Accountability through mutual attunement

How can parliamentary hearings connect the elected and the unelected? Read Andreas Eriksen and Alexander Katsaitis a new article in Public Policy and Administration.

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Abstract 

The increased authority delegated to independent agencies raises questions about the conditions of politically accountable governance, and specifically parliament’s role as a representative institution. Focusing on committee hearings as an accountability mechanism, we ask: How can a parliament employ hearings to ensure that the ends pursued by agencies have a democratic foundation? We propose a model of “mutual attunement” where accountability relations presuppose a process of working-out shared understandings of the ends, means and circumstances of policy needs. We test our argument through a case study assessing the interaction between the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic & Monetary Affairs and the European Securities and Markets Authority. Theoretically, we contribute to discussions on agency accountability and European governance, while providing a novel conceptual model and the first analysis of its kind.

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Andreas Eriksen and Alexander Katsaitis
Accountability through mutual attunement: How can parliamentary hearings connect the elected and the unelected?

In: Public Policy and Administration, 2020
DOI: 10.1177/095207672097760

Published Dec. 21, 2020 8:44 AM - Last modified Jan. 31, 2022 1:39 AM