Wrestling with multiple accountabilities in times of crisis: Findings from the experiences of Chinese local governments in responding to COVID-19

Governments around the world, when faced with a crisis, struggle to manage various legitimate accountability expectations. Our study investigated how Chinese local governments reconcile social and hierarchical accountability in managing COVID-19. We found that local governments are generally more responsive to hierarchical than social accountability. Moreover, senior officials are highly unlikely to shirk their duties toward hierarchical accountability when a crisis is severe. Furthermore, crisis severity increases local governments' responsiveness to social accountability. Our study has encircled our understanding regarding the management of multiple accountabilities in crisis.