Updating public accountability: a conceptual framework of voluntary accountability

Abstract

Voluntary accountability is widely documented. Yet, the concept does not sit comfortably within prevailing frameworks that conceptualize accountability as an obligation. This paper sets out to update our understanding of accountability by explicitly embedding this phenomenon within the broader conceptual structure of public accountability. It demonstrates how the proposed conceptual framework can help us distinguish between voluntary accountability and related, but distinct, concepts, such as transparency. It further illustrates how the framework can help us answer pressing questions about the varying rationales behind voluntary account-giving, the audiences targeted by accounts as well as the consequences of voluntary accountability for democracy.