Internal Control and Problematics in the Context of Accountability: A Critical Analysis

Paradigmatic shifts in public administration such as more democracy, transparency, and joint management have increased the significance of ‘accountability’ and ‘control’ in the context of the ‘new public administration’ concept which has been in use especially since the 1980’s. Accountability, which has grown in developed democracies out of the necessity to regulate central and local administrations by legal and ethical norms, has made the ‘control’ function of management gain importance. Developed in order to attribute significance to accountability and increase its functionality, ‘internal control’ has grown as a crucial feature of the concepts of transparency, openness, and joint management (co-management). The assumption that accountability, which strengthens the position of the citizen before the state, is only possible through effective control has raised the significance of internal control. The present study approaches through a critical analysis the question ‘To what extent is internal control functional in terms of accountability standards?’ It further aims to analyse the problematics of internal control in the context of accountability.