Public trust must be consistently earned for a politician to be effective. Ongoing accountability defines the evolution of the relationship between the politician and the public
While politicians will claim that they are accountable at each election, in fact the authors propose that public accountability is ongoing and not just a rare event every four years. Public trust must be consistently earned for a politician to be effective. Ongoing accountability defines the evolution of the relationship between the politician and the public.
Suppose you see a man rowing a boat out on a lake, against a wind. He is making no headway in relation to the land. Is this because he doesn’t know how to row properly, or because he isn’t motivated enough, or is it simply that the wind is too strong?
To be fair in judging an elected representative’s performance, and to know how much to trust that person in their work, we need a reasonable understanding of the person’s ability, motivation and external constraints standing in the way of doing a better job. We need to know what they intend to achieve and why, their performance standards and what they think they accomplished and learned. This doesn’t come from political party leaflets written for election campaigns. It comes from what the person formally tells us through their own accountability reports.
Why the emphasis on personal accountings as a means of building the public’s trust? First, it can be done without restriction. Giving full and fair accounting to constituents is not something that must first be required by legislation or approved by a political party. The discipline of public reporting will encourage politicians to inform themselves in meeting the standards and objectives they set for themselves and standards reasonably expected of them. It will also help their staff understand what is expected of them as support. The concept of public accountability is also basic to the elected representative’s job in overseeing government –- requiring the executive and civil service to account publicly, fully and fairly. Lastly, public accounting doesn’t just give citizens useful information they wouldn’t otherwise get. It creates a self-regulating influence on those with important responsibilities that works in the public interest. Good accounting lets constituents better understand and appreciate a politician’s best efforts in making headway.
Accountability means the obligation to explain fully and fairly how responsibilities are being carried out. Where responsibilities affect the public, there must be accounting to the public as well. Both observed performance and accountings for it can then be compared by citizens against fair expectations. This is basically a citizen audit process that can show up vagueness, spin or activity portrayed as accomplishment.
Elected representatives must explain their intentions, external constraints and performance standards, and their actual performance as they see it. Some elected representatives already do this. But the reporting process needs to be structured to cover main responsibilities and reasonable performance standards that citizens are entitled to see met.
Here are some suggestions for elected representatives in developing regular accountings to their constituents.
State your mandate and objectives. The party’s election campaign will produce a platform of promises and changes. These will be within existing legal frameworks, or must state your party’s intention to change them, and why. From this follows your statement of personal intentions and objectives for your term in office, and what you think your constituents can reasonably expect of you.
State your performance standards. Since elected representatives are society leaders, a key component of an accountability report is intended personal conduct at a professional standard. Tell constituents the standards you expect to meet in your values, ethics and committee participation, and your availability to meet or talk in consultation with constituents.
Adequately informing yourself on issues and options is a major responsibility for all elected representatives. Thus for each proposal coming before you, get the information you need to fairly explain who would benefit, how, and why they should, and who would bear what costs and risks and why they should, in both the short and longer term. This is a new and disciplined approach to building credibility. The idea is to be able to tell your constituents before the fact the basis for your intended decision and your diligence in reaching your decision.
How you manage your legislative and constituency offices is another key component of performance. For example, standards include how and when you will regularly inform and consult, your response times for letters, emails, phone calls, and hours of operation. You are responsible for having your office staff meet the standards you set.
Oversight. Elected representatives have the role of overseeing the executive government on citizens’ behalf. You must understand what the government intends to achieve, why, and the processes of control needed to ensure that what should be accomplished is, and that what shouldn’t happen, doesn’t. Citizens can reasonably expect you to have a basic understanding of the critical success factors for effective management control. “Horror story” failures in government management illustrate the need for this understanding.
Fair public challenge. Fair judgment of politicians needs a reasonable understanding of their contexts and valid performance indicators, not speculation and gossip. Your public accountings will be challenged by people in opposition. Party messages and language for general letters, flyers and websites do not stand in the way of full and fair accounting to both constituents and riding association officials. True public accountability is nonpartisan.
The Internet is already producing greater useful disclosure. Today there will be a photo, a recording, a video or computer-assisted networking to bring out the truth. So a forthright explanation ahead of time will earn public trust. Justification attempts after the truth gets out will not. The need for full and fair public explanation is by no means new, but the idea of requiring it before the fact is new for achieving greater fairness in society.. Elected representatives’ own initiatives in their personal accountings and in requiring adequate public accountings from government will be a major step forward.
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