The opposition between ‘open public services’ and the ‘big state’ is a misleading one

Many of its advocates see the open public services agenda as an essential means through which to ensure accountability in the delivery of public services. However Dan Silver argues that this understanding rests on assumptions which are fundamentally problematic. Rather than seeking accountability through the dismantling of the ‘big state’, we must look to redesign our institutions using much more radical understandings of what democratic accountability entails.