Introduction
In democratic systems, the expectation of accountability is paramount: those who make decisions should be held responsible for their outcomes. Yet the reality of modern governance often involves complex webs of delegation, compartmentalization, and institutional distancing that obscure lines of responsibility. These mechanisms fall under what Christopher Hood categorizes as agency strategies of blame avoidance. This article explores how agency strategies function, why they are attractive to political actors, and what consequences they carry for public trust and democratic oversight. Using a problematization lens, we examine how institutional arrangements become active participants in the politics of evasion…
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