Abstract: A sound accountability mechanism is not only an important means to eliminate responsibility avoidance at the grass-roots level,but also a key starting point to promote the modernization of the grass-roots governance system and governance capacity.However,the excessive "instrumentalization" of accountability in strengthening the accountability mechanism by local governments has caused grass-roots governments toeither avoid responsibility beforehand or passively avoid responsibility.The imbalance of government power and responsibility in grass-roots governance and the limited rationality of behavioral agents together give rise to the grass-roots responsibility avoidance,while informal relations,information asymmetry and consistency of interests provide a feasible space for it.Grass-roots responsibility avoidance and accountability are not in a one-way "problem-means"relationship.While accountability eliminates grass-roots responsibility avoidance,grass-roots responsibility avoidance can also promote the cognition of the value of the object behavior of accountability,the way of subject effectiveness assessment and the adjustment and optimization of the operating mechanism.It is necessary to optimize the top-level design of the accountability system according to the actual needs of governance,strengthen the internal communication in the implementation of accountability,face up to the limited rational characteristics of the governance subjects at the grass-roots level,and look for the key points of the balance between the two in the process of optimizing the accountability mechanism and evading responsibility avoidance at the grass-roots level.

Key words: accountability mechanism, grass-roots responsibility avoidance, poverty reduction, governance modernization