Professional Documents
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Organisational Culture-7
Organisational Culture-7
However, joint ventures involving the public sector raise issues about the nature
of accountability and the scope of state responsibilities. In entering a partnership
with a private firm, the public sector’s role is defined as both an investor and a
partner. Rather than directly producing the good or service or acting through an
arm’s-length contract, the public sector is engaged in a more-extensive contractual
arrangement with a firm. As a result, the “publicness” of the venture is often opaque
—the good or service may be co-owned and managed by both the public and private
sectors. This situation can raise questions about the nature of political accountability
and the scope for public action in unforeseen circumstances. Joint ventures
substitute direct forms of accountability for the good for a more market-based form
of accountability operating through contracts; however, the longer-term or more-
extensive nature of the contracts means that the public sector is not simply playing
the role of a buyer of a good or service but that of a market player. Critics maintain,
though, that this dual role is difficult to sustain, because the government bears
political responsibility for its actions that extend beyond the contractual structure,
which means it may continue to bear risk with reduced mechanisms for political
control.