Accountability is being on the hook: having to explain what you did and take the consequences if it went wrong. A minister answering questions in parliament, a manager asked where the money went, a nurse whose decisions are reviewed after a bad night.
It is the word people reach for when they want power watched: there is no accountability, we need greater accountability, an accountability gap. The adjective is accountable, and it comes with two prepositions — accountable TO someone FOR something: ministers are accountable to parliament for the money they spend. Accountability is not the same as blame. It is the arrangement that exists beforehand, the standing duty to answer, whether or not anything goes wrong. And despite the look of the word it has nothing to do with accountants: the account here is the account you give of yourself.
1nounanswerabilityThe duty to explain your actions to others and to accept the consequences of them.
“Voters wanted more accountability from the council after the flooding.”
synonyms: answerability
2nounaccountabilityThe willingness of a person to own what they have done rather than pass it on.
“She showed real accountability when the project failed.”
accountability is a form of responsibility.
From accountable + -ity.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA