Introduction

This chapter explores the changing nature of public accountability in the welfare state since 1979. The particular emphasis is on the position of the Labour Party in opposition as the radical agenda of public sector reforms progressed through the four terms of Conservative governments to its current position following its election victory in May 1997. Although this is a complex journey, the key theme of this chapter will be to identify and explain the shift from the traditional forms of public accountability associated with the social democratic period of post-war consensus on the welfare state to the more diverse mechanisms associated primarily with the new accountability of neo-liberalism and its associated managerialism. It would be rash, however, to claim that these changes have been wholly accepted and incorporated into New Labour thinking. However, there is much to suggest that the changes being made and proposed so far by the government indicate an attempt to absorb managerialism within a model of public accountability that has been revived principally through the ‘democratic renewal’ agenda with its emphasis on institutional reform, greater decentralisation and a focus on citizenship and participation. Whether this is convergence or the multiple realities of a post-modern public administration (a third way?) is a major area for debate (Fox and Miller, 1995). The chapter begins by defining key terms relevant to the subsequent discussion.

Defining accountability

The idea of accountability is an inherently ambiguous one. It is a complex phenomenon with a number of dimensions. There are innumerable classifications of accountability in the literature and each author tends to give a slightly different twist to apparently the same term. However, the view of John Stewart that the prime accountability in the public sector is “public accountability” since “the exercise of [public] power can only be justified by public accountability” (Stewart, 1995a, p 289) is accepted here. The legitimacy of public choice rests on consent and consent is tested and confirmed through public accountability (Ranson and Stewart, 1994). Stewart also stresses that there are two differing elements in public accountability, both of which are required if it is to be fully developed:

• • those who control public institutions should give an account to the public of their exercise of power so as to ensure discourse within the polity;