To me it boils down to the lack of accountability across government. I was a grant manager for a federal agency for almost 10 years before leaving to go to academia (now with tenure, so I guess I'm the worst of both worlds). A basic part of the job was oversight of the grantees and understanding how they proposed to spend the money, and …
To me it boils down to the lack of accountability across government. I was a grant manager for a federal agency for almost 10 years before leaving to go to academia (now with tenure, so I guess I'm the worst of both worlds). A basic part of the job was oversight of the grantees and understanding how they proposed to spend the money, and then how they actually spent the money. This was true with subgrantees, too. The grantee was responsible for ensuring any subgrantees complied with all the terms of the grant and reported on it. We could do site visits and did regular audits.
But the whole culture of government has devolved, in both executive agencies and Congress. Look at how many executive employees either refuse to answer questions posed by oversight committees, play dumb, or actually rebuke the committee members (at least of the minority party) for daring to ask real questions. And Congressional leaders don't hold them accountable, either by restricting funding or pressuring the agencies to fire them. We're not in a parliamentary system, so it is sad that legislative leaders don't hold the executive branch, even when held by their own party, more accountable for incompetence, mismanagement, and failure. At best, they allow them to say "I accept responsibility" with no further consequences. Such statements are pointless, and really insulting to the public.
At best, they allow them to say "I accept responsibility" with no further consequences. Such statements are pointless, and really insulting to the public.
Canada has a parliamentary system and Trudeau has done this many times without penalty.
To me it boils down to the lack of accountability across government. I was a grant manager for a federal agency for almost 10 years before leaving to go to academia (now with tenure, so I guess I'm the worst of both worlds). A basic part of the job was oversight of the grantees and understanding how they proposed to spend the money, and then how they actually spent the money. This was true with subgrantees, too. The grantee was responsible for ensuring any subgrantees complied with all the terms of the grant and reported on it. We could do site visits and did regular audits.
But the whole culture of government has devolved, in both executive agencies and Congress. Look at how many executive employees either refuse to answer questions posed by oversight committees, play dumb, or actually rebuke the committee members (at least of the minority party) for daring to ask real questions. And Congressional leaders don't hold them accountable, either by restricting funding or pressuring the agencies to fire them. We're not in a parliamentary system, so it is sad that legislative leaders don't hold the executive branch, even when held by their own party, more accountable for incompetence, mismanagement, and failure. At best, they allow them to say "I accept responsibility" with no further consequences. Such statements are pointless, and really insulting to the public.
At best, they allow them to say "I accept responsibility" with no further consequences. Such statements are pointless, and really insulting to the public.
Canada has a parliamentary system and Trudeau has done this many times without penalty.