Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction
- Part I Candidate Evaluation and Selection
- Part II The Media and The Informational Environment
- Part III Policymaking, Information Provision, and Accountability
- 9 Coalition Leadership in the Polarized Congress
- 10 Fire Alarms and Democratic Accountability
- 11 Achieving Accountability: Aligning Institutions and Behavior
- Part IV Outside The Public Eye? Private Interests and Policymaking
- Bibliography
- Author Index
- Subject Index
11 - Achieving Accountability: Aligning Institutions and Behavior
from Part III - Policymaking, Information Provision, and Accountability
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 February 2023
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction
- Part I Candidate Evaluation and Selection
- Part II The Media and The Informational Environment
- Part III Policymaking, Information Provision, and Accountability
- 9 Coalition Leadership in the Polarized Congress
- 10 Fire Alarms and Democratic Accountability
- 11 Achieving Accountability: Aligning Institutions and Behavior
- Part IV Outside The Public Eye? Private Interests and Policymaking
- Bibliography
- Author Index
- Subject Index
Summary
In Chapter 11, John Patty draws on recent developments in behavioral economics to consider how political overseers, such as congressional oversight committees or agency heads, can deal with the extraordinary complexity of their job. Modern political organizations are composed of a hoard of individuals making innumerable choices, so how can overseers make sense of it? Patty introduces the concept of bracketing – how principals and agents group choices to compare among them when contemplating actions. Bracketing can affect how principals such as congressional members evaluate the consequences of bureaucratic behavior, the flow of evaluative information available to such principals, and the incentives for government officials to allocate or misallocate their efforts. Patty discusses how bracketing may influence features of institutional design, centralization of authority, and specialization. Additionally, bracketing has implications for policy evaluation and planning.
Keywords
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Accountability ReconsideredVoters, Interests, and Information in US Policymaking, pp. 242 - 262Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023