«(...)
The Three Pillars of Budget Accountability:
Transparency, Participation, and Oversight
Transparency is an important condition for ensuring a full
budget discussion and appropriate budget monitoring is able
to take place. It is not, however, a sufficient one. Creating the
conditions under which governments are consistently held to
account for managing public funds efficiently and effectively
also requires establishing meaningful opportunities for
citizens and civil society to participate in the budget process;
and requires strong formal oversight from the legislature
and the national audit office (referred to hereafter as the
“supreme audit institution”).
Budget transparency, public participation in the budget
process, and strong formal oversight institutions need to
work together to create a robust budget accountability
ecosystem. Without comprehensive budget information,
formal oversight institutions and civil society cannot monitor
budget policy design and implementation. Without adequate
access to formal and informal spaces to influence the budget,
the public is not empowered to expose government decision
makers to a diversity of views to help ensure that budget
policies are based on full information and reflect national
priorities. Finally, without adequate authority, scope, and
resources, formal oversight institutions cannot effectively
carry out their mandates and ensure that public funds are
collected and spent in the manner that was intended.
Absence of, or weakness in, any of these three core elements
undercuts the functioning of the entire accountability
system, making it less likely that budget policies reflect a
nation’s needs and priorities and more likely that there will be
corruption and mismanagement of public funds. But when
these components are in place, policy is more likely to be
matched with public resources, and these resources are more
likely be spent as intended – and tackling some of the world’s
toughest challenges comes into reach.
So if the goal of holding governments to account for the use
of public funds is to be realized, systematic changes need
to advance not just transparency but also participation and formal oversight. The Open Budget Survey explores all three
of these dimensions. (...)».
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