Accountability in Governance Networks: An Assessment of Public, Private, and Nonprofit Emergency Management Practices Following Hurricane Katrina

TLDR

The 2005 Hurricane Katrina disaster exposed widespread failures in public, private, and nonprofit governing networks, revealing breakdowns in democratic, market, and administrative accountability and confusion over trade‑offs during crises. The study seeks the most effective framework for analyzing complex accountability challenges within governing networks. An accountability model is proposed that organizes relationships around democratic, market, and administrative dimensions, reflecting the multiscale, intersector nature of these networks. The essay presents actionable recommendations for emergency management planners, educators, and researchers.

Abstract

What is the most effective framework for analyzing complex accountability challenges within governing networks? Recognizing the multiscale and intersector (public, private, and nonprofit) characteristics of these networks, an accountability model is advanced organized around democratic (elected representatives, citizens, and the legal system), market (owners and consumers), as well as administrative (bureaucratic, professional and collaborative) relationships. This concept draws from 2005 events following Hurricane Katrina. Multiple failures of governing networks to plan for and respond to Katrina include a breakdown in democratic, market, and administrative accountability as well as a pervasive confusion over trade‐offs between accountability types emerging from crises. This essay offers several useful recommendations for emergency management planners as well as for those who teach and research.