Accountable autonomy

<p>Accountable autonomy is an institutional design of administrative and democratic organization that tries to maximize civic <a href="/facts/Participation_(decision_making)/oujuu4FW">participation</a> and <a href="/facts/Deliberation/jQzec8Da">deliberation</a>. Political scientist <a href="/facts/Archon_Fung/dlC1mNtn">Archon Fung</a> coined the term. Accountable autonomy addresses the defects of <a href="/facts/Decentralization/5koMXAUs">decentralization</a> and <a href="/facts/Localism_(politics)/XcUYxR1n">localism</a>, such as <a href="/facts/Group-think/RcX5vFCP">group-think</a>, <a href="/facts/Economic_inequality/2Kb0kBH5">inequality</a>, and <a href="/facts/Parochialism/Kf3TPQW4">parochialism</a>, through hybrid arrangements that allocate <a href="/facts/Political_power/Q4feTyU6">political power</a>, function and <a href="/facts/Moral_responsibility/UcdhqHBv">responsibility</a> between central authorities and local bodies. The terms “accountable” and “<a href="/facts/Autonomy/5ne4C7N8">autonomy</a>” might seem at odds. Autonomy means independence from central power and the capacity to accomplish its ends. The second sense is what Fung stresses: ‘a conception of centralized action that counter-intuitively bolsters local capability without improperly and destructively encroaching upon it.’
</p><p>Two examples of this agency structure are Chicago's <a href="/facts/Chicago_Alternative_Policing_Strategy/A9wl449g">Alternative Policing Strategy</a> and <a href="/facts/Local_School_Councils/g41dDd8o">Local School Councils</a>.
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Accountable autonomy open-in-new

Accountable autonomy