Modern Ombudsing

"When complaints are freely heard, deeply considered and speedily reformed, then is the utmost bound of civil liberty attained that wise men look for.” - John Milton

The concept of an ombudsperson has multicultural roots but in its modern form is largely of Scandinavian origin and defined as: 1. a public official who acts as an impartial intermediary between the public and government or bureaucracy, or an employee of an organization who mediates disputes between employees and management; 2. a person appointed to investigate complaints against maladministration by a particular category of organization or in a particular area of public life, such as in local authorities, hospitals, or pensions. Originally a government office, ombuds services now appear in public, private and social sectors across the globe. There are three general types of ombuds: legislative/classical; executive/institutional; and organizational/workplace. Independence, impartiality and integrity are often listed among essential qualities of an ombuds officer.

The plight of an individual with a grievance within or against an organization or bureaucracy can be a heavy burden to bear. Concern for maltreatment of an elderly parent in a nursing home, a student with a grievance but afraid of retaliation, a staff member concerned with maladministration, a safe place for a whistleblower to share concerns, or the airing of human rights abuses – these are examples of grievances brought to the ombuds office. Ombudsing is a unique practice that has been steadily growing worldwide and often contains pulses of democracy. It can have the ability to: give voice to individuals in the face of officialdom; and, in the words of William B. Gwynn, “improve administration” and provide for the “protection and psychological security of citizens.”

Against the background of Government and the French philosopher Michel Foucault’s idea of governmentality, ombudsing provides a rare, often fair-minded mechanism of protection for the individual with a grievance. In Foucault’s terms it embodies the principle of parresia. The research in the field is sparse and more inquiry may prove valuable to sharpen the conception of the role and to develop the efficacy of the practice as it continues to spread. It is my aim to explore the forces that shape modern practice in this valuable office.

My research focuses specifically on addressing the following questions:

What are genealogical traces of the ombuds idea as it moved from Scandinavia around the world and through into modern practices and how and why do those traces matter?

There appears to be a paradox in the concept – the more carefully shaped the parameters of the office, the more efficacious the practice. So how, specifically, can setting careful parameters in the creation of the role within an institutional setting increase the possibilities and probabilities of effectiveness?

What is the value of legislation, terms of reference and charters for ombuds positions and how does the language in those documents exert an influence on the development of practice within a setting?

Which forces or processes of social construction can be identified as exerting a pull on the daily practice of modern ombuds officers, their institutional positions, and the defining discourses of professional associations?

1 Legal Dictionary. Retrieved May 2011 from http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/ombudsman
2 Oxford English Dictionary. Retrieved May, 2011 from http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/131181
3 Anderson, Stanley. (1969). The Ombudsman Papers. Berkeley, CA: Institute of Governmental Studies.