ACCOUNTABLE DEMOCRACY

Transcription

1 ACCOUNTABLE DEMOCRACY Guillem Compte

2 CONTENTS ١. What is accountable democracy? ٢. Why accountable democracy? (Background) ٣. How does it work? ٤. Conclusion ٥. Why accountable democracy? (Benefits) ٦. Next steps: a trial

3 WHAT IS ACCOUNTABLE DEMOCRACY? Accountable democracy is an innovative, systemic, citizen-driven proposal for improving political accountability in parliamentary democracy Accountable democracy is NOT: Partisan A policy A citizen consultation method An alternative to elections

4 WHY ACCOUNTABLE DEMOCRACY? (Background) Citizens are discontent with the performance of democracy (not its principles) Citizens mistrust politicians and their political parties Citizens are disengaging from conventional political action Political parties are more interested in power than representation or accountability Existing (new and old) accountability mechanisms are not effective

5 HOW DOES IT WORK?

6 What is Political Accountability? Accountability: An unequal relationship between accounting and accountable parties, in which The accountable party is obliged to give an account of something to the accounting party The accounting party exercises oversight over the accountable party (or the accountable party is obliged to receive oversight) Political accountability is that owed by elected politicians to the public for advancing the best interests of the public

7 Political Accountability Types and Mechanisms Political representativeness (or ex ante accountability) Political credibility (or prospective accountability) Political competence (or retrospective accountability) Accountability mechanism: a procedure which enforces theorized accountability obligations For example, an election enforces the obligation of candidates to submit their access to or continuity in office to the popular vote.

8 Criteria for Effective Accountability vs. Existing Accountability Mechanisms (١) Is the accountable party defined? (٢) Is the accounting party defined? Is there a 3rd party who does the accounting on behalf of the accounting party? (٣) Is the process of rendering account defined? (٤) Is there a formal judgment after the accounting process? (٥) Is the judgment made according to predetermined performance standards? (٦) Does the judgment entail consequences? What is the quality of enforcement? Accountability Mechanisms Representativeness (ex ante) Credibility (prospective) Competence (retrospective) Formal Elections Referendums (rare) None Elections Recall (very rare) Semi-formal Politician-sponsored participatory methods None None Informal Civil society activism Media reports Civil society activism? Media reports? Civil society activism Media reports

9 Innovative Accountability Strategies A) Citizen-driven performance measurement B) Social accountability C) Good governance organizations D) Contractual democracy E) Citizens jury

10 Principles Derived from Innovative Accountability Strategies (١) Institutionalized within the state (٢) Focussed on elections (٣) Citizen-driven (٤) Political (٥) Scalable and portable (٦) Articulates a connection between ex ante and ex post (i.e. prospective and retrospective) accountabilities (٧) Advances the public interest (٨) Quantitative (٩) Uses electoral contracts to monitor electoral pledges (١٠) Uses societal outcomes to measure political performance

11 Accountable Democracy: Concept Citizens constitute the 4th power of government This power is realized through a new institution, the accountancy, which represents the political accountability interests of citizens in the state The accountancy integrates citizen-driven processes for ensuring political representativeness, credibility, and competence

12 Government pledge accounts Opposition pledge accounts Accountability juries Final verdicts plus documentation on accountancy's web page Election Electoral contract: t 0 t 0 +3 months N N+2 Political Credibility Process Electoral campaign starts Election

13 Societal input SWI juries Bureaucracy SWIs on accountancy's web page Election Electoral contract: t 0 t 0 +3 months N N+2 Political Competence Process Electoral campaign starts Election

14 Example of Credibility plus Competence Results on the Accountancy's Web Page Pledge fulfilment scale POLICY AREA X time t 0 SWI scales* SWI 1 SWI 2 SWI 3 time t 0 *Collapsed into one here for convenience

15 Credibility & Competence Report Biannual report, posted online and downloadable A final version is also produced shortly before the beginning of the electoral campaign Summarizes the prospective accountability results decided by accountability juries and the retrospective accountability results given by SWIs Descriptive, not a justification (justification is done by the executive, specifically by the head of government at the citizens questioning forum)

16 Citizens Questioning Forum Both a way to render accounts and an incentive for accountability; inspired in parliamentary questioning sessions The Internet and mass media do not allow citizens to question government accounts in real-time Representative sample of the public asks the head of government about pledges, performance, or both Live, prime-time broadcast Twice a year, shortly after the publication of the C&C Report; also just prior to elections

17 Political Credibility plus Competence Processes, Including C&C Report and Q-Forum Government pledge accounts Opposition pledge accounts Bureaucracy Societal wellbeing indicators Accountability juries SWI juries Societal input Final verdicts plus SWIs on web page and for questioning forum Election Electoral contract: t 0 t 0 +3 months N N+2 Biannual credibility & competence report Final credibility & competence report Electoral campaign starts Election

18 Representativeness Regulation The accountancy articulates ex ante accountability standards and monitors their fulfilment in order to prevent the political manipulation of citizen participation Accountable democracy does not a priori specify a process for ex ante regulation The accountancy provides the independent institutional frame required to advance in this effort Just like elections, referendums, deliberative forums, and any other participatory mechanisms are integrated and regulated under one institutional umbrella independent of political good will.

19 The 4 Powers of Government Name (adjective) Judiciary (judicial) Legislature (legislative) Representation mechanism Appointed Elected Indirectly but efficiently elected Executive (executive) Accountancy (accounting) Accountability type Legal Political Political Legal Actor type Judge Politician Politician Judge By lot (ex post) Direct (elections) Domain Political system Policy Policy Political system Goal Oversight of power: legal accountability Accountable to Judiciary Accountancy Executive Judiciary Accountable for Demanding accounts from Accountability mechanism Competence Executive Legislature Accountancy Judiciary Power Power Oversight of power: political accountability Representativeness Credibility Competence Accountancy Legislature Judiciary Representativeness Credibility Competence Accountancy Judiciary Representativeness Executive Legislature Executive Legislature Accountancy Judicial proceedings No-confidence vote Dissolution of parliament Accountability juries SWIs C&C report Questioning forum Ex ante regulation

20 CONCLUSION A) Accountable democracy meets the six criteria for effective accountability B) Accountable democracy meets the ten principles for an effective accountability solution Therefore: C) Accountable democracy is predicted to improve political accountability

21 WHY ACCOUNTABLE DEMOCRACY? (Benefits) Benefits for politicians: To be and to be seen as a leader in the introduction of an innovative solution for improved governance To pursue ideological or programmatic goals related to citizen participation and governmental accountability To ensure a level playing field for politics To leverage one's successes and opponents' failures in political competition Benefits for citizens and politicians: To prevent abuses of power To participate in the oversight of government To evaluate governmental credibility and competence To advance one's own wellbeing and the wellbeing of society

22 NEXT STEPS: A TRIAL To test and refine accountable democracy a trial is necessary Most likely candidate: local democratic jurisdiction, i.e. township with elected mayor Challenge: finding a trial site Advantages: concept is context-free; trial can be adapted to local needs Seeking: First, political and civil society contacts Second, funding sources