Horizontal accountability
Topic: Transparency, Accountability and e-Governance · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Horizontal accountability means other state bodies check the executive. The executive is the government that runs the country day to day. These checks come from institutions of roughly equal standing, so the control works "sideways", not from the people below. Examples are Parliament (through Question Hour), the courts, the CAG, the Central Information Commission (CIC), the Lokpal and the CVC. Real accountability needs both answerability (explaining actions) and enforceability (facing consequences). Horizontal bodies provide both.
Example
During Question Hour, MPs ask ministers about their departments, and the ministers must reply on the floor of the House. In the same way, the CAG audits government spending and reports what it finds to Parliament.
Don't confuse with
- Vertical accountability: here rulers answer to citizens through elections, the media and civil society, not to other state bodies.
Related concepts
- Good governance
- Good Governance Day
- Minimum government, maximum governance
- Transparency
- Vertical accountability