Lessons in Framing Responsible Government

• Author: Raymond W. Cox
• Date: 01 September 2009
• Published date: 01 September 2009
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6210.2009.02047.x

Book Reviews 979

Lessons in Framing Responsible Government

Raymond W. Cox III

University of Akron

Raymond W. Cox III is a professor in

the Department of Public Administration

and Urban Studies at the University of

Akron. He received his doctorate in public

administration and policy from Virginia Tech.

He is the author of more than 60 academic

and professional publications. In addition

to his academic work, he served for nearly

20 years in government, including time

as a staff member in the Massachusetts

legislature, chief of staff to the lieutenant

governor of New Mexico, and in the federal

government at the National Science

Foundation. He recently returned from

McGill University in Montreal, where he was

the research chair in public policy through

the U.S.–Canada Fulbright program.

E-mail: rcox@uakron.edu

Steven G. Koven, Responsible Governance: A Case

Study Approach (Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 2008).

201 pp. $79.95 (cloth), ISBN: 9780765620590;

$29.95 (paper), ISBN 780765620590.

How do we know that what we are doing is

right? How do we ensure that our choices

and actions are undertaken in the spirit and

name of the public service? To whom and to what

are we responsible in achieving “good” governance?

Steven G. Koven attempts to bring into focus these

controversial, and contextually convoluted, questions

by using the lens of cases.  is is no easy task. As he

notes in chapter 1, and repeats often, responsibility is

“a moving target, highly dependent upon the prevail-

ing norms and values of a given society” (3). To avoid

making the cases more history lesson than analytic

tool, Koven must f‌i rst establish a framework for analy-

sis. In fact, the f‌i rst two chapters (and the last) of‌f er

no cases, but rather explore the intellectual origins

of the principles of responsible governance in order

to provide a framework (three lenses) from which to

explore the political theory of responsible governance.

 e lenses chosen are responsiveness to the public (or

public interest), conformance with notions of natural

law, and adherence to precepts of judicial fairness (rule

of law). Given the immensity of the task, it is less

important whether these are the only lenses through

which to explore responsible governance. As heuristic

devices, these three work well (certainly in the context

of the six cases presented). As I read those f‌i rst two

chapters (but especially the second), I appreciated

the care and depth of analysis of political theoretical

questions that are often left unexamined in public

administration texts.  ey are vital to the utility of

this “case” book.

 e six cases are critical choices in understanding the

strengths and weaknesses of this book.  ese cases are

presented as pairs covering three topics—the role of

money in American electoral politics, perceptions

of trust and competence in government, and the

role of international law in def‌i ning and constraining

behavior.  e cases are presented in some detail.

Five are relatively “contemporary” examinations of

controversies—the Bill Clinton impeachment, the

Tom DeLay scandal, the My Lai massacre, the Abu

Ghraib torture controversy, and the mismanagement

in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.  e sixth is

less a case than an extended, century-long history

lesson in the corrupt practices of politicians and ward

bosses. Importantly, each case represents a “breach of

responsibility.”  e cases are not intended to provide

insight into the complexity of the issue of responsible

governance. Rather, the cases are presented precisely

because they will be recognized as failures to properly

exercise responsibility. Koven makes a good-faith

ef‌f ort to provide a “neutral” presentation of these

controversies.  e lessons about the “ethical” failures

that underlie each of these cases are clearly presented.

Again, the reader is never left to ponder the issue

of responsibility; the cases are readily identif‌i able as

negative examples. Koven turns this into a positive

as he notes “the lessons of the past tell us that self-

correcting mechanisms are available…. An argu-

ment therefore can be made that someone is paying

attention and the government system of checks and

balances preserves cherished institutions” (180).

For all that, the book begs the question of what

“responsible governance” looks like. We are presented

with examples of what it is not. We are correctly

reminded that these examples of breaches of respon-

sibility led to counteractions. To be fair, Koven does

not intend to resolve the controversy about responsi-

ble and ethical governance. He sets out to undertake

the less complex task of using case studies to better

understand the concept of responsibility. To get even

this far, it is a “case study” book that devotes fully

one-third of the text to background review and com-

mentary rather than to the cases.  is book of‌f ers

more political theory than public administration

students normally get.  at is less a commentary on

this book than it is on the narrowness of the focus

of many master of public administration and public

policy programs.

One of the concerns about the case method is that

students may miss the complexity of the topic by

looking for a straightforward “answer” to emerge