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Articles on Accountability

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Auditor General Karen Hogan testifies before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Accounts in Ottawa on Feb. 12, 2024. She came to some harsh conclusions about the management of the ArriveCan app. Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick

The ArriveCan scandal: How can we avoid similar problems in the future?

The cost overruns of the ArriveCan app are exceptional, but the scandal is not unique in history. There are solutions available to prevent the excessive use of public funds.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA), right, leaves the U.S. Capitol after the House voted to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on February 13, 2024 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Mayorkas impeached: Is Congress on a witch hunt? 5 ways to judge whether oversight is legitimate or politicized

With its impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, the House exercised its oversight power. How can you tell if it was a legitimate use of that power?
The Washington, D.C., courthouse where Donald Trump’s Jan. 6-related trial will likely take place. Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Hitler, Burr and Trump: Show trials put the record straight for history but can also provide a powerful platform for the defendant

Donald Trump’s trial for his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election will promote accountability – but could this show trial have a dangerous outcome, too?
Congressional staffers stand beneath a monitor showing House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., in a hearing, July 19, 2023. AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

Is Congress on a witch hunt? 5 ways to judge whether oversight hearings are legitimate or politicized

The GOP in the House and Senate is doing lots of investigations; Democrats did the same in the past. A scholar of congressional oversight asks: When are investigations justified?
Reinstituted rules in the U.S. House of Representatives allow members to fire federal staffers and cut programs. Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

How the ‘Holman rule’ allows the House to fast-track proposals to gut government programs without debate or much thought at all

House Republicans have adopted a rule used periodically over the past 150 years that allows lawmakers to speed up and streamline votes to dismantle federal programs and fire federal employees.
South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa delivers the 2022 state of nation address to a joint sitting of Parliament. Coalitions could soon be a feature of national government. Jaco Marais/Pool Images/Gallo Images via Getty Images)

A stable national coalition government in South Africa? Possible, but only if elites put country’s interests first

Stable coalitions will depend on strong democratic values being embedded among political elites.

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