Because – rather like its bedfellow “sanction” – it has the ability to mean two completely opposite things at the same time. It could be understood to mean “keeping watch over something”, yet, at the same time, it could just as easily convey “missing it altogether”. Hence the wry smiles whenever phrases like “political oversight group” get trotted out.
However, like most jokes, it contains a kernel of genuine anxiety because the concept of accountability drills down to our deepest fears – the acceptance of responsibility for one’s own actions. And with effective accountability must come independent scrutiny.
It is also what the Roman poet Juvenal was getting at with his famous question: “Who is watching the watchmen?” The reason that this phrase has endured through the centuries – from political speeches to graphic novels – is that it gets straight to the heart of who is holding who to account, and where is the “grit” in the system?
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