partisanship and organization, stating that while the partisanship approach is not appropriate for the study of party politics in Central and Eastern Europe due to the region’s short time scope of merely three decades of democratisation so far, the choices and crafting of party leaders as well as the party organization development are crucial to spelling out why some new parties endure, while others are short-lived.

Copyright of Przeglad Sejmowy is the property of Kancelaria Sejmu and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This work provides a first assessment of Ecuador's Electoral Law from a gender perspective in the context of Ecuador's 2020 electoral reform and its application in the general elections held in 2021. We discuss the different components of the electoral system from a gender perspective in order to understand their potential to improve or hinder the descriptive representation of women. We also analyze the importance of the Index of Strength of the Gender Quota (IFCG for its initials in Spanish). Moreover, we further propose an adjustment to this index to better examine the progress of the quota/parity design in the Ecuadorian context. Finally, using the electoral results from 2017 y 2021, we evaluate the change in the percentages of women elected to the National Assembly after the 2020 electoral reform. Results corroborate findings from previous studies on the benefits of a less proportional seat allocation method as well as female header mandate on voting list to improve the presence of women in parlia-mentary bodies. Our results show that the change in the method used for seat allocation from D'Hondt to Webster had detrimental effects on women's presence in parliament. This effect was, however, offset by the increase of the number of women being listed first on the ballot. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between 1910-1917, different antagonistic processes, represented in political-ideological positions, shaped the electoral and political participation systems in Colombia, Mexico and Argentina. This article describes the contexts of the development of electoral systems and of rights and freedoms in these countries, according to two political and ideological positions. In this sense, the tensions of power are presented between a vision of a liberal State, which privileges individual freedoms and rights, and the perspective of the unitary and centralist State, which suppresses any type of expression different from the established order. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Angolan electoral processes, in all their institutional structuring and electoral practice, are designed to sustain the hegemony of the party in power. In this sense, in addition to the mechanisms and practices commonly referred to, I present here some of the characteristics of the Angolan electoral system that objectively reduce the political capacity of the citizens of the large electoral constituencies by means of the double constituency, which in practice has been meant, since the 1992 elections, an electoral bonus for the MPLA and a deficit for the opposition. This effectively undermines citizens' electoral political capacity to change the status quo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Athenaeum: Polskie Studia Politologiczne is the property of Faculty of Political Science & Security Studies Nicolaus Copernicus University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

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Copyright of Revista Internacional de Pensamiento Político is the property of Revista Internacional de Pensamiento Politico - Universidad Pablo de Olavide and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In 2019, Sāmoa's parliament amended the Constitution to redefine the constituencies of Sāmoa. At least some aspects of these amendments are unconstitutional and should be declared void. This article traces the nature of Sāmoa's constituencies over time, from the arrangements made prior to independence to the changes implemented for the 2021 election. It shows how Sāmoa's constituencies originally reflected a hybrid electoral system that combined Indigenous customary institutions with the state institutions of Westminster-style parliamentary government. However, with the 2019 amendments, the definition of constituencies has moved away from membership based on family and village connections to residence in a particular place, diminishing hybridity and centralizing authority in state institutions. The result is a shift, not only in the physical boundaries of constituencies, but in the constitutional understandings of membership and belonging that underpin political citizenship in Sāmoa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electoral system is deeply divided and post-conflict societies have a prominent place in the existing literature studying political and institutional regulation. One of the assumptions is that the electoral system encourages political actors to act and behave more moderately or radically. Proportional representation electoral systems are widespread and are generally considered the most suitable for the representation of social groups, although the success of their outcomes remains disputable. Two types of proportional systems – party lists and single transferable vote – stand mutually opposed from the standpoints of incentives of political actors to political moderation. The party lists system (list-PR) was criticized for encouraging more radical behavior as opposed to the single transferable vote (STV) which instigated more moderate behavior. The outcomes of the named two types of proportional systems will be compared based on the case study of the elections for the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina which were held in 2000, using counterfactual simulation. Contrary to the expected outcomes of the STV, the electoral simulation will show that the list-PR has proven to be a more successful institutional solution in terms of encouraging political moderation. A STV would not significantly lead to an interethnic exchange of preferences, nor the representation of the small moderate parties, contrary to the list-PR that enabled their representation.

A widespread mistrust towards the traditional voting system has made democratic voting in any country very critical. People have seen their fundamental rights being violated. Other digital voting systems have been challenged due to a lack of transparency. Most voting systems are not transparent enough; this makes it very difficult for the government to gain voters’ trust. The reason behind the failure of the traditional and current digital voting system is that it can be easily exploited. The primary objective is to resolve problems of the traditional and digital voting system, which include any kind of mishap or injustice during the process of voting. Blockchain technology can be used in the voting system to have a fair election and reduce injustice. The physical voting systems have many flaws in it as well as the digital voting systems are not perfect enough to be implemented on large scale. This appraises the need for a solution to secure the democratic rights of the people. This article presents a platform based on modern technology blockchain that provides maximum transparency and reliability of the system to build a trustful relationship between voters and election authorities. The proposed platform provides a framework that can be implemented to conduct voting activity digitally through blockchain without involving any physical polling stations. Our proposed framework supports a scalable blockchain, by using flexible consensus algorithms. The Chain Security Algorithm applied in the voting system makes the voting transaction more secure. Smart contracts provide a secure connection between the user and the network while executing a transaction in the chain. The security of the blockchain based voting system has also been discussed. Additionally, encryption of transactions using cryptographic hash and prevention of attack 51% on the blockchain has also been elaborated. Furthermore, the methodology for carrying out blockchain transactions during the process of voting has been elaborated using Blockchain Finally, the performance evaluation of the proposed system shows that the system can be implemented in a large-scale population.

The article is an attempt to assess the effects of the 2018 reform of local electoral law on a medium scale. The main goal is to investigate the consequences of these changes for the model of political rivalry. Through the use of a selection of quantitative methods, the authors verify hypotheses regarding the proportionality of local elections and the mechanical effect of the electoral system. The overall aim is to establish to what extent the new electoral system deforms the voting results when distributing seats among the electoral committees. Apart from the hypotheses, the authors also verify whether Łódź Voivodeship is a suitable case study and representative of national trends.

Copyright of Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai, Historia is the property of Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In Slovenia, political parties have been the key actors in opting for a proportional electoral system and constitutional choice of a parliamentary system, both of which are believed to help to develop a consensual type of democracy. However, a vicious circle involving a fragmented party system and a proportional electoral system has not only led to polarisation within the party system, but has also contributed to problems of democratic governability and legitimacy. The destabilisation of the party system since 2011 has not only caused a crisis of political legitimacy and accountability, but has also contributed to a recent trend of de-democratisation. At the moment, there does not appear to be a realistic alternative to the existing electoral rules in the near future, in spite of recurring calls by an anti-communist party (Slovenian Democratic Party) to introduce a majoritarian system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the dynamics of electoral reforms in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and their influence on the disproportionality of parliamentary representation since the electoral system experienced major changes in 2003. We suggest that some characteristics of the electoral system may be highly instrumental in ensuring and maintaining United Russia's influence in legislative bodies. This makes it possible to classify them as forms of institutional manipulation typical of electoral authoritarianism. Based on the statistical description and regression analysis, the study demonstrates the impact of some elements of electoral reforms on disproportionality during the periods at issue. At the same time, we can identify the methods of cementing the dominant party's hold on power that the authorities find the most effective. In this regard, we make the conclusion that certain elements of the electoral system function as a balanced mechanism, which is evidenced by how they have been used during the different periods. Additionally, the study analyses the impact of disproportionality on electoral behavior, with the hypothesis about its negative influence on the electoral turnout being supported. Yet we regard the lower turnout as a consequence of the voting behavior of both the opposition's supporters and loyalists. Finally, the electoral reforms in Russia seem to have put limits on disproportionality of parliamentary representation due to the issue of legitimacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Political Science Studies / Studia Politologiczne is the property of University of Warsaw and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Political Science Studies / Studia Politologiczne is the property of University of Warsaw and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Ankara University SBF Journal / Ankara Üniversitesi SBF Dergisi is the property of Ankara University SBF Journal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Previous studies had no consensus on whether a 'mandate-divide' exists between district and party-list legislators under the mixed-member system. I argued that previous studies ignored the role of the party. This article aims to explore the legislative consequences of the 2005 electoral reform and the role of parties in Taiwan. I analyzed the roll-call votes, considering abstention and absence as potential defection, along with interviews. The data cover from the fifth to eighth Legislative Yuan, two periods each before and after the electoral reform. The findings show that district legislators tended to defect from the party line than list proportional representation (PR) members in pre- and post-reform periods. However, district legislators only tended to be absent from the voting than list PR members after the electoral reform. Mandate-divide was present throughout the period, but differences were more salient before the reform. Besides, evidence stressing the influence of parties was revealed in the interviews. Party leaders enforce various punishments to enforce party discipline. The role of party became more important after the electoral reform. District legislators have higher absence rate after the electoral reform because they need to engage more in constituency service or avoid expressing their position on controversial issues. The ruling party tends to sanction the absence when they have majority in parliament. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study herein approaches the process of consolidation of the Romanian electoral system from a sociographical perspective - that level and branch of the sociological knowledge consisting in the collection of raw data on objects, phenomena, relations and social processes, in their description as objectively as possible, in their measurement and in the creation of statistics of the social phenomena observed. If the abstract sociology can be elaborated following a rather deductive path, the concrete one is inductive by excellence. Thus, sociography is related to concrete sociology, to which it provides a significant part of the empirical material (Zamfir; Vlăsceanu, 1998, 554-556), as a first step of the sociological knowledge. The analysis of the consolidation of the Romanian electoral system was carried out without taking into consideration a certain theoretical position or a position towards a particular principle, but only based on the objectivity defined by the norms of observation specific to concrete sociology, applied or practical, which analyses the way in which the general logic of society works. The data presented has been collected, over time, from the communications of the public institutions, media etc., being data of recent history, still current and active, rich in content as it has not yet been covered by oblivion and some of the persons involved are still alive. The support of recent history is the recent memory, the living document (still applicable), the oral history completing the written document. As such, the material was elaborated as an acknowledging description of some fragments of the concrete social reality, based on detailed information on the historical, social and political context in which the electoral legislation in Romania was reformed in 2000, without formulating laws and elaborating causal scientific explanations1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Horizons of Politics / Horyzonty Polityki is the property of Jesuit University Ignatianum in Krakow and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Politische Vierteljahresschrift is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

When legislators switch parties between elections this may be viewed as undemocratic since, bypassing voters, they are changing the outcomes of elections. Do electoral institutions affect the likelihood of party switching? I argue that legislators are less likely to switch in candidate-centered electoral systems where, because of personal voting, parties cannot insulate defectors from voter retribution. When they switch though, legislators do so early in the term to exploit voters' short retrospective time horizon. These expectations are tested using a quasi experimental research design that estimates the effect of the 2008 Romanian electoral reform on party switching. In 2008 Romania changed its electoral system from a closed-list PR to a candidate-centered electoral system, where all candidates compete in single-member districts. Both hypotheses are supported by empirics. This helps weed out competing explanations which now have to account for both the decrease in and the different timing of party switching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article studies Egyptian and Tunisian transitions by investigating the effect of two factors, namely electoral system choice and the presence of competitive opposition parties. It suggests that, between 2011 and 2015, the electoral system choice and the presence of competitive political parties contributed to the transition to democracy in Tunisia while the same two factors were causes of the failed transition in Egypt. It concludes by arguing that during transitional phases, electoral system choice and presence of competitive political parties help the institutionalization of normal, limited political uncertainty in a polity. Accordingly, these two factors compel cooperation and negotiation between different political actors, which in turn help democracy survive transitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Romanian Journal of Comparative Law / Revista Romana de Drept Comparat is the property of Universul Juridic Publishing House and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Giovanni Sartori in his famous book Comparative Constitutional Engineering pointed out that the electoral systems are not only the most manipulative instrument of politics but also they influence the shaping of the party system and the determination of representativeness. In that regard, the theory is always emphasizing the influence of the electoral system over the stability of the political system, the consolidation or fragmentation of the party system, the relationships between the elected and the voters, the voters’ turnout, the corruption present in the electoral process, the conflict management process in one divided society, etc. In that perspective, the Macedonian story is a great possibility to analyze the influence of the electoral system over the political system taking into consideration that Macedonian political elites throughout the years often decided to change the rules of the electoral system when electing Macedonian MPs. The first and the second parliamentary elections were held using the Majoritarian electoral system. For the third parliamentary election, Macedonian political elites decided to introduce the parallel electoral system. In 2002, another change happened and the proportional electoral system with a closed list was introduced. Since then, all parliamentary elections have been organized by using this electoral system. In the last couple of years in the wider public, the need for electoral reforms and the introduction of a new electoral system were often raised. Having all this into consideration, the paper will aim to analyze the influence of different electoral systems over the development and functioning of the Macedonian political system, as well as, to analyze what kind of impact newly proposed electoral solutions could produce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article offers a contribution to the analysis of possible electoral reforms in Cuba today, considering the necessary systemic approach to updating the integral model of socialist development, which going beyond the economic sphere, strengthens the broadest popular participation and national political consensus by further democratization of the political system. This objective is materialized through a critical assessment of the reform process that has taken place in the Cuban electoral system and the prospects for change. It is specified that this process is not isolated, but is part of the approach (mentioned above) of the model and must permanently accompany the economic, cultural, social, political and ideological transformations in a way to guarantee the integrality of the processes of revolutionary transformation of Cuban society. The article makes a proposal for possible new electoral reforms in the country, linking it, from the same critical point of view, to the precepts of the Constitution approved by a referendum in February 2019 -which did not offer any innovations in terms of direct elections- and with the key premise of political development defined by this author: the necessary increasingly broad, active, direct, systematic, creative, real, effective, deliberative and binding popular participation of the population in making the most important decisions of the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Zeitschrift für Politik is the property of Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Zeitschrift für Politik is the property of Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

What factors influence the level of representation of women in parliaments? There are several explanatory models in the research literature, but a broad consensus is formed around one. Research shows that there is a strong correlation between the level of women's representation and the type of electoral system. It is noted that the high representation of women in Parliament is associated with the conduct of elections based on the proportional electoral system. The author emphasizes that scientists came to this statement as a result of, first, analyzing data from developed countries, consolidated democracies and, second, conducting cross-country research. The purpose of this article is to verify this provision in Russian conditions. To achieve this goal, the author collected empirical material based on lists of candidates (both Federal and single-mandate districts) of political parties. The research method was regression analysis. As a result of statistical calculations, the author came to the conclusion that the Duma elections under the proportional system do not ensure high representation of women. It is shown that the voting system does not work automatically in terms of determining the proportion of women parliamentarians. Electoral systems are one of the many factors that can affect women's representation in legislative bodies. Other factors are party characteristics such as party ideology.

Ranked choice voting (RCV) is experiencing a surge of interest in the United States, highlighted by its 2018 use for Congressional elections in Maine, the first application of a ranked ballot for national-level elections in American history. A century ago, the same system was introduced in another federal, two-party continental-sized democracy: Australia. RCV’s utility as a solution to inter-party coordination problems helps to explain its appeal in both countries, underscoring the potential benefits of a comparative analytical approach. This article examines this history of adoption and then turns to a comparison of recent RCV elections in Maine with state elections in New South Wales and Queensland, the two Australian states which share the same form of RCV as that used in the United States. This comparison shows how candidate and party endorsements influence voters’ rankings and can, over time, promote reciprocal exchanges between parties and broader systemic support for RCV. Such cross-partisan support helps explain the stability of RCV in Australia, with implications for the system’s prospects in the United States.

Dissatisfaction with two-party politics is at an all-time high in the US. As extreme polarization and minority rule persist, a possibility of an electoral reform becomes increasingly more likely. This editor’s introduction discusses the ranked choice voting (RCV) as an alternative to the current single-member geographic districts with winner-take-all plurality elections in the US. The articles for this thematic issue critically evaluate whether RCV lives up to its promise in improving democracy in the US. Like any rule or institutional change, it has benefits and drawbacks. The empirical and historical research presented here focuses on the implementation and use of RCV in the US compared to other countries. This thematic issue offers new insights into the promise and perils of RCV as a way to aggregate votes in elections that ensure that the winning candidate receives a majority of the votes cast.

In the New Nation case, the Constitutional Court declared the provisions of the Electoral Act that prevent independent candidates from competing in provincial and national elections unconstitutional. It ruled that the impugned provisions violated independent candidates' constitutional rights to stand for public office, to freedom of association and to dignity. In a minority judgment, Froneman J disagreed and held that the Constitution contemplates a right to contest elections as a party-nominee only. The differences between the majority and minority judgments are largely the result of distinct interpretive approaches. The majority conducted an analysis of the right to stand for public office within a restricted textual framework that has the potential to disturb the harmonious inter-relationship between the right and the electoral and parliamentary framework for its realisation. This result flows from the fact that the Constitution still reflects the exclusively party-based electoral and parliamentary systems of its predecessor in several important respects. At best, this situation may result in independents being largely at the mercy of political parties for meaningful execution of their legislative and oversight obligations. At worst, they may be excluded from exercising core parliamentary functions altogether. Therefore, to avoid disturbing the normative coherence between the right to stand for public office, the foundational democratic values, and the electoral and parliamentary arrangements, constitutional amendments appear to be necessary for the implementation of the court's order. In any event, expectations about the contribution to electoral reform of allowing independents to contest elections must be tempered by the low political impact of independent representatives on governance, as well as the ambivalence surrounding the democratic functionality of independent candidacy, when measured against the values of transparency and accountability.