Performance for Accountability: The Case of Joint Agreements in a Federal System

Abstract

ABSTRACTCan performance management contribute to strengthening accountability in joint agreements in a federal system? A case study approach is used to analyze implementation of the Australian National Education Agreement as a joint agreement between the commonwealth and state governments. Special attention is directed to the Australian government’s Reform Council as both a completely new aspect of intergovernmental relations and the manifest application of performance management as a key component of joint agreements. The study demonstrates that performance management has limited capacity for strengthening accountability in federal agreements, observing a need to examine new approaches that attempt to accommodate new types of performance systems to more effectively improve joint service delivery arrangements and strengthen accountability mechanisms. Given the prevalence of performance management in Western policy administration, there is value in analyzing how, if it is to remain, performance management can be improved. To identify a path forward, Bouckaert and Halligan’s performance management theoretical framework is employed to provide an additional layer of analysis. The central argument post-analysis is that the effective application of performance measurement and management to promote accountability in federal joint agreements will require approaches based on vertical and horizontal cooperation between levels of government.