Accountability, Transparency

&
Impact on
Public
By
Administration
Md. Shamsul Arefin
A member of Bangladesh Civil
Service
Belongs to 84 Batch (Admin)

A class note for the ACAD Course

Dated : 05-12-2012 at 6.15

pm BPATC, Savar, Dhaka.
 Modern Public Administration
Traditional Public Administration

Governing for the

Inclusiveness of
betterment of Society Civic Society
State
Diverse
High Performance groups,
Oppositional pluralism
Civil Society
Bureaucracy
• Dialectical Exchanges

Public Officials
• Trust

Citizen
Citizen Social issues
Active participation
• Open Corporatism
Democratic Inclusion
• Honest

Governing State • Shared Decision

• Hierarchical relationship • Collaborative Discussion
State & Democracy
• Direct, Command

Citizen
Election
vote
 Accountability
Accountability refers to the obligation on
the part of public officials to report on the
process of public resources & answerability
for failing to meet stated performance
objectives.

❑ Obligation

❑ Answerability

❑ Require to answer with reason

 Accountability
Generator

CInIn
Own answer
Integrity Law & Rules

➢ Ensure O ptimum use of Internal

&
Resource
External Check
➢ End Corruption

Inspection Audit Monitoring & C orrective

Evaluation Measures

Penalt Award /Honor )

O wn
y Clients Satisfaction
Satisfaction
Optimum use of resource
End Corruption
 Transparency

Transparency is about the sharing of information

about government decisions and activities, good
records management and access to information etc.

There is emerging potential for new forms of conflict

of interest involving an individual’s private interests
and public duties.
 Five Factors of Transparency Measure

Ethics Unfettered access by the

public to reliable info info

Accountable

Efficient
Government Servants
Five
Pillars

Timely

Actual
 Transparency
Transparency is introduced as a means of holding public officials
accountable and fighting corruption. When government meetings are open
to the press and the public, when budgets and financial statements may be
reviewed by anyone, when laws, rules and decisions are open to
discussion, they are seen as transparent and there is less opportunity for the
authorities to abuse the system in their own interest.

Transparency is the opposite of privacy; an activity is transparent if all

information about it is open and freely available.
 Transparency & Accountability
in public administration
❑Citizens expect public servants to serve the public interest with fairness and to
manage public resources properly on a daily basis.

❑Fair and reliable public services and predictable decision-making inspire

public trust and create a level playing field for services

❑The transparency and accountability in public administration are a

prerequisite to public trust.

❑Corruption and maladministration in this context could be seen as not only

individual acts but also the results of systemic failure

❑Publicized corruption and administrative failure cases have had a major

negative impact on trust in public.
 Public Trust
Create more institutions to reduce corruption . increasing citizen
access to information about government programs, activities and
performance and informing citizens of their rights and responsibilities

An important component of this function is involving more and better

training the press to report on integrity and accountability of public
sector entities.

Gaining and keeping public trust must be approached holistically, as

the threads of integrity, transparency and accountability together
uphold all public trust.

Integrity refers to “honesty” or “trustworthiness” in the discharge of

official duties, serving as an antithesis to “corruption” or “the
abuse of office.”
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 Corruption

“Corruption hurts the poor disproportionately – by diverting

funds intended for development, undermining a government’s
ability to provide basic services, feeding inequality and injustice,
and discouraging foreign investment and aid”

Bid collusion, inflated invoices, kickbacks to influence

award of contracts, theft or misuse of project assets,
abuse of official discretion, disclosure of privileged
information to assist friends/ relatives, falsification of
accounts, audit anomalies etc.

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 Transparency in Public Works

In the context of transparency mechanisms,

Construction is the most corrupt sector, according to
TI’s 2010 Bribe Payers Index. The size of the sector is
globally US $3.2 trillion per annum.

Construction infrastructure accounts for a high

percentage of government investment budgets in all
countries. Therefore, tackling construction can have a
high overall impact on corruption.
 Corruption in Public Works
Corruption in construction raises cost and lowers quality of infrastructure. It
leads to bad investments, damages the environment, leads to deaths
(through ignoring building codes), undermines economic and sustainable
development

Risks for corruption in construction exist throughout design, planning,

preparation, contracting and implementation. Risks include bribery,
collusion, deception and abuse of unexposed conflicts of interest.

To curb financial, environmental and human damage from corruption in

construction, government must assure transparency of preparation,
procurement and execution process and enforce all relevant laws.

Civil society and the media should monitor public construction projects.
 Impact of Corruption
Unethical practices, bribery, and fraud have a very real human cost.

whether it be in the lives and health of people who are robbed of

quality health care and medicines or children who are not properly
educated.

The financial and even public safety costs of corruption are

astonishing.

A lack of public trust undermines and even destroys political

stability.
Corruption remains the single most significant obstacle to
achieving the development of the country.
 Accountable
GOVERNMENT

Legislative Executives Judiciary

Body Offices

Public
Input Agency People
 Accountability & Transparency
leads to Good Governance
Good governance provides a platform that enables
the Government to operate efficiently, effectively
and transparently and to be accountable to the
public. Primary Principles of Good Governance
include:

• Public participation in Government

• Respect for the rule of law
• Freedom of expression and association
• Transparency and accountability
 Ensuring Tran sparency & Accountability

People
1) Free information
Press 2) Organizational loyalties

Electronic 3) Efficiency
4) Time bound
& Print Media
Good Governance 5) Commitment
6) Competition
7) Satisfactory Service

1) Citizens Report Card

Civil Society
2) Social Audit
CBO, NGO,
3) Community Awareness
4) Parliamentary oversight
5) Anti corruption Initiatives
 GOVERNANCE

• Governance means the

process of decision-making
and the process by which
decisions are implemented
(or not implemented).
(UN ESCAP)
 GOVERNANCE
• Governance as the manner in which power
is exercise by the government in the
management of a country’s social and
economic resources - (CIDA)

• Governance as the exercise of economic,

political and administrative authority to
manage a country’s affairs at all lever –
(UNDP)
 GOVERNANCE
• Therefore governance is viewed as
comprising the mechanisms, processes and
institutions through which citizens and
groups
• articulate their interest
• exercise their legal rights
• meet their obligations and
• mediate their differences
Process of transparency through GG

Preparation Result
of Oriented
Policy Budgeting

External Ministries Internal

Monitoring Monitoring

Strategic Performance
Planning Measurement
 Good Governance

Pillars of Good Governance:

✓Transparency
✓Accountability
✓Participation

Good governance is integral to economic growth, the

eradication of poverty and hunger, and sustainable development.
The views of all oppressed groups, including women, youth and
poor, must be heard & considered by governing bodies because
they will be most negatively affected if good governance is not
achieved
2
Source : World Banks report
Features of GOOD
GOVERNANCE

UNDP’s Definition
 Features of Good Governance
• UNDP identifies the principle
characteristics of effective governance as:
- Political legitimacy & accountability
- Freedom of association and participation
- A reliable legal system
- Accountability of public service
- Freedom of information expression
- Effective & efficient management of the
public sector
- Freedom of expression & the role of
media
Impact of Accountability and Transparency

• Enabling People’s Satisfaction

• Ensuring good governance
• Ensuring participation of public
• Eliminating corruption &
• Empowering people
 Implementation Process of
Accountability
ELEMENTS ISSUES
1. PROCUREMENT •Ensure transparent and efficient procurement at national, provincial &
commune levels
2. FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT •Ensure strong internal controls at central, provincial, district & commune levels
• External/ internal audit capacity
• Minimize cash transactions
• Adoption of Merit-Based Performance Incentive by project.

3. DISCLOSURE • Minimize possible conflicts of interest among project staff;

• Enhance transparency through public disclosure of project information
4. CIVIL SOCIETY ROLE • Provide for greater involvement by Civil Society Organizations

5. COMPLAINTS & REMEDIES •Provide overall complaints and grievances mechanism covering all aspects
MECHANISM of project
6. CODE OF ETHICAL • Require all staff to adhere to Code of Ethical Conduct
CONDUCT
7. •Reinforce Code of Ethical Conduct with sanctions for fraudulent/ corrupt
SANCTIONS activity by project staff, contractors, suppliers & consultants.

8
Accountable Governance allows people to access any:

• Information pertaining to any of public authorities

• Photocopies of Government contracts, payment, estimates,
measurements of engineering works, drawings, records books
and registers etc.
• Samples of materials used in the construction of any Government
project like roads, drains, buildings etc.
 How Civil Society can help in establishing
Accountability?

Civil society or civil institutions can be in

totality referred to as voluntary, civic and
social organizations or institutions which
form the basis of a functioning society as
opposed to the force backed structures of a
state (regardless of that state's political
system).

Continuous checks of citizen can help in

establishing Accountability.
 Civil Society Approach in
Establishing Accountability in
Administration
People

Electoral

Information Exchange

Civil Society

Bureaucracy

Enhancing
Government Citizen-Centered Collaborative Enhancing
Trust in citizens Public Management Government
Legitimacy

Enhancing Citizen Enhancing

Efficacy Government
Responsiveness

Enhancing Citizen Trust in Enhancing Government

Government Competence
 Understanding of Effectiveness

Inputs Activities Outputs Effects*

efficiency/productivity effectiveness

*Effects (outcome) are nor part of the production

process; they refer to the impacts on society
 Process of Accountability & Transparency

INPUTS OUTPUTS

• services
PROCESSES
•Mission or
requirement PROCEDURES

•Workload
•Resources
•Programs,
plans and FEED BACK PERFORMANCE
schedules
 Performance Achieved
Long-term Improved program quality, responsiveness, and
outcomes effectiveness

Intermediate Better management of programs and public organizations; more

outcomes informed fiscal allocation decisions

Changed/improved communication among program/

Initial
agency staff and with external stakeholders and
outcomes
policymakers

Communication of performance information about

Outputs
programs and activities

Activities Performance measurement development and integration

into existing and new decision processes and systems
 Social Audit

Social Audit is an independent

and participatory evaluation of the
performance
of a public agency or a programme or
scheme. Social Audit enables the Civil
Society to assess whether a public authority
lives up to the shared values and objectives
it is committed to.

It can be ensured through transparency and

accountability in administration
 Principles of Social Audit

Complete transparency in the process

of administration and decision-making

Right based entitlement for all the affected persons

to participate in the process of decision making and
validation.

Immediate and public answerability of all

representatives & functionaries of a public authority
to affected people on relevant actions & inactions.
An Example of Internal check & External monitoring

In Primary Health Services

• Attendance of medical officer and other staff

• Field visits & supervisory visits of the PHC staff
• Stock registers and inventory of medicines
• No. of Outpatients treated
• No. of Surgeries conducted and their success rate
• Inspection of immunisation registers & cold chain
• Inspection of other relevant registers
• Samples of medicines being supplied to patients.
An Example of Internal check & External monitoring

In Primary Education

• Teacher Attendance Registers

• Pupil Attendance Registers
• Teaching standards in the schools (Curriculum and daily lessons)
• Enrollment and drop-out rate of students
• Student performance (Progress reports)
• Implementation of Mid-Day Meal Programme
• Infrastructure standards in schools (Class rooms, black boards,
teaching aids, toilets etc.)
 Conclusion
• Transparency & Accountability will always be
there with sustainable human development
and good governance.
• Good governance is an ideal which is difficult
to achieve in its totality.
• Very few countries and societies have come
close to achieving good governance in its
totality.
• If the Good Governance is established the
impact of Transparency and Accountability
will autonomically be exposed.