Over the past two decades public accountability has become not only an icon in political, managerial, and administrative discourse but also the object of much scholarly analysis across a broad range of social and administrative sciences.This handbook provides a state of the art overview of recent scholarship on public accountability. It collects, consolidates, and integrates an upsurge of inquiry currently scattered across many disciplines and subdisciplines. It provides a one-stop-shop on the subject, not only for academics who study accountability, but also for practitioners who are designing, adjusting, or struggling with mechanisms for accountable governance.Drawing on the best scholars in the field from around the world, The Oxford Handbook of Public Accountability showcases conceptual and normative as well as the empirical approaches in public accountability studies. In addition to giving an overview of scholarly research in a variety of disciplines, it takes stock of a wide range of accountability mechanisms and practices across the public, private and non-profit sectors, making this volume a must-have for both practitioners andscholars, both established and new to the field.

1 Mark Bovens, Thomas Schillemans & Robert E. Goodin: Public Accountability; A. Analytical Perspectives; 2 Melvin J. Dubnick: Accountability as a Cultural Keyword; 3 Mark E. Warren: Accountability and Democracy; 4 Jane Mansbridge: A Contingency Theory of Accountability; 5 Shefali V. Patil, Ferdinand Vieider & Philip E. Tetlock: Process versus Outcome Accountability; 6 Sean Gailmard: Accountability and Principal-Agent Theory; 7 Johan P. Olsen: Accountability and Ambiguity; B. Studying Accountability; 8 Christopher Koch & Jens Wustemann: Experimental Analysis; 9 Gijs Jan Brandsma: Quantitative Analysis; 10 Kaifeng Yang: Qualitative Analysis; 11 Jane Davison: Visual Accountability; C. Accountable Governance; 12 Carol Harlow: Accountability and Constitutional Law; 13 B. Guy Peters: Accountability in Public Administration; 14 John Uhr: Accountable Civil Servants; 15 Erik Hans Klijn & Joop F.M. Koppenjan: Accountable Networks; 16 Bodil Damgaard & Jenny M. Lewis: Accountability and Citizen Participation; 17 Yannis Papadopoulos: Accountability and Multi-Level Governance; 18 Michael Goodhart: Accountable International Relations; D. Organizational Accountability; 19 Barbara S. Romzek: Accountable Public Services; 20 Per Laegreid: Accountability and New Public Management; 21 Steven Rathgeb Smith: Accountability and the Non Profit Sector; 22 Sheldon Leader: Accountable Corporate Governance; 23 Jonathan Koppell: Accountable Global Governance Organizations; E. Accountability mechanisms; 24 Mark N. Franklin, Stuart Soroka & Christopher Wlezien: Elections; 25 Mark D. Jarvis: Hierarchy; 26 Christie Hayne & Steven E. Salterio: Accounting and Auditing; 27 Steven Van de Walle & Floor Cornelissen: Performance Reporting; 28 Robert D. Behn: PerformanceStat; 29 Colin Scott: Independent Regulators; 30 Paul L. Posner & Asif Shahan: Audit Institutions; 31 Albert Meijer: Transparency; 32 Pippa Norris: Watchdog Journalism; F. Debating Accountability; 33 Richard Mulgan: Accountability Deficits; 34 Arie Halachmi: Accountability Overloads; 35 Jerry L. Mashaw: Accountability and Time; 36 Sanneke Kuipers & Paul 't Hart: Accountability and Crises; 37 Christopher Hood: Accountability and Blame Avoidance; 38 Dorothea Greiling: Accountability and Trust; 39 Mark H. Moore: Accountability, Legitimacy, and the Court of Public Opinion; G. Reflections on the future of Accountability Studies; 40 Melvin J. Dubnick: The Ontological Challenge; 41 Frank Vibert: The Need for a Systemic Approach; 42 Matthew Flinders: The Future and Relevance of Accountability Studies; 43 Mark Bovens & Thomas Schillemans: Meaningful Accountability