“Accountability, Democracy and Participation in Tumultuous Societies: Making It Count”

Call for Papers – Special Issue: “Accountability, Democracy and Participation in Tumultuous Societies: Making It Count”

Journal: Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal
Publisher: Emerald Publishing
Full‑paper deadline: 31 July 2026

This special issue examines how accountability, democracy, and participation interact in the provision of public services under turbulent and shifting political conditions. It asks when and how participatory mechanisms make public‑service delivery more democratic and legitimate, and how accounting, performance‑measurement, and audit practices shape or undermine participation in both democratic and less‑democratic regimes.

Why this issue matters

• In tumultuous societies, democratic institutions, populism, and technocratic governance often clash, reshaping how citizens can participate and hold authorities to account.

• The COVID‑19 pandemic and other crises revealed both the potential of participatory, data‑driven accountability and the risks of poor‑quality information, exclusion, and technocratic capture.

• At the same time, non‑democratic and hybrid regimes develop distinct accountability architectures, raising questions about the role of accounting, audit, and “voice” in these contexts.

This SI is particularly relevant in turbulent, post‑pandemic, and geopolitically shifting times, where the boundaries between democratic participation, accountability, and authoritarian control are increasingly contested.

Core themes and research topics

The special issue welcomes empirical, historical, and theoretical work that connects accounting, accountability, audit, and public‑management practices to participation and democracy. Topics include:

• Accountability and participation in public‑service delivery

  • How different forms of citizen participation (e.g., participatory budgeting, co‑production, user councils) affect accountability and service quality.

• Democracy, transparency, and accounting in turbulent regimes

  • The role of accounting and audit systems in reinforcing or challenging democratic legitimacy and authoritarian control.

• Organisational and internal participation

  • How internal participation and “voice” in public‑sector organisations shape reform, resistance, and the acceptance of new accounting practices.

• Performance measurement, accountability, and neoliberalism

  • How performance‑measurement frameworks can enable or restrict citizen voice and co‑designed public services.

• Nonprofit and charitable organisations

  • The role of volunteers, donors, and beneficiaries in shaping accountability and participation in the nonprofit sector.

• Digital governance and participation

  • How digital platforms, apps, and data‑analytics tools influence participation, surveillance, and accountability in public‑service delivery.

The issue explicitly invites international comparative studies and diverse methodological approaches (qualitative, quantitative, historical, design‑based).

Guest editors

• Prof. Laurence Ferry, Durham University, UK

• Prof. Noel Hyndman, Durham University & Queen’s University Belfast, UK

• Prof. Mariannunziata Liguori, Durham University, UK

• Dr. Henry Midgley, Durham University, UK

Submission details

• Submission platform: ScholarOne Manuscripts for AAAJ:
  https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/aaaj

• When submitting, select the special issue title “Accountability, democracy and participation in tumultuous societies: making it count”.

• Submission window:

  • Submissions open: 1 March 2026

  • Full‑paper deadline: 31 July 2026

  • Expected final acceptance: 30 December 2026

• Manuscripts must be original and not under review elsewhere, and must follow the journal’s Author Guidelines.

This special issue is ideal for accounting, public‑administration, audit, and governance scholars whose work critically engages with accountability, participation, and democracy in turbulent and changing political environments.

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