Today, educational evaluation theory and practice face a critical juncture with the kind of educational accountability evaluation legislated by No Child Left Behind. While the goal of this kind of educational accountability is to improve education, it is characterized by a hierarchical, top-down approach to improving educational achievement reflecting a climate of control and efficiency. Democr...

The past two decades have witnessed a growing interest for performance management and budgeting reforms in response to louder public demands for government accountability in industrial countries. These reforms are intended to transform public budgeting systems from inputs control to an output and/or outcome focus in the interest of improving operational efficiency and promoting results-oriented...

This paper explores the impact of the EU on civil society in domestic public accountability contests. Evidence drawn from three case studies of public policy involving an actual member-State (the UK), a new member-State (leading candidate for accession at the time of writing) (the Czech Republic), and a poorly performing candidate (Romania) support the conclusion that the EU empowers domestic a...