Called to account: The book analyses accountability in public life and suggests ways of increasing it

The author's 'correlation analysis' offers a refreshing perspective on impact of socio-economic factors such as per capita income, social individualism and social hierarchies, on the quality of governance. It is particularly fascinating to find that factors such as voter turnout in elections, social diversity within a country, or the size of a country's population have a weak correlation with governance. [Jay P. Desai] identifies four 'foundations' of accountability: appropriate representation, participative conduct, legitimate conduct and liability enforcement. He also identifies the six 'I's or inadequacies which undermine these four foundations: inadequate information, inadequate impartiality, inadequate implementation, inadequate infrastructure, inadequate independence and inadequate involvement. He goes on to suggest ways in which the six 'I's can be reduced.