Browsing by Subject "accountability"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Account Space: How Accountability Requirements Shape Nonprofit Practice
    (SAGE, 2008-06-01) Benjamin, Lehn M.; School of Philanthropy
    Improving nonprofit accountability is one of the most important issues facing the sector. Improving nonprofit accountability in ways that are attentive to what we might consider unique and valuable about how nonprofits address public problems is the challenge at hand. This article presents a framework for examining the consequences of accountability systems for nonprofit practice. Drawing on empirical findings from three case studies and early sociological work on accounts, the framework considers four questions (i.e., When do organizations give accounts? What is the purpose of the account? When are those accounts accepted or rejected by important stakeholders? And with what consequence?) but makes a distinction between a verification and explanatory accountability process. By making this distinction and clarifying the relationship between these two accountability processes, the proposed framework can be used to identify conflicts between accountability systems and nonprofit practice and to understand how efforts to ensure accountability can spur a change in nonprofit practice, change stakeholder expectations for nonprofits or leave both intact.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Accountability in Public Administration: Consistent Challenges and New Terrain
    (Oxford, 2020) Benjamin, Lehn M.; Raggo, Paloma; Lilly Family School of Philanthropy
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Bearing More Risk for Results: Performance Accountability and Nonprofit Relational Work
    (SAGE, 2008) Benjamin, Lehn M.; School of Philanthropy
    Performance accountability systems require nonprofits to bear more risk for achieving results. Although a growing body of work has examined nonprofit accountability, less attention has been given to the concept of risk. This article points to a potential conflict between performance accountability frameworks and nonprofit work. This conflict can be best understood as a one between managing risk in task-driven relationships, in which relationships are formed simply to achieve desirable results, and managing risk in developmentally driven relationships, in which performing a task is intended not only to achieve desirable results but also to build enduring capacity to take action on common problems.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Thirty Years of Public Management Scholarship: Plenty of “How” Not Enough “Why”
    (Emerald, 2017) Kennedy, Sheila Suess; School of Public and Environmental Affairs
    Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine the overarching lessons to be gleaned from 30 years of public management literature. Design/methodology/approach The methodology was simple: review the professional literature generated during that time period. Findings Despite important contributions to our understanding of everything from bureaucratic motivation, public budgeting processes, the promises and pitfalls of contracting out and identification of the skills needed to be an effective public manager, to the scientific arcana of sustainability and the respective responsibilities of public administrators and elected officials, the profession would benefit greatly from more sustained emphasis upon the history and philosophy of the constitutional choices made by those who framed America’s original approach to governance. Originality/value The lack of a common understanding of America’s legal culture, or even a common vocabulary for exploring our differences poses immense challenges to public administrators, whose effectiveness requires a widely shared, if necessarily superficial, agreement on the purposes of America’s governing institutions and an ability to recognize the bases of government legitimacy. In the past 30 years, however, literature that addresses the important connections between constitutional theory and management practice, between the rule of law and the exercise of public power and discretion, has been all too rare. Let us hope that the next 30 years corrects that deficiency.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Who gives, who gets, and how do we know? The promises and limitations of administrative data for cross-border philanthropy tracking
    (2021) Levine Daniel, Jamie; Feit, Galia; Hazan, Osnat
    Cross-border philanthropy occurs across multiple dimensions simultaneously. Seemingly domestic actors become players in international spheres, shattering the idea of a domestic/international dichotomy with clear lines delineating these spaces. This line blurring obscures monetary flows and highlights questions regarding nonprofit accountability in a transnational context. We present a study tracking money from US INGOs to Israeli NGOs, demonstrating the advantages and challenges to a big data approach and highlighting the importance of local partners.