1. Transparency and Accountability: Unpacking Keywords Jonathan Fox Accountability Research Center School of International Service American University June 15, 2016

2. Conceptual keywords, drawn from practice:
What kinds of transparency? Opaque vs clear
What kinds of accountability: “Answerability” and/or enforcement
Government accountability agencies: Watchdogs or guard-dogs?
Different accountability goals: Prevention or reaction?
Accountability to whom? Upwards or downwards?
Terms of engagement? Naming and shaming, constructive engagement, critical collaboration
Strategies for power shifts: Sandwich strategy, monitoring plus advocacy, vertical integration

3. Four dimensions of transparency:
Demand-driven (FOIA)
Proactive disclosure (of govt docs & data)
Targeted transparency (actionable for citizens)
The right to know (not limited to govt data)

4. Two very different kinds of transparency:
Opaque (data w/o relevant information)
Clear (shows who gets what & how decisions are made)

5. Two dimensions of accountability:
“Answerability” (govt explains actions)
Enforcement (sanctions)

6. What do public oversight agencies have the power to do?
Watchdogs (seek public exposure)
Guard dogs (do actual prosecution)
CSO dilemma: if public acct agencies don’t deliver, is it because they are weak or captured?

7. Different accountability priorities:
Preventative
Reactive
What are the tradeoffs?

8. Public sector accountability to whom?
Upwards > from public sector workers to managers to policymakers
Downwards > from public sector agencies to citizens
Horizontal > checks and balances, oversight agencies

9. Varied terms of engagement between CSOs & govt:
Naming and shaming (outsider/adversarial)
Constructive engagement (partner with insiders)
Critical collaboration (partner with some insiders to challenge other insiders)
Invited vs claimed spaces

10. Place your screenshot here
“…you push from below, and we will squeeze from above…”
Reformist director of Mexican rural food supply agency (before electoral democracy), address a national assembly of autonomous Community Food Councils
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Unpacking vertical integration:
Working across scale while bridging monitoring and advocacy…
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Dilemma:
How to trigger virtuous circles to empower pro-accountability actors?
State-society synergy between:
Citizen action, media coverage and the activation of public oversight agencies

13. To continue the conversation: fox@american.edu www.jonathan-fox.org
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