A Report from Public Agenda and the Kettering Foundation

HOW AN OVERRELIANCEON ACCOUNTABILITYCOULD UNDERMINE THEPUBLIC’S CONFIDENCEIN SCHOOLS, BUSINESS,GOVERNMENT, AND MORE

 

Public Agenda

, an innovative public-opinion research and public-engagement organization, works to strengthen our democracy’s capacity to tackle tough public policy issues. Nonpartisan and nonprofit, Public Agenda was founded by social scientist and author Daniel Yankelovich and former Secretary of State Cyrus Vance in 1975. More information may be found on

 www.publicagenda.org

.

 Kettering Foundation

, established in 1927 by inventor Charles F. Kettering, is a nonprofit, operating foundation that does not make grants but engages in joint research with others. Kettering’s primary research question is, what does it take to make democracy work as it should? Kettering’s research is conducted from the perspective of citizens and focuses on what people can do collectively to address problems affecting their lives, their communities, and their nation. More infor- mation may be found on

www.kettering.org

.The interpretations and conclusions contained in this publication, unless expressly stated to the contrary, represent the views of the authors and not necessarily those of the Kettering Foundation or Public Agenda, their directors, or their officers.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank David Mathews and Daniel Yankelovich whose insights and extraordinary commitment to engaging typical citizens in solving the country’s problems were the impetus for this research. Dan, along with Public Agenda fellow John Immerwahr, reviewed multiple drafts of the work—their ideas and contributions are fundamental elements of this report. We would also like to thank our Kettering colleagues, John Dedrick and David Holwerk, for their collabo-ration and support. At Public Agenda, Scott Bittle also helped us throughout the project. We are enormously grateful to all of them.

Authors: Jean Johnson, Jonathan Rochkind, and Samantha DuPontEditor: Ilse TebbettsCopy Editor: Lisa Boone-Berry Formatting and Design: Long’s Graphic Design, Inc.

Copyright © 2011 by Kettering Foundation and Public Agenda ISBN: 978-0-923993-38-2

 

FOREWORD:

ACCOUNTABILITY AND DEMOCRACY 3INTRODUCTION 6HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE STUDY 8

SECTION I:

 THE GAP AT A GLANCE 9

SECTION II:

 ACCOUNTABILITY—THE PUBLIC’S DEFINITION 16

SECTION III:

 THREE SCENARIOS TO PROMPT DISCUSSION 27 Closing Persistently Failing Schools: A Failure to Engage the Public 28 The Subprime Mortgage Debacle: A Failure of Stewardship 31 Recommendations for Mammograms: A Failure to Communicate 35METHODOLOGY 38ENDNOTES 39

APPENDIX:

LEADERS’ AND EXPERTS’ VIEWS ON ACCOUNTABILITY 41

CONTENTS