ABSTRACT
Accountability is regarded as the hallmark of modern democratic governance and a central concept in public administration. All major schools of thought in American public administration are arguably about accountability. This chapter examines the status of the accountability research and practice. The various accountability promises are discussed and linked to major government reform initiatives. In recent years the rise in the status of accountability within managerial and political cultures is rooted in its asserted benefits. This has been particularly the case over the past quarter century, when new public management (NPM) was widely adopted in the public sector, but the promises of accountability can be traced far earlier in the history. The promiscuity, multifunctionality, polymorphism, and situatedness of accountability make it one of the most elusive concepts in public administration. In addition to efforts such as those using structuration theory to build a general framework, future studies of accountability may construct more middle-range theories to take 'situatedness' of accountability seriously.
