The Public Value of Traditional Accountability Efforts

There is a line of normative literature that explores the increasing demand for government accountability and criticizes legislative responses to this demand by claiming that public administrators are now overregulated and... [ view full abstract ]

There is a line of normative literature that explores the increasing demand for government accountability and criticizes legislative responses to this demand by claiming that public administrators are now overregulated and over-monitored. These scholars argue that accountability initiatives, such as the creation of multiple levels of overlapping oversight, result in administrators becoming inefficient and unable to innovate because they are too busy being micromanaged. This research challenges this critique with the use of a public values lens. A qualitative examination of the practices of organizations in multiple layers of oversight placed on the public health provider in New York City show that significant intergovernmental coordination and cooperation occurs in this context, promoting the public values of accountability and answerability.  Thus, this research offers a new way to consider the legitimacy of oversight by considering the benefits that arise from overlapping oversight jurisdictions.