Title The illusion of accountability : transparency and representation in American legislatures / Justin H. Kirkland, Jeffrey J. Harden

Published Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2022 ©2022

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Description 1 online resource (xxii, 279 pages) : illustrations, maps Contents Cover -- Half-title Page -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Contents -- List of Figures -- List of Tables -- Acknowledgments -- Prologue -- 1 Sunshine in the Statehouse -- Part I Transparency and State Legislatures -- 2 The Open Meetings Movement -- 3 Measuring Legislative Transparency -- 4 Compromise -- 5 Representation -- PART II Transparency and the Mass Public -- 6 Public Demand -- 7 Attitudinal Consequences -- 8 The Electoral Connection -- 9 Does Democracy Require Transparency? -- References -- Index Summary "The Illusion of Accountability: Transparency and Representation in American Legislatures Does open governance strengthen democracy? In The Illusion of Accountability, Justin H. Kirkland and Jeffrey J. Harden contend that it does not. Leveraging a wealth of data from decades of legislative politics in the American states, Kirkland and Harden assess the causes and consequences of "open meetings laws," which require public access to meetings and proceedings in state legislatures. They trace the roots of these laws back to the founding constitutions of some states and analyze the waves of adoptions and legislative exemptions to open meetings that occurred in the latter half of the twentieth century. They explain that these shifting positions on the reforms reflected the tension between legislators' ability to negotiate with one another in the pursuit of policymaking goals and their accountability to constituents as elected representatives. Kirkland and Harden then investigate the effects of these transparency laws on a host of politically consequential outcomes both inside and outside the legislature, such as policy productivity, responsiveness to public opinion, and citizen approval of the legislature. They consistently find that, contrary to what their theory of accountability would expect, open meetings do not influence legislators' behavior or citizens' capacity to alter that behavior. Instead, the authors uncover a link between transparent legislatures and an expanded system of organized interests. Ultimately, Kirkland and Harden conclude that transparency reform only creates the illusion of accountability in state government. It exists in principle with the stated goal of bringing citizens closer to their representatives. But the public does not sufficiently fulfill its democratic obligation to capitalize on this improved access, permitting unrepresentative interests to fill the void"-- Provided by publisher Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index Notes Online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on August 18, 2022) Subject Legislative bodies -- United States. Legislative bodies -- United States -- States Transparency in government -- United States Transparency in government -- United States -- States Government accountability -- United States Government accountability -- United States -- States Representative government and representation -- United States Representative government and representation -- United States -- States Government accountability Legislative bodies Legislative bodies -- U.S. states Representative government and representation Representative government and representation -- U.S. states Transparency in government United States Form Electronic book Author Harden, Jeffrey J., author. LC no. 2022004721 ISBN 9781009219624 1009219626 1009219650 9781009219655

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