Truth and Democratic Accountability: Considerations for the Public Sphere, Public Leadership and Performance Management

This essay draws on the extensive legacy of political philosophy to examine the relationship between truth and the administration of liberal democracies. The essay includes a discussion of the relationship between truth and the “reason” of classical, small ‘l’ liberalism, the role of science as an institution and a generator of truth claims, and differences between truth and opinions in relation to political discourse. Contemporary challenges with truthfulness in liberal democracies are explored, including the role of postmodernism and the current climate of conspiracy, conflation of truth claims and opinions, and organized lying. The essay looks at the ways that truth and public accountably can be reclaimed in the public sphere, calling for a renewed focus on the ethics of public leadership, and inviting the reconsideration of the narrative functions of performance management systems. The essay concludes with a call for public accountability scholars to consider the basis of truthfulness as a metastandard for democratic accountability.