From Public to Private Accountability in Norwegian Local Government
This article discusses the consequences of changing views on accountability in democratic decision-making. Trends in Norway indicate that Norwegians are evaluating local democracy increasingly in terms of service performance and output, rather than in terms of political input from citizens. While tr...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244020957042 |
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doaj-10cef001b055479387625d0e1d31550b2020-11-25T03:28:48ZengSAGE PublishingSAGE Open2158-24402020-09-011010.1177/2158244020957042From Public to Private Accountability in Norwegian Local GovernmentHilde Bjørnå0Jarle Weigård1UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, NorwayUiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, NorwayThis article discusses the consequences of changing views on accountability in democratic decision-making. Trends in Norway indicate that Norwegians are evaluating local democracy increasingly in terms of service performance and output, rather than in terms of political input from citizens. While traditional process evaluation is associated with governmental hierarchies and how voters can make elected representatives accountable for their policies, performance evaluation has connections with the logic of the market. It represents a shift from collective political control to individual consumer satisfaction, and consequently, from public to private accountability. Some highly prized democratic values, such as vertical political accountability, informed discussions of the totality of interests, and traditional democratic will-formation, could be lost on the way.https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244020957042 |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Hilde Bjørnå Jarle Weigård |
spellingShingle |
Hilde Bjørnå Jarle Weigård From Public to Private Accountability in Norwegian Local Government SAGE Open |
author_facet |
Hilde Bjørnå Jarle Weigård |
author_sort |
Hilde Bjørnå |
title |
From Public to Private Accountability in Norwegian Local Government |
title_short |
From Public to Private Accountability in Norwegian Local Government |
title_full |
From Public to Private Accountability in Norwegian Local Government |
title_fullStr |
From Public to Private Accountability in Norwegian Local Government |
title_full_unstemmed |
From Public to Private Accountability in Norwegian Local Government |
title_sort |
from public to private accountability in norwegian local government |
publisher |
SAGE Publishing |
series |
SAGE Open |
issn |
2158-2440 |
publishDate |
2020-09-01 |
description |
This article discusses the consequences of changing views on accountability in democratic decision-making. Trends in Norway indicate that Norwegians are evaluating local democracy increasingly in terms of service performance and output, rather than in terms of political input from citizens. While traditional process evaluation is associated with governmental hierarchies and how voters can make elected representatives accountable for their policies, performance evaluation has connections with the logic of the market. It represents a shift from collective political control to individual consumer satisfaction, and consequently, from public to private accountability. Some highly prized democratic values, such as vertical political accountability, informed discussions of the totality of interests, and traditional democratic will-formation, could be lost on the way. |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244020957042 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT hildebjørna frompublictoprivateaccountabilityinnorwegianlocalgovernment AT jarleweigard frompublictoprivateaccountabilityinnorwegianlocalgovernment |
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