Neoliberalism and Accountability Failure in the Delivery of Services Affecting the Health of the Public.

Since the 1980s, the emergence of neoliberalism as a dominant government paradigm has led to increasing instances of accountability failure, resulting in significant injuries or death. Employing a grounded theory approach, accountability failure is defined and explored through analysis of 18 public inquiries and reports in the United Kingdom and Canada. The analysis reveals that the combination of a neoliberal policy paradigm and flawed regulation, governance, culture, and performance management inevitably led to accountability failure.