The literature on public accountability is extensive but overwhelmingly focuses on accountability of organizations. Yet, accountability mechanisms can function properly only when individuals believe that they will be held accountable in the future. This article bridges that gap by translating and extending the psychological concept of “felt accountability” to the public administration scholarship. The particular context of accountability in public organizations requires us to integrate knowledge about (1) the diverse professional roles of public sector employees, (2) the saliency and authority of various and multiple account holders, and (3) the substance of the accountability demands. The current article integrates this contextual knowledge with an individual perspective on accountability. This effort represents an important contribution to public accountability literature, as it allows scholars to properly understand the consequences of psychological insights about accountability for the public sector, and to adequately translate psychological insights and recommendations to a public accountability context.

中文翻译：

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迈向感觉问责制的公共管理理论

有关公共责任的文献非常广泛，但绝大多数都集中在组织的责任上。然而，问责机制只有在个人相信他们将来会被追究责任时才能正常运作。本文通过将“感觉责任感”的心理学概念翻译和扩展至公共管理学术研究来弥合这一差距。公共组织问责制的特殊背景要求我们整合以下知识：(1) 公共部门员工的不同专业角色，(2) 各种和多个账户持有人的显着性和权威性，以及 (3) 问责制要求的实质. 当前的文章将这种背景知识与个人对问责制的看法相结合。