Accountability In A ‘Reinvented’ Government

Abstract

Whether ‘reinvented’ government implies worker empowerment, increased managerial discretion, or decentralization, it is widely thought to mean diminished accountability. A two‐dimensional typology (based on clarity of goals and certainty of cause‐effect knowledge) of decision‐making processes and their associated organizational structures is compared to Romzek and Dubnick’s typology of accountability relations. The article argues that accountability mechanisms can be matched to public problems and agency structures and that changes in perceptions concerning the nature of public problems is at the root of contemporary enthusiasm for non‐hierarchical modes of organizing.