ABSTRACT
The classical challenge ‘But who will guard the guardians?’ was issued by the Roman Juvenal in a warning to a friend not to marry because women cannot be trusted, and even if sequestered and guarded, who will guard their guardians? (‘Sed quis custodiet ipsos custodes?’) Five centuries earlier, Plato put the question in a political and social context, optimistically suggesting that a city-state can be entrusted to leaders who, because of their strength of character, will need no additional guardians. This optimistic view suggested that institutions might be arranged to provide what we today call ‘accountability and oversight’ in a self-enforcing system.
