Arguing that we only have democracy when systems of power are held to account, Kaufman examines the real work being done to challenge the operations of power that underlie four unruly social problems: climate change, sweatshop labour, police abuse, and economic deprivation.

In Accountability Democracy, Kaufman pairs each of these issues with an operation of power - the large scale influence of multinational corporations; the power of governments; the authority of financial markets; and the control inherent in systems of meaning - and using case studies like the Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh and the killing of Eric Garner, forcefully demonstrates the difficulty in challenging this nexus of power.

Yet, advancing a positive message, Kaufman maintains that this network is not omnipotent and can be questioned if we develop 'mechanisms of accountability' which allow us to conceptualise the nature of these restrictions and the action required to resist them. Kaufman provides then, a model for ethical living that allows us to investigate and appreciate our own connection to the powerful forces that control our world.