political accountability
Elected officials' liability
Political accountability is the principle that those who hold public power must answer for their decisions and actions to the people they serve.
It operates through elections, oversight bodies, transparency requirements, and legal mechanisms: The scandal raised questions about political accountability in the administration.
Without it, democracies drift toward corruption or authoritarianism.
- checks and balancesConstitutional power-limiting framework
- rule of lawSupremacy of established laws
- oversightSupervision or inadvertent omission
- separation of powersConstitutional distribution of authority
- censureFormal institutional disapproval
recall elections · ballot box · whistleblowing · impeachment · elected officials · voting rights · integrity · fiduciary duty · watchdog agencies · conflict of interest · legal sanctions · judicial review · ombudsman · administrative law · sunshine laws · good governance · ethical codes · democracy
- electionsballot, ballots, voter registration, candidates, polls
- British GovernmentHouse of Commons, House of Lords, Westminster, Whitehall, Downing Street
- constitutional governmentseparation of powers, checks and balances, branches of government, executive branch, legislative branch
- recall electionsrecall election, recall petition, recall vote, recall campaign, removal from office
political accountabilityabsolute power
Unrestricted governmental control
tyranny · despotism · authoritarianism · autocracy · dictatorship
political accountabilityimpunity
Freedom from consequences
unaccountability · irresponsibility · plausible deniability · buck-passing · scapegoating
political accountabilitysecrecy
Practice of hiding information
lack of transparency · disenfranchisement · voter suppression · rigged elections · political corruption