SCHWARTZ, Robert <br/><br/>
Managing government-third sector colaboration :  accountability, ambiguity, and politcs 

 - New York :  Marcel Dekker,  2001 
<br/><br/> Recent years have witnessed increased relevations by watch-dog agents of mismanagement and abuse in third sector organizations that collaborate whith government resulting in a decline in public trust and signs of a portending legitimacy  crisis. Strengthening accountability mechanisms seems a obvius response to this trend. Yet, Israli attempts to improve accountability of government-third sector collaborations have largely failed. Politcs of accountability theory provides an explantion as to why. The findings demonstrate that political, bureaucratic and third sector stakeholders have a mutual interest in maintaining a cloak of ambiguity over government-third sector collaborations. The effects of four alternative accountability types on accountability, ambiguity, flexibility and politics are examined in a attempt to identify feasible and effective accountability strategies. There is no one ideal accountability tpe for all situations. Attention to the pitfalls of each accountability type may alert accountability decision-makers to appropriate combinations of accountability types for particular circumstances. However, the actual choice of accountability types has more to do with the polities of accountability than with scientific analysis of  what is most appropriate