ACCOUNTABILITY THROUGH WEB PORTALS: A STUDY IN CITY COUNCILS IN FLORIANÓPOLIS’ METROPOLITAN AREA

Abstract

This goal of this paper is to identify the reports published by the City Councils of Florianópolis Metropolitan Area on their web portals, which can disclose the expenses accountability. This is an exploratory research, done through the study of several cases, with a qualitative approach. The seven web portals data were collected by using an observation form adapted from a model proposed by Santana Junior, Libonati & Vasconcelos (2009) and the methodology suggested by Amaral (2007). After the web portals observation, a questionnaire was sent by e-mail to the Presidents of the City Councils with the goal of getting to know their perception on the accountability process in the portals. The data was handled qualitatively. The accountability process in the portals, when it exists, may have an explicit link and hence is easily accessible, or it might be found on the site map or an internal search engine. According to the findings, web portals accountability done by City Councils in Florianópolis Metropolitan Area is not a widespread practice, be it on the site map, internal search engine or through a specific link. Except for Florianópolis City Council, there is an almost total lack of information and/or it is impossible to locate it.