‘Making Sense of Accountability: Conceptual Perspectives for Northern and Southern Nonprofits’

For the most part, legal accountability is focused on deterrence and punitive measures-that is, on the threat of legal action in cases of failure to meet legal obligations. Although this is an important and necessary form of accountability, it is a highly constrained approach that fails to take account of organizational behavior not enshrined in law. It is also focused on external regulation for ensuring accountability, with little regard for internal and less formalized organizational norms or expectations. The legal framework does, however, provide a point of departure for a broader conceptualization of accountability.