By Petra Blum— Apr 24, 2019
Topics such as fiscal policy, accountability, and fiscal justice do not usually generate sweeping media coverage. Why? Because these topics are complicated, not easy to break down, and hard to visualize. Yet recent exposés such as the Panama Papers show that the media can still make powerful contributions to the greater fiscal transparency cause.
By Shaazka Beyerle and Davin O’Regan, United States Institute of Peace— Apr 17, 2019
Social movements deploying various nonviolent tactics have consistently demonstrated the ability to achieve genuine – sometimes transformative – shifts in policy and government performance. The underlying dynamic involves grassroots organizing to amplify citizen voices and wield power. But can such bottom-up citizen initiatives be fostered to advance fiscal governance?
by Nikhil Dey, Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan— Apr 10, 2019
There has been growing skepticism about the impact of transparency initiatives on fiscal accountability issues. India provides an outstanding example of how social movements have creatively and effectively used the People’s Right to Information to enforce a form of fiscal accountability that demonstrably connects allocations, expenditure, and policy with people and their priorities. How did this transformative process get initiated, and what lessons does it have for the future, and for its use in other parts of the globe?
By Brendan Halloran and Suvarna Hulawale, International Budget Partnership; Caroline Laroche, Natural Resource Governance Institute; and Chris Stalker, Oxfam America— Apr 09, 2019
Ensuring that organizations have in place frameworks, practices, and a culture conducive to adaptive learning and management is essential to navigating complex and challenging fiscal governance systems. Oxfam America, the Natural Resource Governance Institute, and the International Budget Partnership engaged in a series of learning exchanges to share insights and lessons from their respective Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (PMEL) systems and practices to learn from each other’s experiences.
By Delaine McCullough, Head of Climate Finance Accountability, International Budget Partnership — Apr 03, 2019
Climate change threatens the natural systems that our lives and economies depend on, so it is simultaneously an environmental, economic, and developmental issue. But it is also an equity issue. If you’re poor, female, or otherwise marginalized, the risk of losing your already limited assets, livelihood, and potentially your life is heightened by climate change. Failure to address this extra vulnerability as we tackle climate change will deepen existing poverty and inequality.
by Jason Lakin and Samuel Atiku— Mar 28, 2019
Many governments around the world struggle to implement their budgets, including Nigeria: the country’s federal budget was underspent every year between 2009 and 2016, with the share of underspending as high as 27 percent in 2016. Many people would be inclined to agree that volatile oil resources are at the heart of Nigeria’s broader political and economic challenges – and specifically, its failure to spend its budget. But is this right?
By Adi Kumar and Ryan Fester, Development Action Group— Mar 27, 2019
In South Africa’s metropolitan municipalities, civil society has limited influence over local government decision making, and most tactics to hold local governments accountable are failing. Can the emergence of cross-class and cross-race coalitions frame new forms of citizen participation and improve fiscal accountability?
By Paolo de Renzio and Alexandre Ciconello, International Budget Partnership — Mar 21, 2019
The International Budget Partnership has been working with a group of nine Latin American civil society organizations to promote research, advocacy, and learning around tax expenditures in the Latin American region. Recently, each group conducted research to examine how governments were using tax expenditures in their countries and to assess the impact of tax expenditures on inequality. Read more about how these groups are using their research findings to promote advocacy campaigns.
by Benjamin Cokelet, Founding Co-Executive Director, PODER— Mar 20, 2019
The power of transnational corporations and global economic and monetary institutions to influence national budgetary and financial decisions is overwhelming. Is it time for advocates to focus fiscal transparency and accountability efforts on the power of global capital?
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.