The Routledge Handbook to Accountability and Welfare State Reforms in Europe

There is growing concern that welfare states are inefficient, unsustainable and lack popular support. New Public Management reforms affected the balance between managerial and political accountability and disrupted administrative, legal, professional and social accountability, causing confusion as to whom public organizations are really accountable.

The Routledge Handbook to Accountability and Welfare State Reforms in Europe assesses multi-dimensional accountability relations in depth, addressing the dynamic between accountability and reforms. Analyzing how welfare state reforms oriented towards agencification, managerialism and marketization affected existing relationships in services traditionally provided by public institutions, the theoretically informed, empirical chapters provide specific examples of their effect on accountability. Expert contributors explore the relationship between accountability and performance and the impact of reforms on political, administrative, managerial, legal, professional and social accountability. The role of specific actors, such as the media and citizens, on the accountability process addressing issues of blame avoidance, reputation and autonomous agencies is discussed.

Comparative chapters across time, countries, administrative levels and policy areas are included, along with discussions linking accountability with concepts like legitimacy, democracy, coordination and performance. This handbook will be an essential reference tool to those studying European politics and public policy.

1. Introduction

Part I: Theoretical and Conceptual Issues

2. Democratic Order, Autonomy and Accountability

3. Accountability, Performance and Legitimacy in the Welfare State - If Accountability is the Answer, What was the Question?

4. Combining Agency and Stewardship. Welfare Reforms and Accountability

Part II: Accountability in Welfare State Areas

5. Hybrid Welfare Administrative Systems and Changing Accountability Relations – Comparing the Development of the Danish and Norwegian Systems

6. Public Sector Reform and Accountability Dynamics: The Changing Welfare Administration in Norway and Germany

7. The welfare state in flux: Individual responsibility and changing accountability relations in social services

8. Dimensions of Accountability in Health Care

9. Accountability through performance management? Hospital performance management schemes in Denmark, Germany and England

10. Accountability, Legitimacy and Immigration Control: The Inclusion of Social Actors in Asylum Regulation in Norway, Denmark and Germany

11. Welfare Reforms, Accountability and Performance

Part III: Accountability in Unsettled Situations

12. Accountability, Transparency and Societal Security

13. Accountability under Inquiry: Inquiry Committees after Internal Security Crises

14. Accountability Relations in Unsettled Situations: Administrative Reforms and Crises

15. Accountability in Times of Austerity: Democratic and Constitutional Gains but Learning Loss?

16. Regulatory Reform, Accountability and Blame in Public Service Delivery: The Public Transport Crisis in Berlin

Part IV: Accountability, Administrative Reforms and Multi-level Governance

17. Principles meet Practicalities: Challenges of Accountability Reform in the British Civil Service

18. Multiple Accountabilities in Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs): How to Unravel the Accountability Paradox?

19. Digital Era Governance Reform and Accountability – The Case of Denmark

20. The Dynamics of the EU Accountability Landscape: Moving to an Ever Denser Union

Tom Christensen is a Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Oslo, Norway.

Per Lӕgreid is a Professor in the Department of Administration and Organization Theory at the University of Bergen, Norway.