Government,funded nonprofits,and accountability

Internationally, nonprofit organizations are being held to account for how they spend public funds. This issue of accountability has emerged as a theme in nonprofit-state relationships. Exploring the state side of that relationship in Australia, the author suggests that significant constraints hinder the ability of state funding bodies to manage accountability processes for grant funds. The interviews summarized and reported here were conducted before the full impact of a contract regime was felt. The issues identified permit reflection on the possible mediating impact of different political systems on accountability processes, and on the limitations of principal-agent frameworks in building accountability processes and state-nonprofit relations.