Wow! eBook
Open Budgets: The Political Economy of Transparency, Participation, and Accountability
Author(s): Sanjeev Khagram
- Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
- Publication Date: 5 April 2013
- Language: English
- Print length: 271 pages
- ISBN-10: 0815723377
- ISBN-13: 9780815723370
Book Description
Deciding who gets what, when, and how are perhaps the most important decisions any government has to make. So it should not be surprising that around the world, government officials responsible for public budgeting are facing demands to make their patterns of spending more transparent and their processes more participatory. These demands are coming from their own citizens as well as from other government officials, economic actors, and increasingly from international sources all of whom are looking for more open and inclusive processes for establishing how valuable public resources are spent. Rigorous analysis of public budget transparency and participation has been thin at best. Open Budgets is a major step forward in our understanding of powerful changes. What are the characteristics, causes, and consequences of the shift toward greater transparency, participation, and accountability? Where is it happening, under what conditions, and what does the future hold for this trend? Sanjeev Khagram, Archon Fung, Paolo de Renzio, and their contributors explicate political economy factors that have brought about greater transparency and participation in budget settings across Asia, Africa, and Latin America. They dissect the strategies, policies, and institutions through which improvements can occur and produce change in policy and institutional outcomes, considering the potentially broad societal impacts over the long term. This international movement aided by the Open Government Partnership recently launched by President Obama and other heads of state at the UN General Assembly is picking up steam, as seen in the Arab Spring. Open Budgets clarifies what these dramatic trends and patterns mean and how they are playing out worldwide.
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Sanjeev Khagram is a professor at the University of Washington s Evans School of Public Affairs and Jackson School of International Studies. Archon Fung is the Ford Foundation Professor of Democracy and Citizenship at Harvard University s Kennedy School of Government. Paolo de Renzio is a senior research fellow with the International Budget Partnership and research associate at the Overseas Development Institute as well as at Oxford University.
