Public Accountability

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Abstract
Public law principles must be paramount in designing and implementing privatized administrative arrangements. Private nonprofit organizations are a familiar part of the public administration landscape. A case study demonstrates how public accountability is diminished when government arranges a service, leaving implementation to a private, nonprofit agency, but public law principles are not central to the contractual arrangement. Ineffective policy implementation, blurred lines of executive accountability, and diminished management capacity resulted Administration by civil suit was substituted. Private administrators are seen as having constitutional responsibilities, constraints on discretion, and obligations to be open to public scrutiny and government regulatory oversight.