1. Write an essay on Accountability using the case study of how the current Campbell Newman government is using the unicameral Queensland parliamentary system to pass laws impinging on the powers of the judiciary (i.e. the Vicious Lawless Association Disestablishment Act 2013 and the Criminal Law Amendment (Public Interest Declarations) Amendment Act 2013. The essay should include discussion on whether or not Queensland should reinstate the upper house of parliament to retain some balance. The essay should illustrate, explore and expand on Political, ethical and organisational accountability.
Essay to Include:
i. A definition of ‘accountability’
ii. An identification of the forms of accountability relevant to the case.
2. The case should illustrate accountability (or lack of it) and enable the discussion of forms and techniques of accountability. Don’t just ‘tell a story’ or describe the case situation. You have to analyse the situation in terms of issues around accountability.
3. The essay must illustrate issues of accountability in the public sector.
4. If you have a lot of case material and description, it should be summarised and/or appended. The essay should focus on analysis and exploring dilemmas and issues, not case details.
5. It will not be possible to discuss all the issues in an essay of this size. You need to discuss at least some of those listed in the topic. You may then choose to discuss additional issues. It is better to choose a few issues and discuss and analyse them in depth and detail, rather than skating over the surface of too many issues.
6. The key is to not just describe the case study/situation but analyse it. Describing the case study/situation is like telling a story about what happened. Analysing the case study is questioning the story, asking why things in the story happened the way they did, with what consequences, how could the story have turned out differently, what do other people think about the story, are there different versions of the events in the story and so on.
