Accountability Systems Research Articles

Why health systems cannot fix problems caused by food systems: a call to integrate accountability for obesity into food systems policy.

Overweight and obesity now impact one-third of the entire adult population globally, and play a role in the development of 3 of the 4 more common causes of death. Accountability systems for obesity prevention centring on food environment policies and health system strengthening have been vital for raising awareness to the lack of progress in prevention. However, health systems have struggled to prevent and treat obesity - in part because critical food systems reforms largely lay outside the mandate of health sectors and with government agencies for agriculture, industry, infrastructure, trade and investment, and finance. In this commentary we highlight aspects of food systems that are driving poor diets and obesity, and demonstrate a powerful but largely overlooked opportunity for accountability mechanisms for obesity that better address food systems as a main driver. We draw on lessons generated in the Pacific Islands Region where they have demonstrated remarkable commitment to obesity prevention through food system reforms, and the adoption of accountability systems that bring leaders to account on these. We make recommendations for accountability mechanisms that facilitate greater cooperation of food systems sectors on obesity and NCD prevention.

Accountability System, Academic Autonomy, and Freedom of Academia Versus Pathways to Educational Excellence in Hawassa University, Ethiopia

The study examined integrated effects of implementation of accountability system, institutional autonomy, and academic freedom of academia versus pathways to educational (professional, leadership and pedagogical) excellence in Hawassa University. The study answered the central research question: “What do the effects of implementation of accountability, academic autonomy and freedom of academia versus professional, leadership and pedagogical excellences look-like?” The study employed mixed method with concurrent triangulation design. The researchers selected samples of the study using purposive, convenient, stratified, and simple random sampling techniques. The researchers collected data using questionnaires, unstructured interviews, and document examination and analyzed data using descriptive and inferential statistics and thematic narration using SPSS-26 and NVivo-14, respectively. There were multiple gaps pertaining implementing performance-based and professional-based internal accountability to accomplish institutional visions, missions, and mutual goals. The findings of the study showed that although academic autonomy relates to the independence of academic institutions in decision-making concerning curriculum, teaching methods, research, and academic policies, it shows practical gaps concerning teachers’ and students’ academic freedom. This includes challenges related to quality teaching, research, community services, and expression of views to criticize the weakness of institutional censorship. The study recommends that the practice of accountability strategies, technological, and pedagogical innovation toward striving for educational excellences needed improvements. Managerial, technological, and pedagogical innovation should promote decision-making competencies, professional, leadership, and pedagogical excellence.

Accountability management system of superior elementary school for digital transformation

The purpose of this research is to find out i) the quality of the accountability management system of superior schools, ii) elementary school digital transformation capabilities, and iii) the relationship between the quality of the accountability management system for superior schools and the digital transformation capabilities of elementary schools in Indonesia. The research approach used is quantitative. The research location is in public elementary schools in Malang City. The population of this research is all 195 public elementary schools. The research sample is 22 public elementary schools. The research subjects were school principals, class teachers, and subject teachers totaling 51 people. Data collection is done by using a questionnaire. Elementary schools with superior school accountability management systems have the ability to drive their digital transformation capabilities. Excellent school accountability management systems and school digital transformation capabilities guarantee equal access to education for all students. Implications for improving teaching and learning are also discussed in this paper. The variables studied can be used to determine the priority scale for planning, implementing and evaluating superior school accountability management systems in digital transformation, in increasing teacher competency.

Confucian cultural heritage, political ideology, and variable government performance in contemporary China

ABSTRACT This study explores the factors that affect Chinese political identity. Although the Chinese government claims that maintaining the traditional Confucian political heritage represented by the Great Harmony Society (大同社会) and common prosperity is its main source of political legitimacy, this study found that for the majority of Chinese people, their support for the Chinese government is not based on the government’s Confucian political heritage, but rather on the government’s National Accountability system and national-oriented ideology, For individuals, supporting the state is an unconditional moral requirement, even if the state’s performance is not good, so Chinese people have higher political satisfaction. This ideology encourages the state to restrain freedom of the people in the form of omnipotence, and is also responsible for meeting all the needs of the people. This study suggests that China’s thousands of years of centralized political tradition and the inertia of large government have made the people more accustomed to an omnipotent government. The governance of the Chinese government is also a model of external Confucianism and internal law(外儒内法), with Confucian political heritage as the surface propaganda, but the internal system is centralized.

The Research Advance in Ethical Issues of AI Application

The topic of AI has become more and more discussed ever since the release of ChatGPT, as its astonishing intelligence has made humans to challenge the boundary. This vagueness then contributes to the emergence of discussions on the ethics of AI. Aiming to clarify the many current academic discussions on the ethics of artificial intelligence and to recognize different ethical perspectives, this study conducts a literature review of the research and discussions among different scholars on ethical issues in the application of artificial intelligence technologies. It is found that the current relevant discussion extends from a micro perspective emphasizing the individual to a macro perspective emphasizing the human race. Research advances on ethical issues in AI applications can be categorized into three levels: personal, social, and global. Among which, the individual level focuses on the ethical issues in algorithmic logic and user data management. The social level focuses on the social employment and public accountability systems. While the global level discusses intellectual property disputes and the social identity of AI robots. Finally, the author gave an evaluation of the gaps and challenges of studying AI ethics and emphasize the importance of addressing ethical issues in AI development and deployment. The paper aims to serve as information for scholars and policymakers, fostering ethical awareness in the AI research community and helping AI technologies to be developed and used responsibly.

Five key actions for redesigning adult skills assessments from learners, employees, and educators

AbstractSummative assessments provide data to evaluate the effectiveness of schools, teachers, and educational policies, contributing to a robust accountability system worldwide. However, educators and scholars argue that summative assessments do not effectively promote ongoing learning, enhance teaching practices, or align with the skills required in the workplace. Furthermore, traditional summative testing approaches lack culturally responsive practices and overlook the diverse needs of adult learners. This article summarizes research conducted through focus groups, interviews, and listening sessions to gain insight into learners’, employees’, and educators’ perceptions of assessment needs in adult education and workforce development in the United States. We conducted six focus groups, four interviews with diverse learners and employees, and two listening sessions with educators and administrators. In-person and online formats were used in Spanish and English. The results indicate that the backgrounds and needs of learners, employees, and educators in this study are diverse, but all agree there is a strong need for open assessment resources for mid- and lower-skilled and culturally diverse learners that provide them with useful information to help them achieve their personal and occupational goals. Educators in this study needed assessment information connected to the standards and curriculum that guide their instruction, and employees and their employers needed tools to identify and train adult learners for in-demand skills within industries and occupations. Assessing adult skills requires addressing these needs by designing tests that focus on learners’ characteristics and goals and are integrated with educators’ and employers’ needs and goals. The research findings suggest that assessments should be personalized to learners, integrated with instruction or job training, and embrace the cultural diversity of the adult learner population better to serve learners, employees, and educators.

Effects of economic growth target on the urban–rural income gap in China: An empirical study based on the urban bias theory

Urban–rural imbalance is a common phenomenon, and its prominent manifestation is the sustained expansion of the urban–rural income gap. For emerging countries, this gap encountered during the development process should be addressed by promoting development, which also puts forward high requirements for economic management. Inspired by political economy theory and the widening urban–rural income gap in China, this study constructs a theoretical framework of “purpose-behavior-performance-structure” based on the urban bias theory, and then quantitatively examines the effect of economic growth target on the urban–rural income gap based on panel data at the provincial level. In addition, we explore the mechanism by which economic growth targets affect the urban–rural income gap with the mediating effect model, and investigate the impact of marketization and spatial structure on the relationship between economic growth targets and urban–rural income gap with the moderating effect model. The results show that the economic growth target significantly contributes to the widening urban–rural income gap in the face of the political promotion incentives and economic growth target accountability system, and this effect exhibits substantial spatiotemporal heterogeneity. In addition, fiscal expenditure, fixed asset investment, and labor mismatch under urban bias are important mechanisms that lead to the widening urban–rural income gap, and the marketization level and spatial structure significantly affect this relationship. We put economic growth management, urban bias, and urban–rural income gap into the “purpose-behavior-performance-structure” theoretical framework, which provides a new explanatory perspective for understanding the urban–rural income gap in emerging economies, and new policy insights for rational economic growth management.

OfSTED from within: Inspectors’ views on challenges and future direction

In England, current punitive and performative inspection practices have intensified public resentment towards the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (OfSTED). In 2024, a new His Majesty's Chief Inspector was appointed, initiating a system-wide review of the inspection framework and practice. In July 2024, the Labour government won the general election, raising hopes of resetting the accountability system. Against this backdrop, this paper presents an insider's view of OfSTED. Eleven former Her Majesty's Inspectors and serving OfSTED inspectors were interviewed. Through the lenses of espoused theories and theories-in-use, this study uncovered inspectors’ shared concerns about an increasingly politicised OfSTED, a narrowed focus on education quality, an increased workload and diminished professional autonomy. Some root causes behind inconsistent inspection judgements and highly standardised inspection reports were explained. While only a few inspectors wanted to abolish one-word judgements at the time of the interviews, all expressed genuine belief in the value of inspection when carefully designed and properly conducted to serve pupils and schools. This paper highlights why scrapping one-word judgements is a welcome change, but more work is needed to rebuild trust, professionalise and depoliticise OfSTED, encourage local ingenuity and lower the stakes of inspections.

The accountability system for operation and investment and audit quality of state-owned enterprises

Based on the accountability system for illegal operation and investment of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), this paper uses A-share listed companies in China from 2013 to 2021 as a research sample to empirically test the impact of operation and investment accountability on the audit quality of firms. The results show that after the implementation of the accountability system, the audit quality of SOEs is significantly improved, and the results hold after a series of robustness checks. Mechanism tests suggest that reducing misconducts of managers, inhibiting earnings management and improving the quality of internal control can explain the effects of operation and investment accountability. Heterogeneity analyses suggest that the positive effect of operation and investment accountability on the audit quality of SOEs is more pronounced for firms in poor business environment, with low level of digital transformation and low degree of mixed-ownership reform. Further tests on economic consequence suggest that operation and investment accountability increase economic value added of state-owned assets by improving the effectiveness of auditing supervision. This paper extends the stream of literature on SOEs' auditing from the perspective of accountability, and provides practical implications on improving the quality of government monitoring measures and promoting the update of governance capacity and governance system.

Female breast cancer survivor narratives on paths to healing after the conclusion of primary treatment: A qualitative study.

Female breast cancer survivors (BCS) experience different paths to healing after the conclusion of primary treatment. This study sought to describe the experiences of female BCS in the months and years after primary treatment by determining how and when healing happens, as well as what healing means to BCS. A qualitative approach was used through thematic analysis of data collected through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews from 17 female BCS. Data analysis identified four major themes: (i) the process of finishing treatment and continuity of care, (ii) support systems for BCS, (iii) self-efficacy and personal accountability, and (iv) the social transition after cancer. Factors that affect the healing of BCS can be conceptualized as external or personal. Participants found that barriers to healing created by external factors were addressed by improved coordination of care and high-involvement transition programs as opposed to conversational support groups. Barriers created by personal factors were mitigated through organically formed support systems and promotion of self-efficacy and resilience. Participants expressed a desire for a shift in mainstream discourse to better reflect their experiences. Each BCS conceptualized survivorship differently, with some seeing a clear end to healing, and others who viewed it as a lifelong process. Understanding the many paths to healing taken by BCS after concluding primary treatment, as well as common barriers to and catalysts for healing, can aid providers in addressing patient needs based on their individual experiences.

Law enforcement bodies in the mechanism of functioning of state power

It is noted that in a modern democratic society, law enforcement agencies play a key role in ensuring legality, law and order, and the safety of citizens. They are an integral part of the mechanism of functioning of state power, acting as a tool for implementing the legal policy of the state and protecting the constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens. A special place in the system of law enforcement agencies is occupied by the police, which is on the front line of interaction between the state and citizens in the sphere of law enforcement. The police, as the central element of the law enforcement system, has a wide range of powers and responsibilities, covering crime prevention, crime investigation, public order and security. The article examines the role of law enforcement agencies, particularly the police, in ensuring legality, law and order, and the safety of citizens in a modern democratic society. Special attention is paid to the analysis of legal, organizational and technological aspects of police activity in the context of growing challenges such as cybercrime, international terrorism and organized crime. The functions of the police as a key element of the law enforcement system, its interaction with other state bodies and society are considered. The author emphasizes the importance of reforming the law enforcement system of Ukraine to meet international standards and growing social needs. It is noted that the functioning of the police in a democratic society should balance between ensuring security and protecting the rights and freedoms of citizens. Particular attention was paid to the need to improve the legal and organizational mechanisms of police work, which ensure their accountability to society and compliance with the principles of the rule of law. The article also raises questions regarding the legal definition of law enforcement agencies and their functional role in the modern state, the problems of normative and legal regulation of their activities. The importance of creating an effective system of police control and accountability in the context of democratic transformations taking place in Ukraine is discussed.

Public Sector Governance and Service Delivery in Foreign Ministries: An Assessment of the Ugandan Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The paper presents findings of a study carried out to examine the effects of public sector governance on service delivery in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs- MoFA, Uganda. The primary objective of the study were to establish how public accountability and transparency mechanisms influence service delivery in Foreign Service. A cross-sectional research design, adopting both qualitative and quantitative approaches of data collection and analysis was used. The findings revealed that public accountability and transparency are positively correlated with service delivery in the Foreign Service. The other finding is that the social and financial accountability systems in MoFA are weak. The paper concludes that there is urgent need to improve effective and sustainable service delivery in the Foreign Service. Accordingly, the paper recommends that MoFA should ensure that every Foreign Service officer is fully accountable for their actions at work; management should be just in all its actions regarding its officers; and MoFA should modernize its communication system. The paper identifies some areas of future investigation.

Refining and expanding accountability policy for English learners to support Lau implementation: A critical policy analysis

ABSTRACT Title I accountability requirements under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) represent the present-day instantiation of Lau, which requires schools to provide a program for English learners (ELs) that supports their meaningful engagement and to provide transparent information about EL program quality. This study uses critical policy analysis to explore whether ESSA accomplishes what it intends. Employing a parallel mixed methods design, we first analyze longitudinal data from two states to examine whether their approaches to assessing EL students’ academic performance and progress support valid claims about EL achievement. Then, we analyze focus group and interview data from educators, advocates, and families in states to understand how they assess the quality of a school’s EL program. Taken together, our findings highlight the need for the incorporation of multiple perspectives into the design of state accountability systems and for the development of robust data systems that facilitate the sharing of accurate and nuanced information related to EL student outcomes and opportunities.

Battle to Survive: The Association Between Accountability and Chinese Local Government Response to COVID-19

ABSTRACT China’s ability to sustain the zero-COVID strategy over three years has garnered global attention, but little is known about the factors contributing to its long-term adherence. Based on the political promotion tournament model, this article theorizes that China’s strict administrative accountability system, which tied local officials’ career prospects to their performance in crucial policy goals, incentivized local governments to sustain COVID-19 policies. Using data from the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker and major official Chinese media outlets, we performed interrupted time series analysis (ITSA) to examine whether the accountability events affected the local government’s COVID-19 responses. Noticeably, our analyses found that from May 4, 2020, to September 30, 2022, when an accountability event happened, officials in the affected (local effects) and unaffected (spillover effects) provinces all increased their containment responses and decreased their economic support responses. This is true even for provinces without new localized outbreaks. The effects of accountability events increased with decreasing geographical distance. These findings remain consistent after several robustness checks. The administrative accountability system is a key institutional factor in implementing China’s zero-COVID strategy, which contributed to the global literature about the pandemic policy process in centralized countries.

Designing accountable IoT systems to overcome IoT storage limitation

IoT devices have been widely used in diverse environments, bringing more and more benefits to people. However, the security issues surrounding these IoT devices raise significant concerns about their level of security. Researchers have proposed many prevention and detection methods for security issues. However, these methods may only partially address the challenges of IoT devices. Accountability can be used as an additional method to enhance security, which is vital in improving security. This article proposes robust accountability methods for IoT devices lacking permanent storage to ensure accountability. We prove that our proposed accountability methods successfully achieve completeness, correctness, and accuracy. To assess their effectiveness, we integrate our accountability methods into a temperature humidity monitor, revealing that the overhead incurred by these methods showcases their practical applicability with a reasonable impact on performance.

School conditions and principal practices promoting instructional data use in high-stakes accountability systems

This study explores how school environments and principal behaviors enhance the use of data within Chile's high-stakes accountability systems. Emphasizing the importance of Data-Driven Decision Making (DDDM) for improving educational outcomes, this mixed-methods research analyzed data employment for accountability, improvement, and instructional purposes. Findings show that schools prioritize data use for enhancing instruction and school improvement over mere compliance with external accountability. Key leadership behaviors, notably instructional leadership, are crucial in promoting effective data utilization. The study identifies both minimal and organizational conditions as critical enablers for data use, although their impact varies with the type of data employed. The results advocate for a balanced approach that considers both quantitative and qualitative factors to optimize data use in educational settings. Future research should delve deeper into specific instructional practices and the factors that influence teacher decision-making to further improve data-driven instruction.

Strategic Planning in the Performance Accountability System of Government Agencies

Strategic Planning in the Performance Accountability System of Government Agencies

The Monkey King who wears a tight band: Executive accountability pressure and corporate investment

This paper examines the effect of the accountability system for illegal operations and investments on subsidiary-level investments in Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Using the accountability system as a policy shock, we find that SOEs reduced the establishment of subsidiaries after the implementation of the accountability system, especially subsidiaries in cross-industry businesses. Furthermore, we find that this disincentive effect is more pronounced (1) when the chairman is close to retirement and (2) when the company has political affiliation. Our findings provide important implications for improving the SOE capital supervision system and promoting the high-quality development of SOEs.

The Notion of Accountability in the Public Sector

Purpose: The purpose of this presentation is to investigate the various views, perceptions and attitudes of people with regards to the notion of accountability within the public sector with the hope of suggesting, recommending and creating knowledge base that can be utilized to enhance best accountability practices in the public sector. Players in the public sector accountability roles should be helped to take an active role in shaping the notion of accountability for public effectiveness and efficiency. The current employment accountability system is top-down and excludes players at the bottom to contribute to the formulation of accountability parameters and standards. The notion stems from the assumption that individuals in organizations are held to a certain standard of excellence, hence responsible for their actions and be answerable for the results of their actions. Implementers at the receiving end just receive parcels of finished products for implementation .This creates platforms for those in management positions to take advantage of their counter parts and abuse them in effecting accountability as a tool for control and appraisal .The current practice has opened up avenues for practice of unprofessional and the unethical practices to prevail in work places .Thus , the presentation came up with mitigatory measures to shift the current perception of accountability to a user-friendly approach that will promote unity among players and ensure quality work and service delivery in work places if adopted Material and Methods: This presentation used the qualitative survey methodology to gather data on, ‘The Notion of Accountability in Public Sector. The interpretivist approach was taken on body in this presentation. This philosophy of qualitative survey was selected for use in this presentation as it is powerful when it comes to individual in-depth interviews or questionnaires to collect analyze and interpret data on what people see, believe hear or think about the notion of accountability in the public sector. The methodology clearly reports on the meaning, perceptions, characteristics and descriptions of phenomena. Actually it was chosen for use due to its open endedness and exploratory nature which are basic fundamentals of depth research. Questionnaires were chosen for their ability to solicit definitive information without allowing chances of data ambiguity. Conversely, the interviews were taken on board in this presentation due to their upper hand in gathering qualitative thick descriptive data hence providing the researcher with the much needed data to warranty research finding generalization. The approach allowed random sampling from the study population leading to data gathering, presentation, analysis and discussions. Findings: The research findings revealed a wide range of scenario coming out of the notion of accountability in the public sector. The major finding emanates from the theory x of the trait theories where those in management view employees as naturally lazy and unwilling to do their jobs or task assignment. As such management and public in general expect employees to account for their performance so that they can be appraised where work outcomes are positive to pre-determined goals and be punished where performance fall short of set expectations and goals. Concerns and perceptions of those at the bottom who happens to account to top management are often neglected and not taken seriously leaving those who are supposed to account feeling worthless and not owning the entire process of accountability. Some of the tasks given to employees to carry out are not feasible but the door for grievance and challenge handling is closed since there is a one way information flow system which is predominantly top-down. The long chain of bureaucracy is a barrier to information communication which should be two way. Those in lower levels of management lack clarity of some specific issues but are compelled to ensure task accomplishment by those in top management who have no time and mandate to receive instruction from people at the bottom lines of the accountability chain. Implications to Theory, Practice and Policy: The presentation recommended best accountability practices where people at the lower level of accountability are offered opportunities to contribute to the construction and formulation of accountability guidelines so that they do not become strangers in implementation of tasks meant for them so as to account. This can be achieved through making reviews on basic assumptions under pinning decision making in areas of accountability within the public sector.

PENGEMBANGAN KOMPETENSI SDM DALAM RANGKA MENINGKATKAN AKUNTABILITAS KINERJA INSTANSI PEMERINTAH DI PROVINSI BALI

Implementation of the Government Agency Performance Accountability System (SAKIP) is important in efforts to strengthen Government Agency Performance Accountability reports or AKIP, in order to realize government administration that is free of corruption, collusion and nepotism (KKN). Accountability for the performance of government agencies is the obligation of every Regional Apparatus to account for the success or failure of implementing programs or activities in order to achieve the organization's mission in a measurable manner, performance targets which will be compiled into a government agency performance report (LKjIP) periodically every year. The implementation of SAKIP is carried out to produce quality performance accountability reports by referring to the Presidential Regulation of the Republic of Indonesia Number 29 of 2014 concerning the Performance Accountability System for Government Agencies and other statutory regulations. The preparation of the LKjIP for regional apparatus is carried out every year by referring to the Regulation of the Minister for Use of State Apparatus and RB Number 53 of 2014 concerning Technical Instructions for the Preparation of Agency Performance Agreements, Performance Reporting and Procedures for Reviewing Government Agency Performance Reports.