A corpus account of accountability

This brief paper provides an example of how a lexeme can be analysed through the tools of corpus linguistics. Its purpose is to illustrate the potential of these tools in analysing the ways in which key social and political concepts are construed in naturally occurring texts. Its addressee is primarily composed of the political scientists in the IntUne project and it is one of a series of papers produced by the Media Working Group aimed at highlighting some aspects of lexis that may be of interest to the Issue Areas in the project; this paper addresses in particular the “Scope of Governance” Issue Area.