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Throughout the nineteenth century and much of the twentieth, remedies for federal government misconduct were often predicated on rights to sue conferred by such common law forms as trespass, assumpsit, and ejectment. But Erie, the law-equity merger, and other factors pushed those common law forms to the side. In 1946, Congress adopted the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), imposing vicarious liability on the federal government for many of the torts of its officers and employees. Then, in the 1970s, the Supreme Court recognized federal common law rights to sue federal officers for certain constitutional torts under the Bivens doctrine. Yet these expanded remedies, available in theory, often fail in practice. For example, in Hernández v. Mesa (2020) the Court refused to recognize a right to sue under the Bivens doctrine while, at the same time, assuming that the FTCA barred the victim’s family from pursuing tort-based redress at common law for a cross-border shooting. Egbert v. Boule (2022) confirms that the Bivens doctrine, lacking a textual foundation, has no growing power. Invoking the history of nineteenth-century tort-based redress and channeling the textualism of Egbert v. Boule, this Article argues that current law, correctly interpreted, permits victims to pursue a wide range of tort claims against the federal government and its employees at common law. The Article first shows the many ways common law modes of redress can contribute to a remedial system for government wrongdoing that is now crowded with statutes and constitutional remedies. Turning to the text of the FTCA, the Article demonstrates that Congress preserved the right of individuals to sue in tort, either by naming the government in claims within its vicarious liability or by naming the responsible officer for tort-based wrongs to which the FTCA does not extend. A concluding section sketches the many ways tort litigation, brought against the official at common law, can supplement the current system of government accountability as the sun sets on the Bivens doctrine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Freedom of Information Acts (FOIA) have been adopted in many countries to promote state transparency, engage citizens in public affairs, and fo ster public accountability. However, FOIA impflementation has not been without criticism, specifically for the information request system and the administrative burdens it can create for local governments. Based on the theoretical premises of both citizen participation and public transparency, this article focuses on supply and demand variables that could predict the use of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to municipalities in Chile. The results show that municipal income, social and political participation, poverty rate and, to some extent, local compliance with information disclosure can predict the number of FOI requests to a municipality. These findings provide new evidence on FOI request usage, providing public policy recommendations to improve FOIA implementation in local governments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the COVID-19 crisis, the European Parliament (EP) had an opportunity to shape Europe's economic recovery and strengthen its institutional prerogatives through the establishment of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). Despite influencing policies and securing soft account-holding powers, the EP failed to assert itself as a budgetary authority in the RRF implementation process. Budgetary authority is a fundamental element in democratic governance as it allows elected representatives to supervise the allocation of public funds and enforce accountability for government spending choices. This article explains the EP's failure to maximise its budgetary powers and argues that the urgency of the crisis and the strategic use of norm-based arguments inadvertently undermined its bargaining position. The EP's entrapment in its own rhetorical action is proposed as the main explanation for this outcome. The EP had long emphasised key aspects of the RRF, such as financing through common European debt issuance. As even the most hesitant member states eventually agreed on many of these issues, the EP could not obstruct or delay negotiations without being publicly exposed for inconsistencies between its past rhetoric and present actions. Consequently, it risked being shamed for prioritising its institutional ego over the common European interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Environmental & Social Management Journal / Revista de Gestão Social e Ambiental is the property of Environmental & Social Management 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.)

Among the general public as well as in the scientific literature, administrative work is widely associated with heavy bureaucratic procedures that are disconnected from serving clients. Less is said and written about the importance of administrative work in delivering public service. Drawing on a relational theoretical approach and based on an ethnographic field study in two municipal child welfare units in Denmark (including 38 days of observations and 30 interviews), this study shows how administrative work plays three key functions in various accountability relations and that these functions aid street-level bureaucrats in mastering the complexities of their work. The study offers a theoretical framework that delineates the functions of administrative work in complex street-level practice. By demonstrating how administrative work may contribute positively to fulfilling the purposes of street-level work, this study contributes to developing our understanding of administrative work as an invaluable part of street-level work and provides a more nuanced foundation for future studies on the virtues and issues of administrative work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Babylon Center for Humanities Studies is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) 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 Journal of Comparative Politics is the property of Journal of Comparative Politics 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.)

Recent research shows that new types of high-skilled administrators, what we in this article label organisational professionals, have amplified their presence in public sector organisations in relation to other types of public sector employees. Our purpose is to analyse how organisational accountability can be seen as a driver behind the expansion of organisational professionals. Intensified political and administrative pressures seem to be driving this process, but there also seems to be internal turfs in which the different parts of the government administration seek to hold each other accountable, a process possibly amplified by professionalising ambitions of the organisational professionals. The article concludes that the bureaucratising effect of accountability demands ought to be highlighted more in critical research of accountability. The study is based on semi-structured interviews and focus groups with public sector professionals in Sweden from different policy sectors and government levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses how managers and officials within public agencies perceive the accountability function of stakeholder bodies. Many agencies have established formal accountability relationships with societal stakeholders by introducing stakeholder bodies, such as client councils and user panels. The academic literature has however debated whether and how stakeholder bodies can reflect a full accountability mechanism. Based on original qualitative interviews with 25 representatives from nine Dutch agencies, this study distinguishes five different perspectives that agency managers and officials have about the accountability function of stakeholder bodies: a control perspective, an institutional perspective, a managerial perspective, learning perspective, and a reputational perspective. Agency managers or officials do not often describe stakeholder bodies as a form of accountability, but their experiences and perceptions include elements of accountability. Rather than strengthening control and scrutiny, stakeholder bodies are perceived as an accountability mechanism that relates to a mixture of agency demands and motives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the study was to find out, analyze and describe the performance of the Regional Government Internal Supervisory Apparatus (APIP) in the Regional Inspectorate of North Sulawesi Province and the determinant factors. The method used in this research is qualitative research method. As for the results of the study, namely the effectiveness of the implementation of supervision is greatly influenced by coordination, planning, and object readiness in providing the necessary documents. Although there are standard work programs and tools, flexibility is still needed to adjust to conditions in the field. Challenges such as data delays are significant obstacles in achieving time efficiency and quality of supervision results. Understanding and carrying out supervisory tasks requires clear SOPs and official assignment letters. Coordination and communication with leaders and regional apparatus is essential to ensure readiness and smoothness of supervision. The main challenge arises from the lack of response and delays of regional apparatus in following up on inspections, which results in delayed and unplanned assignments. The implementation of supervisory tasks and functions is very important for coordination in the implementation of supervisory tasks to ensure consistency and uniformity in order to strengthen collaboration between the regional inspectorate and regional apparatus so that the inspectorate can synergize with related agencies and strengthen supervision. Education and Training of the existing Government Internal Supervisory Apparatus is felt to be lacking and limited due to the lack of budget allocations to participate in education or skills training. In fact, training and education are important to improve the quality of supervision and good government accountability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ensuring effective interaction between government authorities and the public is an important element of the democratic process. In today's context, where issues of transparency and accountability of government bodies are becoming increasingly relevant, there is a growing need for new tools to involve citizens in decision-making processes. One such tool is electronic consultations, which enable efficient and direct feedback from the public, reduce costs, and enhance the democratic nature of decision-making. Despite the numerous advantages, such as accessibility, convenience, and time savings, the process of organizing and conducting electronic consultations remains underdeveloped and faces a number of challenges. Therefore, it is important to investigate the effectiveness of electronic consultations as a tool for public participation, identify key issues related to their implementation and use, and develop recommendations for improving the processes of electronic consulting in the context of public administration. The aim of the article is to highlight the features, uncover the essence, and identify the specifics of conducting electronic consultations with the public as a form of realization of subjective public rights. In particular, the author focuses on analyzing the role of electronic consultations in ensuring transparency, accountability, and public participation in decision-making processes. The main stages of conducting electronic consultations are described, including: preparing inquiries, selecting appropriate platforms, organizing feedback, and summarizing the results. Positive aspects of electronic consultations, such as accessibility for a wide audience, efficiency, and convenience of participation, are considered. Potential issues such as limited citizen engagement, technical difficulties, and risks of manipulation by participants are highlighted. The article also examines international experience and legislative initiatives that promote the development of electronic consultations. Proposals are made to improve the organization of electronic consultations in Ukraine, including improving platforms, enhancing digital literacy of the population, improving information dissemination, increasing citizen participation in the process, ensuring data protection, and providing feedback, which will allow for the maximum expansion of public involvement in governance processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper estimates the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on risk of corruption in Mexico. To calculate the pandemic's impact on risk of corruption, this study uses monthly administrative data of 378,000 public acquisitions through 64 institutions from the Mexican Federal Government during the 2018–2020 period. These institutions account for approximately 75% of all allocations of public acquisitions made by the Mexican Federal Government. The risk of corruption is measured through the Discrete-Contracts-Value-to-Budget (DCVB) ratio, which represents the ratio of the value of contracts assigned through discretionary non-competitive mechanisms to the total value of contracts per institution. The empirical strategy consists of a difference-in-differences methodology and an event-study design. The analysis is conducted over all institutions as well as by healthcare and non-healthcare institutions. The results show the following: (1) the pandemic increased the DCVB ratio by 17%; (2) the DCVB ratio increased during six months and then it returned to pre-pandemic levels (inverted U-shape form); and (3) surprisingly, the rise in the risk of corruption is mainly driven by non-healthcare institutions. From a policy perspective, Mexico's Government Accountability Office, although counterintuitive, should focus on non-healthcare institutions when conducting audits targeting public acquisitions made during the pandemic, even though much of the political debate remains centered around the risk of corruption in healthcare institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to determine the crime rate in the Municipality of Diplahan, Zamboanga Sibugay in the calendar years 2013-2015 and 2016-2018. Specifically, this study described the index and non-index crimes prior to and during the implementation of the project double barrel and whether significant differences existed on the crime profiles prior to and during the project. It also aimed to identify the experiences encountered by the implementers of the project under CMC 16 2. 2016. Archived data were taken from police blotters and crime statistics given by the PNP Personnel in Diplahan Police Station and employed the qualitative design using in-depth interview to generate and explore the experiences of the PNP Personnel and Barangay Captains before and during the implementation of the project. Thematic analysis was then applied to generate codes and themes that described the experiences of the participant-interviewees. Findings revealed the decrease in index crimes, which include serious offenses like murder, theft, and robbery, suggests an improvement in public safety. The heightened police presence and visibility likely acted as a deterrent to violent and property crimes, contributing to a more secure environment in public areas. There is a need for a multifaceted approach to improving law enforcement's effectiveness and ethical standards in addressing drug-related crimes. Integration of advanced technologies and enhanced coordination among agencies to improve operations and monitoring capabilities and collaboration with external organizations focuses on rehabilitation and prevention, while independent oversight mechanisms and regular reviews are also needed to ensure accountability, transparency, and continuous improvement of policies and drug related operations. Stronger collaboration between police, local governments, NGOs, and health organizations is also necessary to reinforce community-based rehabilitation efforts and preventive measures. Providing mental health support for officers is equally important, as it improves their well-being, reduces burnout, and fosters ethical decision-making under high-pressure situations. Comprehensive training for officers is vital to prepare them for the complexities of the drug campaign, improving operational effectiveness and promoting accountability within the force. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study understands workplace learning as a social phenomenon and explores ways of how to successfully respond to industrial transformation out of a role-related perspective. The focus is on interactions of social actors in the process of structural change and economic adaptation. The goal of this inductive case study is to explore how 26 actors involved in workplace learning of one of the largest Swiss retailers, perceive, negotiate, and enact their social (and professional) roles vis a vis their company's and industry's new expectations. The narrations revealed several role-related themes in research about teaching and learning in VET. The study applies the process of role negotiation to a VET context by focusing attention on various aspects that emerged from the narratives as well as from theories of different academic fields and argues that role negotiation in the context of workplace learning might be in large parts moderated and supported by a company's learning culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ambiguous policy-concepts 'effectivity' and 'needs' were introduced to Finnish VET. This research utilises cultural historical activity theory to analyse how different conflicting motives emerge within student counselling and to discuss the prospective development of VET. Managerialist approaches to accountability and competency-based training form a tension between the needs of persons in counselling on the one hand and effectiveness of counselling in relation to economy on the other. We ask, what types of needs are met within VET and from whose perspective is VET effective? Data include ethnographic observations of counselling sessions (N = 32) and semi-structured interviews (N = 12). The results show the emphasised instrumental value of an individual in society. Measurement of atomistic and individualist achievements and institutional effectivity (accountability) have become important whilst actual needs and relational meaning for persons involved in counselling were obscured, viz. 'the grey zone.' Student counselling was skewed to focus on individualised goals and fragmented tasks whilst acknowledgement of human uniqueness and recognition of counselees/students as persons is needed. None of the latter provides measured accountability or direct and tangible competency and thus they become ignored. We call for democratic discussions about the meaning of VET, including persons of its primary concern: practitioners and students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Implementing a results‐oriented management system has been a long‐term goal and a challenge for federal public sector organizations in Canada. This article highlights the efforts by the Government of Canada to improve performance measurement, evaluation, and audit (PMEA) functions over time. The article traces administrative reforms since 2000, highlighting the shift from inputs and outputs towards a results‐focused environment aimed at achieving outcomes. However, even after many reforms and goodwill, there remain gaps among the senior policymakers regarding the meaning of "results for Canadians." The article points out that siloed approaches by function have led to isolated practices and inefficiencies in data sharing and reporting for effectively supporting decision‐making. Although individual functions have improved, implementing a comprehensive results‐focused management architecture continues to pose a significant challenge. The article proposes steps to enhance the effectiveness of PMEA functions, emphasizing the need to integrate functions to enhance public services, decision‐making, and institutional learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Canada has long been a leader in conducting episodic spending reviews to check public spending. However, it has fallen behind many other countries that have taken a more consistent approach relying to a much larger extent on strategic reviews that not only check spending, but also examine the links between spending and policy priorities. To bring greater coherence to review processes, we argue that an embedded system would greatly enhance decision‐makers' ability to make more informed budgetary choices that draw on reliable longitudinal data. There are many ways to organize reviews, and this article provides comparative international experience that could inform discussion on the rationale and benefits of an embedded review system that could be led by the Treasury Board Secretariat. We suggest that there may be a pathway to such implementation that must take into certain preconditions for success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A well‐functioning policy process requires a responsible public service that supports the government and implements its decisions, and a representative legislature that holds the executive to account for policy decisions and actions. Reform of either the public sector or Parliament alone is insufficient to ensure that the relationship between the two bodies works to the benefit of Canadians as intended. This article explores that relationship using committees as a focal point given their centrality to the operation of the policy system. It begins with a discussion of the role of the two bodies in the policy process and criteria for assessing any potential reforms, followed by a brief discussion of recent attempts at reform and their positive and negative lessons. We conclude by identifying three key reform options for the public sector and parliament to improve their interaction in this vital, yet often overlooked, part of the policy process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Canadian public service has adapted to many forces of change in recent years. What has not changed is the core structural software of how it is constructed and organized. Two dimensions of structural change are available to the next government, and they could choose to pursue both. One is the domain of "machinery of government" and the other is in the layered hierarchical pyramid of occupations and management. These are areas where change would involve rewiring of core legislation and would face considerable internal resistance. They are also areas where change can bring unintended consequences and generate new issues and tradeoffs. Nevertheless, it won't be possible to get to a public service fit for purpose on its current foundations and scaffolding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conditions facing Canadian governments will be challenging for the remainder of this century. If dangers are managed poorly, Canada will not thrive, and in the worst case the Canadian state will not survive. Adaptability, the capacity to anticipate and manage threats, is a critical quality for state survival in turbulent conditions. Achieving adaptability is always difficult in decentralized polities because of tendencies toward short‐sightedness, confusion, and miscoordination. Moreover, adaptability has declined in Canada in recent decades. This is partly attributable to socio‐economic transformations, and partly due to choices that Canadian leaders have made about dismantling or redesigning government institutions. Four reforms are suggested to restore adaptability in Canada: more investment in long‐term thinking, revival of national leadership summits, closer attention to the health of the Canadian public sphere, and independent review of Canada's public and political services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Canada's federal public servants believe their values and ethics framework are falling short, particularly in ensuring accountability from senior leadership. This article explores the many emerging challenges for ethical leadership in Canada's federal public service and argues for specific reform approaches. We offer key recommendations, including the need to align various systems that help foster ethical leadership, improving the enforcement of accountability mechanisms for senior leadership, and employing data‐driven performance metrics to improve the ethical management of people and services. We conclude by exploring the preconditions for sustained reform and the long‐term measures required to embed ethical accountability across public service institutions. Our analysis emphasizes the essential role of people, starting with senior executives. We assert that policies and codes of conduct alone cannot achieve organizational ethics—only strong, values‐driven and accountable leadership can influence culture and ensure lasting change in people and services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes persistent challenges in Canadian public procurement, examining in particular the federal government's complex, multi‐layered purchasing processes which have contributed to high‐profile failures, such as most recently the ArriveCan app and, over the past century, the majority of major military procurement projects. The primary issues found to contribute to these problems include excessive rule layering, unnecessary strategic purchasing complexities, bureaucratic risk aversion and political interference which together form a "toxic stew" leading to poorly designed processes hampering procurement efficiency and effectiveness. The article highlights three main strategic directions for improvement: streamlining procurement to increase efficiency, rethinking strategic purchasing to simplify decision‐making, and enhancing transparency and accountability for all projects to combat excessive caution and political interference. These proposals aim to address the key structural and political issues that have undermined procurement and help reform this key area of government activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An editorial is presented on the challenges facing the Canadian Public Service and the need for comprehensive reform. Topics discussed include the slow pace of digital adoption, increasing reliance on consultants, and frustrations with administrative burdens, all amidst ongoing calls for policy renewal and a re-examination of public service capacity.

This article explores the growing trend of contracting‐out public services in Canada, highlighting its increasing impact on government activities as governments have expanded outsourcing from traditional goods like office supplies to complex infrastructure management and professional services. Recent cases, including federal government spending on consulting and high‐profile failures of Public Private Partnership (P3) projects, underscore the need for critical reassessment. Two major areas—professional services and large‐scale infrastructure management through P3s—are analyzed to understand the challenges and consequences of contracting out. The discussion highlights issues including inefficiencies, governance challenges, and risks associated with outsourcing, emphasizing the blurred lines and complications often existing between public, private, and non‐profit sectors in service delivery. The article calls for reforms to enhance accountability, transparency, and efficiency, while also reconsidering the role of private and non‐profit actors in public service delivery if sustainable effective outcomes are to be achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the experience with and potential application of artificial intelligence (AI) within the Canadian public service. Assessed are the ways in which AI is being applied to internal administration and operations, the bilingual requirements of Canada's federal government, public service delivery, policy analysis and advising, application adjudication, and monitoring and regulatory compliance. The response to date from the federal government on how to guide the use of AI in the public service is assessed, and options and prospects for the future are offered in conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study investigated the impact of judicial constraints on government powers (JCGP) as a sub-factor of constraints on government powers on the rule of Law (RL) of the World Justice Project Rule of Law Index 2023, focusing on a sample of 142 countries. Using the regression model approach, we first assessed the impact of JCGP on RL based on the most recent cross-section data of 2023. The results indicated a significant positive effect of JCGP on the RL. Moreover, to capture the evolution of this relationship, the analysis was extended across the period from 2013 to 2023, revealing a strengthening impact over time. Additionally, we conducted a comparative analysis between developed and developing countries and the socio-economic conditions that shape the investigated effects differently. The results indicated that developed countries benefit from more robust institutional frameworks while developing countries face challenges that may limit the effectiveness of JCGP in enhancing RL. Policy implications emphasize the need for targeted strategies to strengthen judicial independence and government accountability. The novelty and originality of this study lie in exploring and improving literature concerning the impact of judicial constraints on government powers on the rule of law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the underlying and immediate triggers of Nigeria's EndSARS protest and their interconnectedness. Leveraging Braun and Clark's reflexive thematic analysis of interviews with 11 participants along with the ethnographic approach, the authors constructed a broader theme termed 'EndSARS – An Umbrella'. They identify three primary themes (youth unemployment, endemic public sector corruption/poor police welfare and poverty) as the root causes of the EndSARS protest. In addition, they single out one theme (police – perennial human rights abuse) as the immediate cause. They contend that these prevalent socio-economic challenges, commonly experienced among the participants in their study, intersect and serve as pivotal catalysts for mobilization within the context of the EndSARS protest. These distinctive yet challenging characteristics play a central role in broadening the composition of the protesters, resulting in their quest for government accountability and a better Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accountability is a familiar concept, taken for granted most of the time. This article underscores the need to bring accountability to the centre of empirical analysis in local government studies. A systematic literature review was conducted to revise how accountability as a process or outcome is being explored in Local Government Studies. After a spirited debate in the 90s involving practitioners, accountability has consistently been mentioned and discussed, albeit often on the periphery of the empirical analysis. As local governments are a key dimension for local-level democratic governance worldwide, it is crucial to invigorate research on accountability and bring it to the forefront of our research agenda connected to the digitalisation of society, political distrust, and non-financial drivers of society (humanitarian and environmental agendas). The paper outlines potential paths for a future research agenda on accountability for local governments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although local government has faced huge challenges – even challenges to its existence and its rationale – since Local Government Studies was established, the journal has survived and flourished. From an external perspective, however, the discipline of local government studies seems to remain the Cinderella of political science in the UK. Only a few specialist study centres exist; modules within political science courses are few and far between; the flow of new textbooks has almost entirely halted. This marginal status reflects the status of local government within UK political culture. The UK's political system tacitly conceives of local government through the 'benefit model' – a multi-purpose service deliverer, funded by fee and subsidy. It lacks the dimension, more visible in many other European countries, of local government as an expression of citizenship and democratic choice. In turn, 'local government policy' typically comprises a collation of second-order concerns, hemmed in by central accountability mechanisms. Can the discipline provide the intellectual foundation for a shift in this culture, to complement any jump in status for local government within UK politics? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the field of local government studies there has long been a tendency to conceive and engage with 'the local' in a normative way – focusing on its alleged inherently 'good nature' without interrogating what the local actually is and means. In this reflective provocation, drawing on the case of England, we contend that failure to address this existential question risks pushing local government studies into a cul-de-sac whereby its fails to benefit from the potential of multidisciplinary dialogues, drawing ever tighter boundaries around the field. In response, we shift attention to how we might harness the plurality of the local, suggesting that the real value of the local, both as a concept and practice, lies in its fuzzy and often problematic nature. We argue that embracing, rather than dismissing, this intrinsic character of the local is essential not just to capture its value, but also to open up new avenues in the way we study and conceive it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The records surrounding the assassination of President John F. Kennedy (JFK) have been subject to unique treatment in their management and opening. The John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992 (JFK Records Act) mandated that the records would be opened in full by 2017, unless there was intervention from the sitting president. This study aims to examine the extent to which access to the JFK assassination records has been granted. It evaluates how open the archive is, and the consequences of withholding government records. It examines how the continued non-disclosure of this archive has helped to fuel the controversy and conspiracy theories surrounding Kennedy's death. Design/methodology/approach: This research was approached as traditional historical document analysis, reviewing the JFK assassination records releases from 2017–2018 and the broader landscape of access to information in America. A random sampling of the open and redacted records was used to undertake a statistical analysis on the amount of information that has been withheld. It was supplemented with freedom of information requests intended to reveal further information on the approach taken to redaction. The work was situated within a broader global literature review. Findings: The research identified the limits to access to the JFK assassination records that exist because of the continued postponement and redaction of information by US federal government agencies. It found that the ambiguous language used for exemptions in the US Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and the JFK Records Act has allowed agencies the freedom to interpret and limit access to information if they desired. Furthermore, agencies have had the power to hold and sanitise their own records. The work identifies how these approaches have caused questions, inconsistences, a lack of transparency and accountability in the US government. The lack of centralised processes and related explanations can be seen to fuel further controversies and conspiracies. Originality/value: Using a systematic research methodology, this work presents a careful analysis of the varying processes and their implications for understanding of the events that surrounded Kennedy's assassination. Lessons learnt can be applied to the general management of freedom of information and access to information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses developing and assessing a project schedule quality checklist and related contractual requirements for a refinery expansion project managed by Indonesia's national oil company. Faced with typical challenges in large-scale construction projects, including delays and cost overruns, the project requires an effective scheduling and cost management approach to ensure its successful execution. This paper applies the ten best practices from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) Schedule Assessment Guide to enhance schedule reliability. The project's schedule is benchmarked against these best practices, and a scoring model is developed using a Multi-Attribute Decision-Making (MADM) methodology. The evaluation identifies gaps in the project's current scheduling practices and suggests areas for improvement. The findings highlight the importance of adhering to GAO standards to strengthen schedule quality. The study concludes with actionable recommendations for integrating these best practices into contractual frameworks to enhance project performance and mitigate risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Direct Cash Assistance (BLT) is a social assistance program from the government which aims to provide direct financial assistance to people in need. This research aims to find out and assess the effectiveness of Direct Village Fund Cash Assistance (BLT-DD), analyze the impact of Direct Village Fund Cash Assistance on the community receiving aid and analyze the Government's policy regarding Direct Village Fund Cash Assistance (BLT-DD) in Pulau Tiga Village, Pulau Tiga Barat District, Natuna Regency. This research uses qualitative methods with data collection methods of observation, interviews and documentation. The informants in this research consisted of 12 people. The results of the research show that (1) The Government's policy regarding Direct Village Fund Cash Assistance (BLT-DD) in Pulau Tiga Village, Pulau Tiga Barat District, Natuna Regency is to implement strengthening public outreach and communication, increasing transparency and accountability, optimizing the use of resources, and strengthening monitoring and evaluation. (2) The effectiveness of direct cash assistance from Village Funds in Pulau Tiga Village, Pulau Tiga Barat District, Natuna Regency in 2020 can be measured by several aspects, namely accuracy in timing, accuracy in calculating costs, accuracy in measurements, accuracy in making choices, accuracy in thinking, accuracy in carrying out orders, accuracy in determining goals and accuracy of targets. (3) The impact of direct cash assistance from village funds on aid recipient communities in Pulau Tiga Village, Pulau Tiga Barat District, Natuna Regency refers to the speed of distribution and direct benefits, reducing financial burdens and increasing skills and economic opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper highlights the idea that people who have experienced unfair treatment tend to develop anticipatory injustice (i.e., expectations of unfairness in a new context). Specifically, it argues that citizens who have experienced unfair treatment in education are more likely to have a sense of powerlessness toward their own political abilities (internal political efficacy) and toward the political system (external political efficacy). Using data from the European Social Survey 2018, the paper shows that citizens who have not had a fair chance of achieving their desired educational goals express a weaker sense of political efficacy and that the negative effect of unfair treatment in education on external political efficacy (i.e., attitude toward the system) is more pronounced in countries with more responsive political systems. These findings suggest that previous unfair treatment in education can make citizens more cynical and frustrated about the responsiveness of their government, particularly in countries with higher levels of political responsiveness, where citizens with unfair educational opportunities perceive that they are unfairly disadvantaged and under-resourced (in terms of knowledge, skills, and dispositions) compared to their advantaged counterparts with whom they compete for government attention and responsiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The past decade has witnessed growing challenges to democracies around the world, with rising levels of democratic discontent and political violence. While a growing body of work has begun examining the determinants of satisfaction with democracy in European and American contexts, less is known about the African context. South Africa serves as a particularly fruitful case to study, as it shares many western-style institutions and elections, but has come to be known as a "violent democracy," where citizens regularly engage in political violence to extract concessions and enforce government accountability. This study examines how exposure to protests and riots affects citizen satisfaction with democracy. Using geolocated data from four successive rounds of the Afrobarometer data as well as data from the Armed Conflict Location Event Data. I find that exposure to local violent riots correlates with reduced reports of satisfaction with democracy. I find that these results are robust, even when integrating measures of control against endogeneity into the models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Municipal structure plays a vital role in the politics and administration of cities. Conventional classifications of municipal structures into mayor-council or council-manager systems have limitations, overlooking important subsidiary features. This study investigates seven structural characteristics of U.S. municipalities, constructing a political-administrative index to assess their impact on government creditworthiness. Theoretically, municipal structure affects government management in terms of accountability and efficiency, influencing performance and credit ratings. Empirical analyses, using data from ICMA surveys and Massachusetts' Division of Local Services, show that the administrative or professional municipal structure receives higher credit ratings from Moody's. These findings have significant scholarly and practical implications for understanding municipal structure and government creditworthiness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The British model of harm reduction has been referenced as a pioneering approach to substance use in Europe. While many have described the development of UK drug policy through different governments, few studies have focused on the role that drug user activists played in the UK drug policy reform movement. We examine the different conceptualisations of UK drug user activists in literature, including published academic journals and grey literature (news articles, podcasts, websites and unpublished dissertations). We describe the different conceptualisations of 'the drug user activist' based on chronological periods relevant to drug policy, namely: Pre-Misuse of Drugs Act (1870–1971), Misuse of Drugs Act (1971–1988), Thatcherite and AIDS crisis (1988–1998), New Labour and Internet (1998–2010), and Contemporary (2010 to present). In the 1900s, we see a shift from drug users portrayed as victims coming from privileged backgrounds to middle class people who displayed problematic behaviours. After the passage of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, drug user activists started to organise themselves and deliver education and outreach services. This was further amplified during the AIDS crisis and the Thatcherite era where drug users were involved in developing what later became the model for the public health approach to substance use. Drug user engagement with the government was strengthened during the New Labour government with the formation of the National Treatment Authority. Outside of government, drug users formed alliances which were crucial in ensuring accountability from the government. Upon the abolishment of the NTA, the organisations of drug users weakened. Drug user activists continued their initiatives, albeit on a smaller scale, while trying to rebuild the drug user movement. Further forms of documentation are needed to develop a more holistic historical account of drug user activism in the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the effects of social media and e-governance on public service delivery and citizen engagement in the Philippines. It is based on the idea that digital technology can enhance the efficiency, transparency, and trustworthiness of government, thus using the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2) to identify key factors driving adoption among citizens and government bodies. E-governance decreases the costs, errors, and delay in service delivery among Laguna residents, according to data from a survey. Public participation is enhanced by social media with more satisfaction and trust than other traditional media. Together, these tools improve the responsiveness of public policy and effectiveness to the public. Challenges such as infrastructural limitation, digital resistance, and privacy concerns have however been facing full adoption. Policymakers should remove the above barriers to ensure a totally realized benefit of digital governance for a more transparent, efficient, and participatory government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to examine several main issues, namely the effect of the competence of local government apparatus on the implementation of good governance and the effect of the implementation of good governance on local government performance accountability. what factors affect performance accountability in the Merangin district government, further researchers are interested in analyzing differences in performance accountability of each agency in Merangin Regency based on performance reports that have been reported using the PLS Multi Group Analysis (MGA) method. Quantitative methods were used in this study using questionnaires as primary data and the Merangin Regency Regional Apparatus Organization (OPD) Accountability Performance Evaluation Report as secondary data. The sample obtained in this study was 56 Regional Apparatus Work Units. The following research results provide findings that the competence of government officials has a direct positive effect on Good Corporate Governance, the professionalism of the government internal control apparatus has a direct positive effect on Good Corporate Governance, Good Corporate Governance has a direct positive effect on performance accountability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how accounting can both entrench and challenge an inhumane and costly neoliberal policy—namely, the Australian government's offshore detention of asylum seekers. Drawing on Bruff, Rethinking Marxism 26:113–129 (2014) and Smith, Competition & Change 23:192–217 (2019), we acknowledge that the neoliberalism underpinning immigration policies and the practices related to asylum seekers takes an authoritarian tone. Through the securitisation and militarisation of the border, the Australian state politicises and silences marginalised social groups such as asylum-seekers. Studies have exposed accounting as a technology that upholds neoliberalism by representing policy as objective and factual. Curiously, there has been a wilful intention by successive Australian governments to silence the accounting for offshore detention. We seek to demystify this unaccounting and unaccountability by exploring counter-accounts produced by meso-level organisations that support asylum seekers. We apply a close-reading method in analysing limited governmental accounts and various counter-accounts to demonstrate how counter-accounts give visibility to practices that an authoritarian neoliberal regime has obfuscated. We also reflect on the potential for counter-accounting to foster broader social change by holding the Australian government accountable to moral and ethical standards of care for human life. This paper considers the intersections between accounting and authoritarian neoliberalism and presents counter-accounts as mechanisms that can challenge these neoliberal norms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In February 2023, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released another report acknowledging that we still lack meaningful, validated, widely-accepted measures for evaluating institutional review board (IRB) quality and effectiveness. This challenge is well known to the Consortium to Advance Effective Research Ethics Oversight (), a collaborative group of human research protection (HRP) professionals, researchers, and research ethicists founded in 2018 to do precisely what GAO recommends: examine approaches for measuring IRB effectiveness in protecting human subjects, and implement the approaches as appropriate. Two underlying tenets have been central to AEREO's as approach to thinking about IRB quality and effectiveness: (1) IRBs exist to protect participants and thus the participant perspective should be central to all IRBs do; and (2) because IRBs are tasked with applying subjective ethical and regulatory standards about which people may disagree, their approach and decisions should at least meet the basic standard of reasonableness in terms of accounting for relevant perspectives, considering key factors, and providing defensible justifications. Critical to each of these tenets, IRBs should include diverse perspectives in their deliberations, find ways to meaningfully engage with relevant communities about their views regarding ethical research and appropriate participant protections, and be accountable to the public. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to identify the influence of global governance on the sustainability performance of countries. The methodological approach is quantitative, employing descriptive and inferential statistics with multiple regression analysis for a sample of 127 countries. The independent variable corresponds to the governance measured by the world governance indicators. The dependent variables are measurements of sustainability performance, including the SDG Index Score, the Environmental Performance Index, the Human Development Index, and Gross Domestic Product per capita. The main results indicate that the governance indicators Voice and Accountability and Government Effectiveness positively affect the overall sustainability performance of countries. In environmental sustainability, the influence of the voice and responsibility and regulatory quality indicators was identified, while in the social and economic dimensions a positive influence of governmental effectiveness and regulatory quality was observed. On the other hand, the corruption control variable exerts a negative influence on general and social sustainability. In general, it can be concluded that the institutional quality of a country influences the government's ability to achieve sustainable development goals and targets, in addition to attaining favorable results in the environmental, social, and economic dimensions of sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing research indicates that political stability is a prerequisite for good governance and economic development in Central Asia. All five countries in the region are authoritarian regimes but it is unclear which factors impact on political stability. Using data for the period 2002–2022, this paper examines the variables which make a significant contribution to political stability and finds that the rule of law, personalist rule, a free media, freedom of assembly, political polarization and gross domestic product (GDP) growth, respectively have a positive effect on political stability while government accountability, exclusions by social group and civil society participation have a negative effect. Some of the findings are at odds with other studies on autocratic regimes, illustrating the importance of geo-political context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractChina’s 2008 national regulation on open government information (OGI) triggered a new wave of administrative litigation against governments calling for their release of classified information. Many scholars have debated the effects of OGI regulation and litigation on government accountability. Thus, this study examines 19,076 first instance OGI cases from 2008 to 2018 and proposes a typology of accountbility to explore whether and how information transparency can strengthen authoritarian accountability in China. The data suggests that information transparency boosts the amount of litigation and increases the plaintiffs’ winning rates against the state, which seems to fit the conventional-wisdom However, the interpretation of such patterns needs to incorporate two contingent conditions. First, China’s OGO litigation centers around urbanization-related disputes, such as housing demolition and land acquisition. The data futher reveals that urbanization stimulates OGI litigation but decreases the plaintiffs’ winning rates, and information transparency also has no impacts or even negative association with their winning rates, suggesting that OGI litigation mainly serves as a channel to release public grievances (as pressure-releasing accountbility). Second, our data also shows that plaintiffs’ winning rates are much higher when citing procedural clauses than content clauses in the OGI Regulation, suggesting authoritarian accountability is more procedural than substantive. Our findings offer a nuanced discussion on authoritarian information governance and accountability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]