We are, according to Keane, living in 'monitory democracy' (or: post parliamentary democracy). On the one hand, executive functions have moved away from central governments in what Rhodes coined the hollowing out of the state. On the other hand, the role of monitoring has partially moved away from Parliaments to a host of non-parliamentary institutions, ranging from independent regulators to societal organizations and media. The resulting networks of governing and monitoring institutions display a high level of interactivity. The media play a key role in this interactivity, as they are the prime 'connecting mechanism' between the different nexus in the network.
This paper investigates the role of the media in interactive governance / accountability. The paper develops a theoretical model for understanding the role of media in accountability. The key assumption is that the media are an important trigger that ‘activate’ existing formal accountability institutions, i.e. Parliaments and regulators.
The paper will investigate whether, to what extent and how media are important factors in interactive governance and interactive accountability. The paper will first analyze, on the basis of a large quantitative and qualitative analysis of media reports, the extent to which executive agencies feature in media stories. The paper will subsequently assess whether and how media operate as independent ‘accountability forums’ (see Bovens) as such. The paper will finally assess the extent to which formal accountability forums – i.e. parliament and independent regulators – respond to media coverage and media accountability as a trigger to use their formal prerogatives.
The analysis illuminates that there is a large level of media attention for executive agencies. The level of ensuing accountability is lower than was expected on the basis of the literature. Media accountability is nevertheless influential in interactive governance, as all parties engage in anticipatory activities.
