Making Governments Accountable

Making Governments Accountable
Author: Zahirul Hoque
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 342
Release: 2015-05-15
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1317666976

Over the past two decades, there has been a paradigm shift in public administration and public sector accounting around the world, with increasing emphasis on good governance and accountability processes for government entities. This is all driven both by economic rationalism, and by changing expectations of what governments can and should do. An important aspect of this accountability and governance process is the establishment and effective functioning of a Public Accounts Committee (PAC), a key component of democratic accountability. With contributions from renowned scholars and practitioners, and using case studies from around the world, this research-based collection examines the rationales for current roles of the PACs and explores the links between PACs and National Audit Offices. It also compares PAC practices from developing and developed countries such as Africa, Asia, Pacific islands, and Europe with both Westminster and non-Westminster models of government. This will be valuable reading for academics, researchers, and advanced students in public management, public accounting and public sector governance.

Consent of the Governed

Consent of the Governed
Author: Jason Hoyt
Publisher: Bookbaby
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2016-03-24
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9780996686327

Jason's awe-inspiring deep dive into how the grand jury operated for centuries, and is meant to operate today, earned him the title, "political archaeologist." Simply stated, he has uncovered the most powerful tool in government accountability which has been there all along. With amazing research and his easy-to-comprehend conversational style, Hoyt delivers a knock-out punch to deep state actors and swamp creatures all over America. Politicians and government bureaucrats alike fear the grand jury as a powerful yet misunderstood independent body of We The People. Be forewarned, though. The deep state doesn't want you to read this book! Do you know how a grand jury works? Do you know why the grand jury, as a powerful independent body of We The People, makes the deep state tremble with fear? If you haven't served on a grand jury and conducted your own research, it's likely you have no idea what it can do. Presiding judges and prosecutors are most definitely not going to tell you what you're able to accomplish. The grand jury's secret proceedings and powerful investigative functions have been kept from the public's eye for over a century, and there's a reason. For example, did you know your local grand jury can audit the government from top to bottom and force any elected official or government worker to testify about their operations? In the book, Hoyt reveals an often-missed paragraph in the Florida Grand Jury Instructions that discusses the most powerful word in the Constitution where a grand jury can open an investigation on their own initiative on any topic they choose. Imagine how your government would operate if they knew at any minute they could be called to testify before a grand jury about their operations. Imagine if the government feared the people, and not the other way around. Is there such a thing as "accountability" anymore? Unfortunately, we've been trained to think the only way We The People can hold our government accountable is by waiting for the next election. That's just not the case. In the book Hoyt explores true, real, and impactful consequences in government and how the most powerful word in the Constitution, sitting right there in the fifth amendment's grand jury clause, has been hijacked. The good news is the people still have the power to act as a sword and shield, protecting against wrongful accusations by government while reaching inside the government to root out corruption. The deep state bureaucracy is out of control, but not for long. Grand juries across the country are opening investigations, looking at evidence, and holding government officials accountable. In the book, you'll discover... ...How to restore government accountability. ...How the most powerful word in the Constitution was hijacked. ...How to reach inside the government and root out corruption. - What if every single move the government made was under the watchful eye of a grand jury with real, tangible, and immediate consequences? - What if We The People could operate on an official capacity outside the branches of government and provide our "consent of the governed" on a daily basis? - What if an independent grand jury, acting on its own initiative, could reach inside our government and root out corruption with indictments? - What if the Supreme Court, as recent as 1992, said the grand jury, "...belongs to no branch of the institutional government, serving as a kind of buffer or referee between the government and the people?" - What if one of the most powerful tools to check and balance the government was already protected by the Constitution? Fortunately, Hoyt isn't proposing a new idea. Like a political archaeologist, he has uncovered what has been there all along and has worked for 800 years. The bottom line: the grand jury is feared by the deep state, establishment politicians, and the entrenched Washington, D.C. bureaucratic swamp. Read CONSENT OF THE GOVERNED to find out why!

Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government

Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government
Author: United States Government Accountability Office
Publisher: Lulu.com
Total Pages: 88
Release: 2019-03-24
Genre: Reference
ISBN: 0359541828

Policymakers and program managers are continually seeking ways to improve accountability in achieving an entity's mission. A key factor in improving accountability in achieving an entity's mission is to implement an effective internal control system. An effective internal control system helps an entity adapt to shifting environments, evolving demands, changing risks, and new priorities. As programs change and entities strive to improve operational processes and implement new technology, management continually evaluates its internal control system so that it is effective and updated when necessary. Section 3512 (c) and (d) of Title 31 of the United States Code (commonly known as the Federal Managers' Financial Integrity Act (FMFIA)) requires the Comptroller General to issue standards for internal control in the federal government.

Government Auditing Standards - 2018 Revision

Government Auditing Standards - 2018 Revision
Author: United States Government Accountability Office
Publisher: Lulu.com
Total Pages: 234
Release: 2019-03-24
Genre: Reference
ISBN: 0359536395

Audits provide essential accountability and transparency over government programs. Given the current challenges facing governments and their programs, the oversight provided through auditing is more critical than ever. Government auditing provides the objective analysis and information needed to make the decisions necessary to help create a better future. The professional standards presented in this 2018 revision of Government Auditing Standards (known as the Yellow Book) provide a framework for performing high-quality audit work with competence, integrity, objectivity, and independence to provide accountability and to help improve government operations and services. These standards, commonly referred to as generally accepted government auditing standards (GAGAS), provide the foundation for government auditors to lead by example in the areas of independence, transparency, accountability, and quality through the audit process. This revision contains major changes from, and supersedes, the 2011 revision.

Responsible Parties

Responsible Parties
Author: Frances Rosenbluth
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 335
Release: 2018-10-02
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0300241054

How popular democracy has paradoxically eroded trust in political systems worldwide, and how to restore confidence in democratic politics In recent decades, democracies across the world have adopted measures to increase popular involvement in political decisions. Parties have turned to primaries and local caucuses to select candidates; ballot initiatives and referenda allow citizens to enact laws directly; many places now use proportional representation, encouraging smaller, more specific parties rather than two dominant ones.Yet voters keep getting angrier.There is a steady erosion of trust in politicians, parties, and democratic institutions, culminating most recently in major populist victories in the United States, the United Kingdom, and elsewhere. Frances Rosenbluth and Ian Shapiro argue that devolving power to the grass roots is part of the problem. Efforts to decentralize political decision-making have made governments and especially political parties less effective and less able to address constituents’ long-term interests. They argue that to restore confidence in governance, we must restructure our political systems to restore power to the core institution of representative democracy: the political party.

Making Politics Work for Development

Making Politics Work for Development
Author: World Bank
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 350
Release: 2016-07-14
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1464807744

Governments fail to provide the public goods needed for development when its leaders knowingly and deliberately ignore sound technical advice or are unable to follow it, despite the best of intentions, because of political constraints. This report focuses on two forces—citizen engagement and transparency—that hold the key to solving government failures by shaping how political markets function. Citizens are not only queueing at voting booths, but are also taking to the streets and using diverse media to pressure, sanction and select the leaders who wield power within government, including by entering as contenders for leadership. This political engagement can function in highly nuanced ways within the same formal institutional context and across the political spectrum, from autocracies to democracies. Unhealthy political engagement, when leaders are selected and sanctioned on the basis of their provision of private benefits rather than public goods, gives rise to government failures. The solutions to these failures lie in fostering healthy political engagement within any institutional context, and not in circumventing or suppressing it. Transparency, which is citizen access to publicly available information about the actions of those in government, and the consequences of these actions, can play a crucial role by nourishing political engagement.

'Accountability'

'Accountability'
Author: R. G. Mulgan
Publisher:
Total Pages: 18
Release: 2000
Genre: Government business enterprises
ISBN: 9780731534159

Identification Revolution

Identification Revolution
Author: Alan Gelb
Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2018-01-16
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1944691049

Some 600 million children worldwide do not legally exist. Without verifiable identification, they—and unregistered adults—could face serious difficulties in proving their identity, whether to open a bank account, purchase a SIM card, or cast a vote. Lack of identification is a barrier to full economic and social inclusion. Recent advances in the reach and technological sophistication of identification systems have been nothing less than revolutionary. Since 2000, over 60 developing countries have established national ID programs. Digital technology, particularly biometrics such as fingerprints and iris scans, has dramatically expanded the capabilities of these programs. Individuals can now be uniquely identified and reliably authenticated against their claimed identities. By enabling governments to work more effectively and transparently, identification is becoming a tool for accelerating development progress. Not only is provision of legal identity for all a target under the Sustainable Development Goals, but this book shows how it is also central to achieving numerous other SDG targets. Yet, challenges remain. Identification systems can fail to include the poor, leaving them still unable to exercise their rights, access essential services, or fully participate in political and economic life. The possible erosion of privacy and the misuse of personal data, especially in countries that lack data privacy laws or the capacity to enforce them, is another challenge. Yet another is ensuring that investments in identification systems deliver a development payoff. There are all too many examples where large expenditures—sometimes supported by donor governments or agencies—appear to have had little impact. Identification Revolution: Can Digital ID be Harnessed for Development? offers a balanced perspective on this new area, covering both the benefits and the risks of the identification revolution, as well as pinpointing opportunities to mitigate those risks.