By Christine Wong, Centre for Contemporary Chinese Studies, University of Melbourne— Mar 13, 2019
The results-based, pragmatic approach to politics associated with “Chinese-style democracy” may look attractive to countries seeking to kickstart development, but the authoritarian aspect of the model, along with its economic foundations, may be unsustainable.
Jason Lakin, International Budget Partnership— Mar 07, 2019
When the International Budget Partnership put out an open call for 25 civil society organizations to research budget credibility issues in their countries last year, we thought we would struggle to reach that number. But more than 70 groups applied, and their research was just one component of our larger Assessing Budget Credibility project, which looks at the degree to which governments raise and spend public money in accordance with approved budgets, and the causes and consequences of any deviations.
by Didier Jacobs, Senior Policy Advisor, Oxfam America— Mar 06, 2019
Governments are engaged in a race to the bottom on corporate taxation. Tax rates are falling and tax incentives are multiplying. This is bad news when it comes to financing development. Citizens must demand transparency and accountability regarding tax incentives, and regional and global cooperation to set a floor under corporate tax rates.
By Wilson Prichard— Feb 27, 2019
Despite evidence of high and frequently rising inequality across much of the developing world, strengthening the equity of tax systems has usually been low on the agenda. However, there is a persuasive argument that civil society actors should place a significant advocacy focus on improving the overall equity of tax systems for technical, political, and strategic reasons.
by Nathan Coplin and Jaime Atienza, Oxfam— Feb 20, 2019
Improving domestic revenue mobilization can help low-income countries meet development challenges, but if rising debt costs are not addressed, these revenues will not give governments the fiscal space they need to invest in citizens and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
by Vivek Ramkumar, Senior Director of Policy, International Budget Partnership— Feb 13, 2019
The increase in low- and middle-income countries’ borrowing from the private sector and China has negative implications for the fiscal transparency of emerging market governments in the near term. How can fiscal transparency and accountability advocates respond?
by Paolo de Renzio, International Budget Partnership— Feb 06, 2019
Public finance and government budgets are things few people get excited about, but they affect every one of us much more than we think. What would public finance that puts the public good — human beings with their needs and aspirations — at the center of government policy-making look like? And could this re-framing of public finance be the key to democratic renewal?
by David Lewis, Executive Director, Corruption Watch— Jan 30, 2019
The relationship between declining democracy and burgeoning corruption, both the antithesis of fiscal accountability, raises some large and complex questions for the fiscal accountability community.
by Jean Ross, Consultant— Jan 28, 2019
The agriculture, forestry, plantation, and marine fisheries sectors provide livelihoods for a significant fraction of the Indonesian population, yet contribute less than one out of every ten dollars of revenue received by the provincial and the national governments. In many resource-rich regions, poverty rates are high and local residents receive little or no benefit from the exploitation of the country’s abundant natural wealth. Two Indonesian civil society organizations – Perkumpalan Inisiatif and Seknas FITRA – hypothesized that weak administration and corruption contributed to weak revenue collections. Together, the groups designed an ambitious research project to test this hypothesis and develop recommendations for improving revenue collections and resource management.
by the International Budget Partnership, Transparency and Accountability Initiative, and Carnegie Endowment for International Peace— Jan 23, 2019
How can civic action on fiscal accountability contribute to positive changes in the lives of the poor and marginalized? The Fiscal Futures project identified five critical areas in which the transparency and accountability field should consider investing greater effort, because they might constitute a powerful agenda for strengthening fiscal accountability and justice in developing countries around the world.