‘Accountability’ is one of the more frequently used terms in today's constitutional vocabulary, whether in the United Kingdom, the European Union more broadly, the United States, or other liberal democracies.

Interestingly, at least when it is deployed as a normative end-goal, the term seems to find equal favour with those who, in considering arrangements for policing the exercise of governmental power in a democracy, would prioritize the role of elected authorities (in particular the legislature) and those who would prioritize the role of courts.

Despite their differences, members of each camp can easily designate their own favoured approach as one which directly relates to accountability, even if they understand that term rather differently when it is explored at a more detailed level. More generally, the term ‘accountability’, however defined, has come to assume a particular prominence in official, academic and popular discourse concerning matters of constitutional law. As such, a re-examination of ideas of accountability in a constitutional law setting, conducted from a variety of perspectives, seems entirely appropriate. This intro­ductory chapter seeks to sketch out some of the themes relating to debates about accountability in general, and to tie these to some of the specific issues raised and debated in the present collection of essays.

A.

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