Melvin J. Dubnick, PhD, Political Science

Master of Advanced Cynicism and General Despair

• CONTACT INFORMATION
• DRIBS AND DRAFTS: A BLOG
• PUBLICATIONS
  • 2021: A Tribute to H. George Frederickson
  • 2020: Dissecting the Semantics of Accountability and Its Misuse
  • 2018: Demons, Spirits, and Elephants: Reflections on the Failure of Public Administration Theory
  • 2018: GDD: American Government: Myths and Realities (12th edition)
  • 2018: The GDD Chapters
  • 2018: The GDD "Policy Connections"
  • 2015: EPAP 3rd edition
  • 2015: American Government: Myths and Realities (11th edition) Copy
  • 2014: Accountability as Cultural Keyword
  • 2014: The Ontological Challenge
  • 2014: Barnard's Regret: Zones of Accountability and the Limits of Authority
  • 2013: Power and the Ethics of Reform
  • 2012: Imagininng and Managing Organizational Evil
  • 2011: Move Over Daniel: We Need Some 'Accountability Space'
  • 2011: The Pursuit of Accountability: Promise, Problems, and Prospects
  • 2011: Public Accountability: Performance Measurement, The Extended State, And The Search For Trust
  • 2011: Accountable Governance: Promises And Problems (AG)
  • 2011: AG: Introduction: The Promises of Accountability Research
  • 2011: AG: Rethinking the Obsession: Accountability and the Financial Crisis
  • 2011: AG: Conclusion: Taking Stock and Moving Forward
  • 2010: Accountable Agents: : Federal Performance Measurement and Third-Party Government
  • 2010: Toward a 'Responsible' Future: Reframing and Reforming the Governance of Financial Markets,
  • 2009: All Mega-Projects are Local? Citizen Participation Lessons from the Big Dig,
  • 2009: ggressive Action: In Search of a Dominant Narrative,
  • 2007: Sarbanes-Oxley And The Search For Accountable Corporate Governance
  • 2007: Sowing and Reaping at the Big Dig: The Legacies of Neomanagerialism
  • 2006/2007: Pathologies of Governance Reform: Promises, Pervasions and Perversions in the Age of Accountability
  • 2006: Taking Tough Choices Seriously: Public Administration and Individual Moral Agency
  • 2006: Accountability and the Evil of Adm Ethics
  • 2006: War Narratives: Framing Our Understanding of the War on Terror,
  • 2005: Accountability and the Promise of Performance: In Search of the Mechanisms
  • 2005: [Case 1] Comments
  • 2005: Accountability Through Thick and Thin: Making Assessments and Making Cases
  • 2004/2005: A Framework for Examining Accountability and Value for Money in the UK’s Private Finance InitiativeA Framework for Examining Accountability and Value for Money in the UK’s Private Finance Initiative
  • 2003/2008: Accountability And Ethics: Reconsidering the Relationships
  • 2003: Nurturing Civic Lives: Developmental Perspectives on Civic Education -- Introduction
  • 2002: Postscripts for a 'State of War': Public Administration and Civil Liberties After September 11
  • 2002: Implications for Federalism
  • 2001: In Defense of the Electoral College
  • 2000: The Case for Administrative Evil
  • 2000: Morals and Movies:  Energizing Ethical Thinking Among Professionals
  • 2000: Challenges of Civic Education
  • 2000: Dialogue: Knowledge & Research
  • 1998: Accountability
  • 1998: Army Corps of Engineers
  • 1998: Customs Service
  • 1998: Forest Service
  • 1998: Clarifying Accountability: An Ethical Theory Framework
  • 1996: Challenges to American Public Administration: Complexity, Bureaucratization, and the Culture of Distrust
  • 1996: Farewell form the Catbird Seat
  • 1995: Oklahoma City (editorial)
  • 1994: Editing the Policy Studies Journal and Public Administration Review
  • 1994: Issues of Accountability in Flexible Personnel Systems
  • 1994: A Coup Against King Bureaucracy
  • 1993: Accountability and the Centrality of Expectations in American Public Administration
  • 1993: State economic development policies and national economic growth,
  • 1991: Public Policy & Economic Institutions
    
  • 1991: American Public Administration
  • 1987: Accountability in Public Sector:Lessons from the Challenger tragedy
  • 1985: Industrial Policy and the States
  • 1983: Thinking About Public Policy
  • 1982: Decentralization of Agriculture
  • 1982: Regulatory Policy Ananlysis: Working in a Quagmire
  • 1981: Government Regulation: Advice and Analysis
  • 1981: Nationalizing State Policies
  • 1981: [Reivew} Promise and Performance
  • 1979: The Why & How of Policy Analysis
  • 1979: Problems in U.S. Standard-Setting: The Implications of the Shift to Control Functions
  • 1978: Three Approaches the Health Care
  • 1978: Comparing Policy Alternatives
  • 1976: Blaming The Planner: An Alternative Explanation Of Development Program Failure
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“The Ontological Challenge.” In Oxford Handbook of Public Accountability edited by Mark Bovens, Robert E. Goodin, Thomas Schillemans. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014: 649-654.

Due to copyright restrictions, this file is password protected. If you wish access, please contact the author.

Abstract: This commentary considers the ontological options facing those who engage in accountability studies and calls for shifting the focus of attention to account-giving relationships and behavior rather than accountability mechanisms.

© 2021 Melvin Dubnick

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