The Role of Administrative and Political Culture in Civic Engagement

Abstract

This chapter discusses the contrast of experimental data about accountability with well-known published information on the theories of public management and administrative reforms. Accountability is regarded as the obligation to explain and justify how one discharges responsibilities. These obligations may be political, constitutional, hierarchical, and contractual. There is a general sense of tension attached to the introduction of New Public Management (NPM) reforms. The tension exists between the devolution of power for the elected and government officials on the local level and a necessity for central political control. The ultimate purpose of various systems, i.e., Participatory Planning (PP), Participatory Budgeting (PB), Right to Information (RTI), and Citizen’s Charter (CC), to promote accountability is to prevent the potential abuse of power. This chapter discusses the complex context of local rural administration of Bangladesh in terms of application of Social Accountability Mechanisms (SAM) and NPM.