[Accountability] Collaborative Governance
Jane Nelson of the Kennedy School of Gov’t at Harvard leads a plenary panel on “Collaborative Governance: The new Accountability?” Panelists: Achim Steiner, dir. general of the World Conservation Union; Kumi Naidoo, secretary general of Civicus (World Alliance for Citizen Participation, an international allliance of civil society organizations).
Steiner: Why are we trying to reinvent accountability since we just invented it? There are 500 transnational ecological treaties. He cites Simon Zadek, founder of Accountability: If accountability concerns the civilizing of power, then those who hold power will seek to crush it. Citizens feel as powerless as always. Accountabilities are created without consequence: No one has been held accountable by a court for invading a country on false pretenses. The Millennial Development goals will come and go without anyone being held responsible. The systems we have at our disposal are unable to cope with the challenges. We can’t rely on the ambassadors in NY. What do we do? The forces that shape the world are less and less controlled by governments. We need to empower citizens to hold powers accountable.
Naidoo: Why is collaborative governance importance now? Because the world is in crisis. Formal leadership isn’t stepping up to it. The current trends of structural inequality are a catastrophe. We need to beware of the word “partner” because the term is too often used where there is no equality of partnership. We need to acknowledge the power differentials. And, he says, NGOs need to adopt a code of ethical conduct. (He pays ironic tribute to the conservative American Enterprise Institute for fighting NGOs, including on their website NGOwatch.org.) “Perform or Perish” already holds NGOs to accountability, although that’s not nearly enough, he says. The accountability debate ought to be connected to the idea of democracy. Finally, he urges that the developing world be brought into this discussion.
Nelson asks if there are any positive examples. Steiner replies that the diamond mining initiatives have been fairly successful. The Global Reporting Initiative. The Forest Stewardship Council has created a certification program so end-users can buy wood from environmentally sustainable forests; it is catching on.
Naidoo says we have to accept and work with the existing framework, but we also need to challenge the macro institutions.
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“Why are we trying to reinvent accountability since we just invented it? There are 500 transnational ecological treaties. He cites Simon Zadek, founder of Accountability: If accountability concerns the civilizing of power, then those who hold power will seek to crush it. Citizens feel as powerless as always. Accountabilities are created without consequence: No one has been held accountable by a court for invading a country on false pretenses.”
Because accountability must accompany at least two other important concepts: Responsibility and authority.
“Power” is the most frequently used synonym for “authority.”
To answer Achim Steiner, there is either no responsible agency to hold others accountable, or they lack the authority to do so.
Given the high premium placed on national sovereignty, the surprising thing is not that international agreements are often not enforced, but that they’re ever “enforced” at all.
Any discussion of accountability that does not include the notions of authority and responsiblity is meaningless.
“Empowering” citizens is going to mean, in some large measure, educating them about these important concepts.