|Generate QR code
Open Access
Subscription Access
Transparency, Accountability, and Trust in Society
https://doi.org/10.32609/0042-8736-2015-2-141-148
Abstract
The paper analyses the concepts of transparency and accountability, their correlation with other key concepts used in Russian social and economic discourses, and also the critique of the transparency and accountability practices. It is shown that the main effect of development of these technologies is the substitution of reality by the “picture” formed for external users, transformation of this “picture” into the self-purpose. The reason of this is the change of paradigms of trust. Society has passed from trust in authorities with their right to make decisions on the basis of professional judgment to trust in procedures and standards, trust in “picture”. We have changed trust in result to trust in processes of its receiving.
Keywords
transparency,
accountability,
trust,
calculability,
quantification,
accounting,
reporting,
objectification,
financial markets,
university ratings
JEL: A13, A19, B40, D85, H83, M14, M4, Z1
About the Author
O. Volkova
National Research University Higher School of Economics (Saint-Petersburg, Russia)
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
References
1. Antopolskii A. B., Poliak Yu. E., Usanov V. E. (2012). On Russian Web-site index of scientific and educational organizations. Information Resources of Russia, No. 4, pp. 2—7. (In Russian).
2. Afanasiev M. P., Krivogov I. V. (2007). The State Finance Modernization. Moscow: HSE Publishing. (In Russian).
3. Akhunianov I. Kh. (2009). Transparency and Firm Value: Evidence from the Financial Crisis 2007—2009. Working Paper No BSP/2008/101R. Moscow: New Economic School. (In Russian).
4. Golubitskii S. M. (2004). The Triumph of the Dead Leviathan. The financial novel on Enron Company. In: What is your God’s Name? Great Frauds of XX century. Moskow: Mediasphera, Vol. 2, pp. 100—123. (In Russian).
5. Kruzhalin V. I., Arshinova V. V., Popov L. V., Chaplygina A.A. (2010). Ratings of World Universities as Instrument of Quality Management of Education. Alma Mater (Vestnik vysshei shkoly), No. 6, pp. 9—18. (In Russian).
6. Muravyev A. (2013). On Scientific Value of Russian Journals in Economics and Related Fields. Voprosy Ekonomiki, No. 4, pp. 130—151. (In Russian).
7. Novikov D. A., Orlov A. I., Chebotarev P. Yu. (eds.) (2013). Managing Large Systems. Proceedings. Special Issue 44: Scientometrics and Expertise in Management Science. Moscow: Institute of Control Sciences, RAS. (In Russian).
8. Tambovtsev V., Rozhdestvenskaya I. (2014). Higher Education Reform in Russia: International Experience and Economics. Voprosy Ekonomiki, No. 5, pp. 97—108. (In Russian).
9. Fokina V. N., Sliva A. V. (2013). The Analysis of University’ Rating Models. Sociology of Education, No. 7, pp. 41—57. (In Russian).
10. Foundation of New Democracy (2013). Transparency and Involvement: Public Control 2.0 in US and Europe. Analytical Report.
11. Forrat N. V. (2009). The Quality of Higher Education Problem: The Global Challenges and their Russian Transformations. Voprosy Obrazovaniya, No. 2, pp. 121—139. (In Russian).
12. Fukuyama F. (2004). Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity. Moscow: AST. (In Russian).
13. Beniger J. R. (1986). The Control Revolution: Technological and Economic Origins of the Information Society. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
14. Butler J. (2005). Giving An Account of Oneself. N. Y.: Fordham University Press.
15. Carnegie G. D., West B. P. (2005). Making Accounting Accountable in the Public Sector. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, Vol. 16, No. 7, pp. 905-928.
16. Escaffre L., Foulquier P., Touron P. (2008). The Fair Value Controversy: Ignoring the Real Issue. Lille: EDHEC Financial Analysis and Accounting Research Centre.
17. Espeland W. N., Stevens M. (2008). A Sociology of Quantification. Archives of European Sociology, Vol. XLIX, No. 3, pp. 401-436.
18. Foucault M. (1980). Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings, 1972-1977. N. Y.: Pantheon Books.
19. Gorraiz J., Gumpenberger C., Wieland M. (2011). Galton 2011 Revisited: A Bibliometric Journey in the Footprints of a Universal Genius. Journal of Scientometrics, Vol. 88, No. 2, pp. 627-652.
20. Marx W., Cardona M. (2009). The Citation Impact Outside References - Formal Versus Informal Citations. Scientometrics, Vol. 80, No. 1, pp. 3-23.
21. O’Neill O. (2002). A Question of Trust. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Porter T. M. (1995). Trust in Numbers: The Pursuit of Objectivity in Science and Public Life. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
22. Power M. (1997). The Audit Society: Rituals of Verification. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
23. Roberts J. (2009), No. one is perfect: The Limits of Transparency and an Ethic for ‘Intelligent’ Accountability. Accounting, Organizations and Society, Vol. 34, No. 8, pp. 957-970.
24. Strathern M. (еd.). (2000). Audit Cultures. Anthropological Studies in Accountability, Ethics and the Academy. London: Routledge.
Review
For citations:
Volkova O. Transparency, Accountability, and Trust in Society. Voprosy Ekonomiki. 2015;(2):141-148. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.32609/0042-8736-2015-2-141-148
Views:
841
Email this article 
