Innovation in Accountability in the Fight Against COVID-19 in Brazil : An Empirical Analysis of Internal Control

This work aims to map and analyze the measures adopted by Brazilian internal control agencies at the state and federal levels, based on a classification of innovation in the public sector adopted by the OECD, having as a reference the relationship between accountability and the macro-functions of governmental internal auditing, ombudsmen, discipline, prevention and the fight against corruption. The initiatives qualified as innovative were compiled by consulting the official websites of the agencies and entities defined in the sample. The accountability initiatives linked to the macro-functions of the ombudsman and the prevention of corruption, were characterized by innovation aimed at improving existing structures or practices, and also by the predominance of the adaptive domain of innovation, while Brazilian horizontal accountability initiatives, referring to the governmental macrofunctions of internal auditing, discipline and the fight against corruption, were anticipatory and mission-oriented