Accountability & Performance Measurement

• Publications
• Workshops
• Projects

The IOG's work in this area, both in Canada and internationally, follows from our belief that accountability lies at the heart of governance.

In government, citizens grant sweeping powers to the political executive. They entrust it with responsibility for critical decisions about the design and implementation of public policy, and use of public funds. In turn, citizens want to guard against abuse by the executive of these powers. They also want to ensure that the executive uses its power wisely, effectively and efficiently, and that it will be responsive to demands by citizens to change the ways in which it carries out its functions.

Similarly, outside of government, “principals” (e.g. the members of a non-governmental organization) grant powers to a governing body to act on their behalf, but also expect that the governing body will be responsive to the needs of members and accountable for the decisions that they take.

The Institute On Governance focuses on the nature and effectiveness of accountability relationships:

• between citizens and their elected representatives on the one hand, and public administrators (the "executive branch") on the other;





• across levels of government – federal, provincial and territorial, municipal, Aboriginal and international;





• between members and other stakeholders and the governing bodies of non-governmental organizations; and





• between government and civil society.

We are also interested in the art and science of performance management, a technique that helps make accountability possible. Performance management sets targets and indicators (both quantitative and qualitative) for the defined objectives of a government or organization; gathers information to monitor progress; adjusts plans and actions in response to the results and changes in circumstances; and periodically evaluates what the longer term impacts are, whether there are any unintended consequences, and whether the objectives are still relevant. How performance is defined and measured; what progress is being achieved; what corrective action is being taken; and what the longer term results are – these are all questions that should be addressed through processes that are open, transparent and well thought through.

Our services include research, workshop design and facilitation, training and advisory services. We have worked with a number of federal departments, provincial governments, municipalities, non-profit organizations and international agencies such as the World Bank and the United Nations Development Program.

Our work has addressed matters such as:

• the exploration of accountability relationships within government, across levels of government, between government and civil society, and between government and citizens;





• the development of logic models for programs, projects, strategies or initiatives;





• the identification of performance indicators, targets and relevant benchmarks;





• the conduct of evaluations, program or policy reviews; and





• the development of performance management frameworks – such as Results Based Management Accountability Frameworks (RMAFs) in the federal government – and evaluation frameworks.