Accountability Scenario in Bhutan

An Analysis of Accountability by Nature of Obligation

Abstract

Accountability is one of the concerns that need to be addressed for the development and prosperity of the country as highlighted by His Majesty in several Royal Addresses. The Annual Audit Reports, Anti-Corruption Commission Reports, and the media highlights of the last five years (2017-2021) strongly indicate the prevalence of accountability gap/issues in the public sector. Considering the topical and importance of accountability for national development, this paper explores the scenario of accountability through an analysis of the annual audit reports, the reports of ACC, and the media publications. While not everything is accountability, it is one of the key elements for good governance and public sector development. Considering the availability of various definitions of the concept, this paper attempts to study the concept based on the categorization of types of accountability as mapped by Bovens (2006) and Lührmann et al. (2020). Specifically, this paper provides an analysis of accountability by the nature of obligation; Horizontal, Vertical, and Diagonal Accountability using data from the publications of ACC, RAA, and a print media house. Accountability by nature of obligation was chosen from the four types of accountability propounded by Bovens (2006) as it helps to comprehensively explain accountability in a democratic setup. The content of reports of over five years by each agency was analysed to present a synopsis of the scenario of each sub-type of accountability.