Public Management Seminars II - Deborah Agostino

ABSTRACT

Purpose: This paper examines the micro-processes that connect different accountability layers, namely the social media layer and the dyadic layer, leveraging on their different temporal features. While previous studies consider temporality as a taken-for-granted aspect of accountability, this study acknowledges the importance of considering temporal dimensions to analyze accountability practices.  

Methodology: The study focuses on the National Museum in Brazil, which developed a social media layer following a fire incident to reenact minimal accountability to the public and reinvigorate a pre-existing dyadic accountability layer. The research analyzes social media posts, documents, official reports, and interviews collected over 6 years.

Findings: The findings reveal that dyadic and social media accountability layers coexist, and the National Museum developed the micro-processes of mirroring and reframing to connect these two layers. Mirroring involves presenting the same content across both layers, while reframing implies keeping the content from one layer, transforming this content with a new meaning, and presenting it to another layer. These micro-processes occur because each layer has a different temporal feature regarding cycle, duration, frequency, and temporal orientation.

Originality/Value: This research contributes to the literature on public sector accountability in digital environments by recognizing the presence of multiple accountability layers with distinct temporal features. It introduces the micro-processes of mirroring and reframing to explain how different accountability layers are connected. Moreover, this study underlines the relevance of temporal dynamics to better explain the connection between social media and dyadic accountability. The study opens new avenues for understanding how accountability practices are influenced by temporal dynamics and the importance of taking a multiple-layer perspective on public sector accountability.