Abstract
This article discusses the consequences of changing views on accountability in democratic decision-making. Trends in Norway indicate that Norwegians are evaluating local democracy increasingly in terms of service performance and output, rather than in terms of political input from citizens. While traditional process evaluation is associated with governmental hierarchies and how voters can make elected representatives accountable for their policies, performance evaluation has connections with the logic of the market. It represents a shift from collective political control to individual consumer satisfaction, and consequently, from public to private accountability. Some highly prized democratic values, such as vertical political accountability, informed discussions of the totality of interests, and traditional democratic will-formation, could be lost on the way.
Highlights
Traditional public administration has the unitary state as its core concern, with integrated policymaking and policy implementation constituting a closed system within government
There is an alleged movement from classical democracy to neoliberal democracy, a movement from public to private accountability whereby the traditional role of the politically active citizen and the inputoriented form of legitimation are gradually being replaced by a situation wherein people are perceived and dealt with by their authorities as clients, users, or customers
We have indicated that public–private network strategies are broadly used by local governments and have argued that the main health and social reforms of today are based on collaborations that challenge vertical political accountability; user service satisfaction is what counts
Summary
Traditional public administration has the unitary state as its core concern, with integrated policymaking and policy implementation constituting a closed system within government. The concept of accountability becomes relevant for both perspectives on democratic legitimization and for all four types of relationships between citizens and the public sector. There is an alleged movement from classical democracy to neoliberal democracy, a movement from public to private accountability whereby the traditional role of the politically active citizen and the inputoriented form of legitimation are gradually being replaced by a situation wherein people are perceived and dealt with by their authorities as clients, users, or customers (i.e., stakeholders and a thin collective identity).
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